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pp. xi, 156.   “Why do people climb mountains? For Canadian Jim Haberl, a professional mountain guide, climbing mountains has been his path to enlightenment. He shares unique stories of mountaineering summits, such as the famous K2 in Pakistan and Devil’s Thumb in Alaska, and he elucidates what it takes to survive in challenging situations–for example, ski-mountaineering in a heavy blizzard through an untraveled area of the Himalayas. The book is most interesting when Haberl recounts firsthand his moments of emotional crisis, as when his best friend fell to his death after reaching the summit of K2, or when members of his climbing party in the Andes were downed by an avalanche of ice boulders the size of refrigerators. One clue to the appeal of this sport is to view the breathtaking photographs of peaks and glaciers.”previous owners inscription on half title page