K2: Il prezzo della conquista

by Lino Lacedelli, Giovanni Cenacchi

Nei cinquant'anni trascorsi dalla conquista italiana del K2, Lino Lacedelli non ha mai rilasciato dichiarazioni riguardo alla leggendaria ascensione di cui è stato protagonista insieme ad Achille Compagnoni. Non ha mai voluto correggere le inesattezze che sono state scritte sulla spedizione alpinistica, né replicare alle accuse che spesso gli sono state rivolte. Se il tempo trascorso non ha attenuato i toni delle polemiche che l'impresa ha generato, ha però accentuato il desiderio di una verità più obiettiva. In questo libro-intervista di Giovanni Cenacchi, Lacedelli rende finalmente la sua testimonianza sui fatti del 1954.

Genres: Mountaineering, Nonfiction, Adventure

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book, an updated, i.e., not censored account of the successful Italian climb of K2 just one year after the 3rd American attempt had failed, essentially due to horrifically bad weather, makes me wish that the Americans had not gotten the permit for 1953 and that the Italians had, instead. Then the American team, a solid, non-back stabbing group of men, would have been the first to reach the summit of the most dangerous mountain in the world in 1954, theoretically.

I suppose there are some people who will choose to discount Lino Lacedelli's account 50 years after it happened, but my opinion is that at this point what does he have to lose?

Mountaineering back in the early to mid 1900s was just so different than it is now, and I'm not talking about modern equipment, I'm talking about the philosophy to mountain climbing and how teams were formed.

Granted most modern books are about the catastrophes on Everest, but I don't consider most of those people to be real mountain climbers. If you're paying someone to get you there and a Sherpa to get you up the mountain, you're no Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, Tom Hornbein, Willi Unsoeld, Reinhold Messner, Ed Viesturs, Conrad Ankers, or David Brashears.

Next up is Walter Bonatti's autobiography to get his perspective on the 1954 K2 expedition.

[Amerynth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lino Lacedelli's and Giovanni Cenacchi's "K2: The Price of Conquest" is a really interesting look at the first ascent of the world's second highest mountain, K2. Lacedelli was half of the two-man duo who stood on the summit for the first time. Despite its success, this expedition has long been a source of controversy as Walter Bonatti and a Hunza porter Mahdi spent an unplanned bivouac high on the mountain because the final camp was moved to a new location.

Bonatti's charges that the camp was moved purposely to keep him from going for the summit the next day and a journalist's (later found to be libelous) charges that Bonatti, in revenge, used some of the bottled oxygen reserved for the summit team have roiled the mountaineering world for 50 years. Lacedelli's tale does much to exonerate Bonatti as well as clarify what happened on the upper slopes of the mountain.

The format of the book is kind of odd -- it reports Lacedelli's story in a series of questions and answers. Then various chapters go through portions of the controversy to show how Lacedelli's story proves and disproves some of the allegations. As a result, this is not a book you want to read without having a good understanding of not only the history of the K2 expedition, but also the controversy that surrounded it.

If you're an armchair mountaineer who can't get enough of these tales about large-scale expeditions (like me) this book is just plain fascinating.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I warn any future reader of this book that it can be aggravating and monotonous at times. Aggravating because it attempts to clear of long-circulated rumors and misconceptions about the landmark Italian-summit of K2 in 1954. It often feels like the story of a group of squabbling little boys (the mountaineers on the expedition) who are pushing and shoving for their places in the sun. Monotonous because it reads like a court report: the listing of specific dates and times, and the references to published magazine articles and interviews with the mountaineers.

However, it is also an interesting look at the life of one on a mountain: the trials and tribulations of everyday.

I would not recommend this to one who wants to learn the essentials of mountaineering; however, the book's publishing company, "The Mountaineers", is based in Seattle, Washington (who hoo!) and is an excellent resource for mountaineers or the aspiring (they are the publishers of the world-renowned "Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills”, which is currently in its seventh edition).

[Isscandar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bello.

Lino Lacedelli intervistato pochi anni fa da Giovanni Cenacchi racconta la sua esperienza sul K2 nel 1954.

Lacedelli e` lontano dalla formalita` del libro ufficiale di Desio e racconta con genuinita` e precisione la sua ascesa al K2 e la vicenda con Walter Bonatti.

Questo libro aiuta a conoscere meglio l'Italia di allora.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to read the first ascent of K2 by one of the climbers whom shared that honor, rather than a journalist that perhaps has to write about an ascent through interviews.