The two great American kiss-and-tell K2 mountaineering books

March 25, 2026 Reviews and tributes 8000m peaks, first ascents, galen rowell, history of mountaineering, jim whittaker, jim wickwire, john roskelley, k2, karakoram, lou reichardt, lou whittaker, mountain literature, rick ridgeway 0 Comment

In the early 1970s, the slopes of K2 were still relatively untouched. Although Italians had first set foot on the summit, American climbers considered it to be their mountain. Two expeditions in 1975 and 1978 produced a pair of expedition books that were oozing with drama and intrigue.

Nawang Gombu: Heart of a Tiger

November 16, 2016 Reviews and tributes everest, himalayas, history of mountaineering, jim whittaker, mountain films, nawang gombu, sherpas, tenzing norgay 8 Comments

When I watched the documentary Nawang Gombu: The Heart of a Tiger last weekend, it had only been watched 151 times before me. This is ridiculous. It has some flaws, but it deserves to be watched more widely because of its subject matter.

Did Chinese climbers reach the summit of Everest in 1960?

March 6, 2013 History bottled oxygen, china, chris bonington, chu yin-hua, dougal haston, everest, false summit claims, first ascents, history of mountaineering, jim whittaker, pete boardman, tibet, tom hornbein, wang fu-chou, willi unsoeld

There has been a lot of gushing editorial written recently to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first American ascent of Everest in 1963. I could write a bit more about the expedition here, but I wouldn’t be adding anything to what’s already out there. Instead I’m going to talk about another expedition which took place on Everest’s north side three years earlier.