K2: Triumph And Tragedy

by Jim Curran

K2 is the second highest mountain in the world, at 8611 metres only a couple of hundred metres lower than Everest. It is one of the most unrelenting and testing of the worlds 8000-metre peaks.

Jim Curran came to K2 as a climbing cameraman with an unsuccessful British expedition, but stayed on through the climbing season. This is his account of the dramatic events of that summer, a story of ambitions both achieved and thwarted on a mountain which all high-altitude climbers take the most pride in overcoming. In 1986 K2 took its toll of those ambitions.

Curran vividly describes the moments that contribute to the exhilaration of climbing on the world's most demanding mountain, and he assesses the tragedy of that summer with compassion and impartiality.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Adventure, Travel, Climbing, Memoir, Outdoors

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Jim Curran has been around on the British climbing scene for over forty years. Over that time he has sought, and succeeded, to express himself creatively through a broad range of work. As a cameraman he has filmed 15 mountain-based documentaries, ranging in subject from Everest to the remote Scottish islands of St Kilda and Hoy, via the Andes, Caucasus and Atlas mountains.

He also filmed, scripted and narrated the documentary, Rock Queen with Catherine Destivelle, the French climbing superstar, which won him an Emmy Award for outstanding electronic camerawork.

As an award-winning biographer, his work has covered similar ground. Trango, The Nameless Tower, K2 - Triumph and Tragedy, Suspended Sentences, and K2 - The Story of the Savage Mountain, are all important reads in the field of mountain literature. He has also written the authorised biography of Sir Chris Bonington: High Achiever - The Life and Climbs of Chris Bonington.

More recently, he has returned to his early passion – painting – as his chosen means of expression. He has had two one-man exhibitions of his paintings and drawings: at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, and most recently at the Alpine Club in 2004. He is now painting full-time.

He lives in Sheffield where his painting is constantly interrupted by the attractions of the Peak District in general, and the attractions of climbing on gritstone outcrops in particular.

His films and books have won many awards world-wide, and he has been short-listed four times for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature.

Reviews

[Amerynth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jim Curran's "K2: Triumph and Tragedy" is a solid account of the disastrous 1986 climbing season on K2, the world's second highest mountain. That year, 13 climbers from a variety of expeditions died on the mountain's infamous slopes.

Curran, who was on a British expedition as a filmmaker and did not climb much higher than 7,000 meters, watched from base camp as several people marched off to their deaths, including one of his closest friends. His pain is palpable during some of the later parts of the book and he concludes that successful high altitude mountaineers are the kind of people who push themselves to the brink precisely because it has always worked out before -- until it doesn't.

Curran is a middling writer... his early chapters get bogged down in a sort of name dropping scenario where he starts tossing around the names and accomplishments of climber after climber. Even though many of the names were familiar, it was just too much to take in at one time. The later chapters of the book are better, but more tragic as Curran waits at base camp for friends that will never return.

I've read a lot of mountaineering books over the years and found this one to be good over all, but not one of my favorites. I'd recommend it only to readers who are already fairly familiar with climbing and technical terms as Curran does not take a lot of time for explanations.

[Rebekkila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel a bit bad about loving this book so much. Thirteen people died while climbing K2 during the summer of 1986 and the author was there at base camp for all thirteen deaths. I probably could have read this story in half a day but I kept looking at the pictures of the people that were with him that summer and at the drawings of the mountain and the surrounding region. I think I spent as much time looking at the pictures and drawings as I did reading. But it is so hard for me to wrap my head around the enormity of this mountain and all of it's cols, peaks, and glaciers.
I read another book to similar to this about a disasterous expedition on Mt. Everest. The tone of the the two books was very different. The author of this story never went higher than camp 1 or 2, which meant he never got into extremely high altitude. Where as the author of Into Thin Air summited Everest nad was physically and mentally in a very different state from Jim Curran. Jim C. never really blamed anyone personally for what happened during the climb. He realized the altitude and the storms had a lot to do with the deaths of his friends. And at the end he walked off the mountain alone.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because sometimes it gets really confusing, as Jim is not a natural writer and gets caught up in the minutiae of climbing history and K2’s layout, without considering the non-climber reader. Otherwise a riveting and tragic story. I already bought Kurt Diemberger’s book to get his account of the summit.

