London, Grafton, 1986, 1st UK edition. 322 pp, color photos, index. Original blue cloth hardcover with gold lettering on spine and dust jacket. Fine.
Tullis climbed Broad Peak and K2 with Kurt Diemberger. Her death on K2 in 1986, just after climbing it, came as a shock to the climbing world.
A British woman who began serious mountain climbing after age 40 tells her life story, with special emphasis on how she made a new career as an award-winning mountain cinematographer in what were to be the last five years of her life. She died in 1986, descending from the summit of K-2. While her Himalayan expeditions occupy the last half of the book and are told with the unique viewpoint of a woman photographer, the early pages are also unusual. Julie and her husband Terry Tullis operated a rock-climbing school near Tunbridge Wells that offered programs to handicapped and disturbed children and adults. Her experiences suggest how much is lacking in American programs for blind and emotionally disturbed youths. Her chapter 'Why' gives reasons for choosing adventurous paths that other women will find valid.
Julie Tullis was one of the world's most accomplished female Himalayan climbers. She died high on K2 in 1986 along with several other strong climbers during descent from the summit, pinned down at highest camp by fierce weather. This is her autobiography, published posthumously. It includes a chapter written by Peter Gillman on the 1986 K2 tragedy. This was the fateful season on K2 where Al Rouse, Maurice & Liliane Barrard, Renato Casarotto, Tadeusz Piotrowski, and other good climbers perished on the mountain. This book describes many of Tullis' climbs and her film-making partnership with Kurt Diemberger, Tullis' very close friend. Climbs discussed include Peru Cordillera Blanca Huascaran, Nanga Parbat, Mount Everest, K2 and Karakoram, Broad Peak, Yosemite, etc. In addition to being autobiographical, this book presents many details about the personality and methods and abilities of the famous mountaineer, Kurt Diemberger.
Kurt Diemberger (born 1932 in Austria), is the only remaining person alive that has made the first ascents on two mountains over 8,000 metres. In 1957, he made the first ascent of Broad Peak and in 1960, the first ascent of Dhaulagiri. Diemberger was also the last person to see Hermann Buhl alive before he fell through a cornice on Chogolisa. Diemberger was one of only two survivors in the 1986 K2 Disaster. On August 4, 1986, Diemberger and Julie Tullis reached the summit of K2 very late in the day. Shortly after starting their descent, Julie fell - dragging Diemberger with her. Fortunately, they somehow stopped from going over the edge and spent the night above 8,000 metres. They managed to reach Camp IV the next day, where they were forced to share a tent with six other climbers after their tent had collapsed from hurricane force winds. Unfortunately, Julie died later that night, possibly from HACE, and only one other of climbers survived the descent with Diemberger.
