K2, Chogori - La Grande Montagna (The Great Mountain)

It's a mountain more dangerous and more difficult than Everest: it's K2, Chogori, as the locals call it, that is to say "the great mountain".

The imposing rocky pyramid that stands out in the Karakorum is, with its 8611 metres, the second highest mountain on Earth, and for more than a century it has been the most demanding challenge for mountaineers all over the world.

Only two hundred men have managed to reach its summit, against the fifteen hundred who have made it to the top of Everest.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the "conquest" of K2, Messner wanted to dedicate a book to the Great Mountain, and he decides to set out his thoughts on one of the most controversial and debated events in the mountaineering world, concerning precisely the Italian expedition that gave the Italians the success of the conquest in 1954.

By the same author, also read the review of La Montagna a Modo Mio by Reinhold Messner.

Book details and who it's for

• Author: Reinhold Messner
• Publisher: Corbaccio, ISBN 9788879726658
• Year first published: 2004
• Pages: 278, without photographs or illustrations according to the fact sheet

It's a good read for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the history of Himalayan mountaineering, and in particular into the controversial Italian expedition of 1954, seen through the eyes of one of the leading figures of high-altitude mountaineering. It isn't a technical book or a guide: it should be read as the stance of an author who has never shied away from controversy, and it's worth reading it alongside other sources to form your own view. The price given in the fact sheet may no longer be current. On the same subject, on the big screen, see K2, l'ultima sfida by Franc Roddam.