[Carolyn (in SC) C234D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this very much. I find the books I've read about mountaineering fascinating, such as INTO THIN AIR and THE CLIMB. This book was written by Jim Curran, an experienced climber and photographer, who was on this expedition to take photographs and videos, not to climb to the summit. He has an engaging way of writing, and seemed to express his emotions and opinions in an honest, pretty non-judgmental way. Many photographs by Jim and some of the other climbers are included, and it is very helpful to put a face to a name that you are reading about. I also wore a path to the maps to see where he was talking about. This was a very interesting tale of success for some (making the summit) and tragedy (for some of those same people). A gripping book. 4.5 stars.

[Hannah CF · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was a well-balanced first-person account of the 1986 K2 expedition season and the tragedies that unfolded. After reading these sorts of testimonials I am convinced high altitude mountaineers are simply adrenaline junkies looking for the best fix. I will say between Curran and Ed Viesturs, they seem to be the most level-headed men of the climbers I’ve read from, unwilling to take unnecessary risks and always team players. Sadly in that arena it seems like they are increasingly a rare sort. Annapurna: A Woman’s Place remains my favorite of the high altitude climbing books, but this was still a very good book.

Attempting to summit these mountains generally takes an entire team of people, most of whom won’t make it to the top. Too many climbers with egos means fewer team efforts, and overly crowded mountains that fill ever more with human trash and excrement. I don’t blame some countries for closing mountains to climbers entirely. Even in ‘86 it sounded like the litter was out of control. These are glorious mountains and we treat them disrespectfully.

[Dan Cooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure why but I find everything about mountain climbing interesting, I think its the fact that people are willing to put there lives on the line to achieve something and that its not all about skill, in some cases its just about having the will and determination to keep going or to survive. I also have some strange interest in places or spaces where people shouldn't go or be, like inside the exclusion zone in Chernobyl or the 90th floor of the north tower on 9/11 and in this case at camp 4 8000m up K2.

This book is a really good account from someone who was there when the tragedy occurred or was at least nearby and doing there best to help where they could. It really shows the risks some people are willing to take to achieve something and the sad result when things are pushed to far. Now I want even more mountain climbing books.

[Melisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed and engaging account of the K2 tragedies in 1986. Having only heard of these accidents from other books about K2, I wanted to read a first hand account about what happened. Jim Curran's detailed account of the events of that climbing season tell the human side of these horrible events.

[Treeza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in one day....fascinating

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into K2 and early Himalayan expeditions

[Carla JFCL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars because I love reading books about things that scare the hell out of me. First one I’ve read about this particular mountain and, for the life of me, I still can’t figure out why anyone would want to climb mountains.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book suffers from a few things, among them being the fact that the author was a little too close to the situation, and doesn't really have a background in journalism. I'll explain: a few times he mentioned that he could have taken more pictures of events that were happening, but chose not to, as it "felt wrong." There were probably a few situations where that was the respectful thing to do, but I found the photos in the book a little lackluster for someone who was hired to document the event. Another reviewer mentioned that the author seemed to get lost in name dropping, or discussing the who's who of the climbing world at the time. I definitely found that to be true as well. Overall I think it was a decent and honest account of what happened on K2 that fateful summer, but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this book to those who want a good book on mountaineering.

(Also...this is just something I have a problem with in general: treatment of Sherpas. The author paints them as ruthless opportunists, but honestly, you're using these people as human pack animals, probably not paying them hardly anything, and asking them to risk their lives- and sometimes lose their lives, as one of the 13 deaths was a Sherpa- for your dumb egos. It's pretty disgusting, honestly. That's just my two cents though.)

[Jerry Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why I like mountaineering books since I have never really wanted to undertake a mountain climb myself. I guess I look to these books to help me understand why people would risk everything on such a quest.

