Clouds from Both Sides – Julie Tullis

The story of the first British woman to climb 8,000m peak

‹If I could choose a place to die, it would be in the mountains.›

Clouds from Both Sides is the autobiography of Julie Tullis, the first British
woman to climb an 8,000-metre peak – Broad Peak – and the first to reach the
summit of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain.

A truly remarkable woman, Julie describes her early days in a London disrupted
by World War II; her family life, climbing, teaching and living by the
sandstone outcrops of High Rocks and Harrison’s Rocks in Tunbridge Wells,
Kent; and her experience as a high-level mountaineer and filmmaker. Tullis
demonstrates her determination and self-discipline through training to black-
belt standard in both judo and aikido, and never allows financial concerns to
keep her away from the high mountains – a place where she felt at peace.
Filled with vivid accounts of frostbite, avalanches, snow blindness and
exhilaration alongside her climbing partner Kurt Diemberger, Clouds from Both
Sides takes us to Yosemite, Nanga Parbat, Everest and K2.

First published in 1986 before her death, and with an additional chapter
written by Peter Gillman documenting Tullis’s final, fated expedition to K2,
this story is as relevant and awe inspiring today as it ever was. Tullis’s
achievements are timeless and her attitudes and opinions far ahead of their
time. Clouds from Both Sides is a tribute to the memory of an inspirational
woman determined to strive for her dreams, an extraordinary account of her
adventures and an exhilarating testament to her courage.