The extraordinary Story of the the Sherpa Climbers on K2`s Deadliest Day
When Edmund Hillary first conquered Mt. Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at
his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya,
Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when
eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world`s most dangerous peak, two
Sherpas survived. They had emerged from poverty and political turmoil to
become two of the most skillful mountaineers on earth. Based on unprecedented
access and interviews, Buried in the Sky reveals their astonishing story for
the first time.
Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan explore the intersecting lives of Chhiring
Dorje Sherpa and Pasang Lama, following them from their villages high in the
Himalaya to the slums of Kathmandu, across the glaciers of Pakistan to K2 Base
Camp. When disaster strikes in the Death Zone, Chhiring finds Pasang stranded
on an ice wall, without an axe, waiting to die. The rescue that follows has
become the stuff of mountaineering legend. At once a gripping, white-knuckled
adventure and a rich exploration of Sherpa customs and culture, Buried in the
Sky re-creates one of the most dramatic catastrophes in alpine history from a
fascinating new perspective.