This book certainly goes some way in that regard in that it is written entirely from the point of view of an expedition member, photographing an attempt on K2. This really does seem to be an extremely unforgiving mountain indeed.

I came away with a good feel for what life was like from the point of view of a team member left at base camp/camp 1, trying to support his team going for the top. It gives a great feel for how futile such a position can feel when things go wrong.

The book is well written but I was a little confused by all the different groups that were introduced and the names of mountaineers also on the mountain were introduced informally therefore we didn't really get a feel for them as people before learning of their demise which reduced the impact.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just finished K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, I am drawn to reread Jim Curran's book and see the events he writes about in a fresh light.

I first read K2: Triumph and Tragedy about a dozen years ago; I am not a climber, but I love mountaineering books wholeheartedly. Curran's book details the horrific 1986 climbing season, in which 13 people died (seven of whom actually made it to the top). Jim Curran was not attempting the summit himself, but he was there to chronicle the British expedition and as such, found himself in the middle of the events that unfolded over the summer.

Again, I was fascinated by the stories of the individual climbers and the risks they took to succeed (or die trying). I look forward to reading this again.

[Mathias Seiwert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book for sure. SO sad to see so many elite climbers die on K2 in 1986. Many of those who survived that year died on different mountains later in life...Such is the nature of elite mountaineering in the Himalaya/Karakoram--and yet there is much a Christian can learn from these climbers about perseverance and overcoming extreme challenges/trials.

[Alison Sumprer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and very sad that so many climbers died in 1986 on the mountain. I knew climbing was dangerous, and I knew many people have died trying to reach the summit, but this was just so depressing.

[Joanne Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of mountaineering books, and this one didn't disappoint. The storytelling is straightforward and gripping at times, although I had a tough time keeping all the names straight. Curran does a great job of describing the mountain, the routes, and the terrain so I could easily picture it.
I appreciated the section in the book where Curran tries to identify a common thread through all the accidents of that season. It's like a detective novel where we have all these facts and first-hand accounts and must deduce what happened. I think that's what makes mountaineering so interesting to me: even without the weather or the mountain as factors, there are so many human errors, emotional biases, and communication variables that can affect an expedition.
Curran, although not objective, takes a moral stance that people can't be held guilty for leaving others to die on the mountain. It's interesting that in 1986 this wasn't the attitude, and people thought it was "unsportsmanlike" to do so. But in Into Thin Air, which takes place 10 years later, it seems understood that saving someone else poses a huge danger to the rescuer, and when put in such an extreme survival circumstance, saving yourself is the difficult choice most people would make.
There's an interesting tidbit in the very last appendix "The Stranger on the Shoulder" which you should definitely read! Mind-blowing!
My one criticism of this book is that it refers to 40-year-old women as "the girls" and an entire team of Koreans don't have names until the back half of the book. Every other white team gets an introduction to at least their foremost climber, some stats on their previous accomplishments, and a description of their appearance. I know there was a language barrier and Curran didn't spend much time with them on the mountain, which is fair enough. But he couldn't be bothered to research them after the fact for his book? Were these experienced climbers? What had they climbed before? What were they like? Guess not worth writing about...

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The World’s Second-Highest Mountain…

All 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks are located in the Himalaya or the Karakoram ranges in Asia. Of the group, Everest reigns as the supreme highest mountain in the world. And yet it is a neighbor with the strange name of “K2” that many consider the harder to climb. Everest is deadly, but the ridges running up to the summit are said to be less challenging than K2. K2 is the true monster among mountains.

During 1986, twenty-seven persons made the summit of K2, a triumph for the climbers. But thirteen persons lost their lives that year in the attempt to master what many have named “The Savage Mountain.”

Author Jim Curran was on the mountain during the summer of 1986. His work as a climbing cameraman for the British Fullers Expedition gave him plenty of insight into the climbers and the mountain.

