"An almost perfect cone, incredibly high”, a mountain so breathtakingly beautiful as to leave Colonel Francis Younghusband, the first European to breach the Old Muztag Pass in 1887, quite literally speechless in front of sudden, almost unreal apparition. Over a hundred years later K2, the highest peak in the Karakoram Range, continues to bewitch generations of climbers. Titanic struggles have been consumed on its slopes by mountaineers striving to reach its summit, and the dreams of great expeditions and small teams alive have often been shattered. Successful routes of rare beauty have also been traced, some of considerable length. This book, through its 162 spectacular photographs and the enthralling first-hand accounts, offers readers the opportunity of reliving the magnificent exploits which took man to the top of the world’s second highest mountain: from the legendary expedition led by Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, the Duke of the Abruzzi, which reached an altitude of 6,000 meters, to the heroic, memorable conquest of the summit by Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, members of the expedition led by Ardito Desio, and on up to the latest ascents completed in the Nineties.