Fatal Mountaineer - Hardcover

In 1963, Willi Unsoeld became an international hero for his conquest of the West Ridge of Everest. His go-for-broke style and near-mad fearlessness established the modern template for extreme adventure. Unsoeld was also a charismatic public speaker and teacher, who profoundly influenced the generation of the 1960s and 1970s as a professor of philosophy. But the darker consequences of Unsoeld's philosophy emerged during an expedition he led in 1976. The loss of his daughter on the slopes of Nanda Devi under mysterious circumstances continues to fuel one of the great debates in the world of mountaineering. FATAL MOUNTAINEER is a gripping, intelligent look at Willi Unsoeld and the two epic climbs that defined him. It is an unusual narrative that blends action with ethics, fame with tragedy, and a man's ambition with a father's anguish.

Robert Roper is the author of numerous novels and story collections including" Cuervo Tales, The Trespassers, and In Caverns of Blue Ice." He contributes regularly to "Men's Journal" and has also written for "Outside, National Geographic Adventure, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, " and many other papers and magazines. His awards include grants from the NEA and the Ingram Merrill Foundation. A climber, he reports often on adventure subjects and in recent years has also written on retrovirology, financial derivatives, nuclear non-proliferation, and World War II partisan warfare. He teaches writing and film at universities in California, where he lives.