Glorious Failures

by Mountaineers Books (Editor)

* Stories from the worldís most experienced and respected climbers

* Selections are united by the single compelling theme of big mountaineering attempts that didn't succeed

* Forewords by John Harlin and Mark Synott



The Mountaineers Books publishes the best in climbing literature, boasting a list of books chronicling the greatest climbing adventures ever pursued. From H.W. Tilman and Eric Shipton to Mark Twight and John Sherman, Gloriious Failures has compiled and condensed the true stories of ill-fated mountaineering adventures.



Glorious Failures is an engaging collection of the most famous and infamous almost-summits. Each of these early attempts often rival the first successful ascent in fame and notoriety. One example is the story of the 1956 American expedition to K2, which came tantalizingly close to the summit only to be forced back by illness and weather, is told in fascinating detail by Jim Curran.

236 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2001

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging collection of high quality, literary true survival tales from mountaineering's most famous and infamous incidents and characters. The tales of failures in mountaineering's history may reflect more about the reasons why people climb mountains, take risks, and behave as one finds in the traditional tales of mountaineering's successes. Drawing mostly on the classic tales of conquering the 8,000 meter peaks between the World Wars and just post World War Two, the majority of the stories are a journey into harrowing survival stories of near death and death, sometimes after being just a few hundred feet shy of a successful summit. This is an OUTSTANDING mountaineering anthology.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Short stories of what happens after everything has gone to hell – after all hope of success, even of survival is lost.