Into the Clouds: The Race to Climb the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain

In 1953, as two men summit Everest for the first time, Charlie Houston and a team of mountaineers carve a path up the second-highest peak on Earth: the deadly K2. For Houston, reaching the top of K2 is a lifelong dream, an obsession that began 15 years earlier on his first expedition there in 1938.

Since then, in 1939, another American expdition has fallen apart on the remote, windswept mass of rock and ice.

Now, Houston's team follows in their tracks, stumbling on camps abandoned during the bitter tragedy. With the summit in their grasp, a vicious storm and a sudden illness put their own expedition on the edge of disaster, turning their quest to conquer a mountain into one of the most daring rescue missions ever.

Three expeditions and a high-mountain rivalry. Three attempts at K2, one of the most grueling challenges the planet has to offer. At 25,000 feet, every choice will mean lives lost or saved and bonds broken or cemented for a lifetime.

Although geared toward a slightly younger reading audience this is a worthy addition to the early K2 literature. It was my pleasure to assist with the research and photos for this book.