Some of those who reached the summit of K2 that summer died on their way down. In fact, seven of the thirteen had reached the summit before disaster overtook them. Two Americans were killed in an avalanche, one man fell to his death in a crevasse just out of base camp, and seven were trapped at 26,000 feet for days. Only two would survive and they were almost dead when they finally were helped to base camp.

But all was not a tragedy. A young man named Benoit Chamoux made a historic 23-hour climb. Wanda Rutkiewicz became the first woman to summit K2. There were moments of heroism, including the author’s rescue of one of the two survivors of the summit disaster.

Curran tells his story much like he lived it, one day at a time. We witness his rejoicing at the accomplishments of the climbers. We feel his anxiety when his friends are trapped for days. He shares his sorrow for the ones who were left behind, dead on the savage mountain that claimed their lives.

This is a fascinating account of triumph and tragedy. I give the book four stars.

Quoth the Raven…

[Carina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well written book about the events on K2 in 1986, a disaster I've read about in other books but I'm honestly not sure I quite appreciated the extent until this book.

I've read a number of books on mountaineering deaths now, and whilst the ones written by participants are undoubtedly harrowing, it's often those written by bystanders that are more encompassing.

One of the critiques often levelled on books of this genre is they tend to play the blame game, this one does (in my layman opinion) a good job of balancing the information and making it clear when they are presenting their opinion v the opinion of others v fact.

I read a book by Diemburger 5 months ago, he and a companion formed a major part of the disaster covered here, and I think I'd get a very different experience reading that 'love letter' of a book again now. It'll be interesting to see if/when I reread that book if this one has changed my opinion of it at all...

[Ken Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pace of this book might reflect that of some climbing expeditions as Curran seemed to very slowly plod through the early stages of the book, gradually picking up momentum as the drama increased, until the story became so compelling, the book was hard to put down. At first, I wondered if I'd even want to finish the book as Curran went into too much background about too many people. But I'm so glad I persisted, as he eventually provided a rather vivid and moving account of so many intersecting stories, though so many of them ended tragically. So many were on the mountain that year that I found it hard to keep track of who's who, but the end result was a complex series of unfortunate choices that left me wondering how anyone survived at all.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of the book seemed rather dry, with lots of name-dropping and random technical facts, but at about 50% the style picked up, the storytelling became more focused, and made the account of the disastrous events somehow more intimate and human. Decent read--first half was a little bit flat, thus only three stars.

[Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book over two evenings. I have read a lot about the events on K2 but never from someone so close to the whole thing yet not up on the mountain himself. Puts a lot of what you read on the tragic events that unfolded on K2 in 1986 in perspective. Great photos, great read. Unfortunately out of print.

[Tom Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written account of a tragic season on K2. The author is a climber of some renown and an alpine photojournalist. His words did not dance around, they were pretty much a straight up account of that fateful climbing year on K2. Curran had much to do with getting the complicated facts straight of an international community of high climbers. Excellent.

[Catie Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all I enjoyed this book. It moved itself along and as someone who knows nothing about mountain climbing, I ended up learning a few interesting facts and information. I recommend this book if you’re in the mood for an adventure- true story novel. Although I couldn’t read this book without a blanket because reading about how cold K2 was made me feel really cold.

[Abra Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading mountain climbing adventure stories. This was well written and these books always make me think about what the consequences of extreme sports brings and what is says about us as human beings.

[David Brewster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is a bit clunky at times, but the story is incredible, made all the more so by Jim's perspective as a 'fringe' player.

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book that started me on mountaineering reads.

[Gabs Roman]

The writing in this book was decent but I think I'll be seeking out some more writing about K2 to help with some additional context!

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

He could climb mountains but couldn’t stop referring to women as “girls” & it was annoying.

[Stacey Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

First half a little technical for me (the layman) but great account of another mountaineering tragedy with some good bonus material at the end 👍

[Evan Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that the book K2 was very interesting but very hard to follow along with. Jim Curran was sort of jumpy from topics and did not provide vocabulary that made the book better. I enjoyed following along his adventure up the mountain and the struggles he faced. I gave the book a three because it lost my attention most of the time. The plot was good but the structure of the book was not.