New York, 1955, 1st USA edition. 203 pp, 32 photos, 9 sketches and maps. Original tan cloth hardcover. The DJ is Very Fine, Book and DJ are overall Fine.
There were several delightful books on climbing in the Andes in the 1950s and 1960s. I read this one and the others by Hauser White Mountain and Tawny Plain, Sack's The Butcher Yerupaja, Shipton's Land Of Tempest, etc. I started reading them all in the 1960s when I worked for the NY Public Library (who actually had them all), and it was through these Andes books that I first discovered the thrills and joy of Mountaineering, and it's literature. (M Chessler)
The first ascent by two Dutchmen and Lionel Terray of this 20,981' peak in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru. [Neate E10.]
This from the dust jacket: ''This is an adventure story: a hair-raising narrative of grit and daring and endurance; a story of appalling dangers and exhilarating triumph. For decades the long snow-capped range of the Cordillera Blanca has challenged the climbers of the world. The supreme challenge is Huantsan; 21,000 feet of deep crevasses, of soft treacherous snow, of knife edges and vertical walls and tremendous cornices of ice. It was the dream of two young Dutchmen, Egeler and de Booy, that their country's flag should be the first to fly from its summit.
''This book is their own story of how they planted it there. Accompanied by Lionel Terray, fresh from the victory of Annapurna, they reached Peru in 1952 only to find that an American expedition was in the field before them. The news spurred them on. With grim determination they overcame one by one the countless difficulties in their path; difficulties of acclimatization and organization; difficulties with guides and porters who were notably lacking in the qualities which have made the Sherpas legendary. And at last they were in a position to launch the assault.
''From there the story sweeps to its tremendous climax. Undeterred by blizzards and frostbite, they struggled upwards. For sixty hours they were trapped by a hurricane; at one moment de Booy slipped head first into a crevasse and was saved from death by a miracle. But the summit was reached. They were first to reach it. They planted their flags in untrodden snow. Told with vigor, with engaging modesty and great good humor, this narrative is a gripping testimony to the courage of men who climb high mountains because they are high and because they are there. To read it is to share every moment of peril and fortitude and triumph.''
