July 30, 1954. Walter Bonatti, the youngest climber on the Italian K2 expedition, and a Hunza porter named Amir Mahdi are carrying eighty pounds of bottled oxygen toward the highest camp on the mountain, where two teammates are waiting to make the first ascent in history. The camp is not where it was supposed to be. As darkness falls on a fifty-degree ice slope above 26,000 feet, with no tent and no sleeping bags, a flashlight comes on above them, a voice tells them to leave the oxygen and go down, and then the light goes out. Julie and Kaycee tell the story of the highest open bivouac anyone had ever survived, the summit it made possible, the man who went home without his fingers and toes, and the fight over what really happened that lasted longer than most of the people involved. Timestamps: 00:00 Podcast Intro 00:29 Night on K2 02:19 Meet Bonatti 03:40 K2 and the Expedition 05:19 Team and Tensions 07:53 Porters and Boots 08:51 Early Setbacks 09:25 Death at Camp 2 11:56 Summit Plan Forms 13:37 Camp 9 Betrayal 16:27 Oxygen Carry Begins 17:54 Lost in the Dark 19:18 Bivouac in Death Zone 20:58 Flashlight and Abandonment 23:23 Dawn Descent and Frostbite 24:32 Summit Push 27:57 Aftermath and Amputations 29:29 Official Story Spins 30:59 Defamation Trial 33:09 Evidence Reopens Case 35:38 Vindication Report 37:41 Legacy and Farewell 39:02 Closing Outro REFERENCES Mick Conefrey, The Ghosts of K2: The Epic Saga of the First Ascent (Oneworld, 2015).Walter Bonatti, The Mountains of My Life, edited and translated by Robert Marshall (Penguin, 2010; first English edition 2001).Robert Marshall, K2: Lies and Treachery (Carreg Press, 2009), including English translations of the 2004 Tre Saggi report and the 2007 CAI report.Fosco Maraini, Alberto Monticone, and Luigi Zanzi, K2: Una storia finita (Club Alpino Italiano / Priuli & Verlucca, 2007).Lino Lacedelli (lah-cheh-DEL-lee) and Giovanni Cenacchi, K2: The Price of Conquest (Mountaineers Books, 2006; Italian edition 2004).Ardito Desio, Victory over K2: Second Highest Peak in the World (McGraw-Hill, 1956; Italian edition 1954).Ardito Desio, "The Ascent of K2," The Geographical Journal 121, no. 3 (1955).Robert Marshall, "Re-writing the History of K2 – a story all'italiana," Alpine Journal (2005).Ed Viesturs with David Roberts, K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain (Broadway, 2009).Richard Sale, The Challenge of K2: A History of the Savage Mountain (Pen & Sword, 2011).Maurice Isserman and Stewart Weaver, Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering (Yale University Press, 2008).Mick Conefrey, "The K2 Summit Controversy," Rock and Ice (November 12, 2015). Shahzeb Jillani, "Amir Mehdi: Left out to freeze on K2 and forgotten," BBC News (August 7, 2014). Ed Douglas, "Walter Bonatti, mountaineer, journalist and Italian hero, dies aged 81," The Guardian (September 14, 2011). "Mountain Climbing: Three Days on a Rope," Time (February 25, 1965). Claude Gardien, "Walter Bonatti: Citizen of Mont Blanc," Alpinist 69 (March 23, 2020). Stephen Goodwin, "Lino Lacedelli (lah-cheh-DEL-lee): Mountaineer whose ascent of K2 in 1954 was shrouded in controversy," The Independent (November 24, 2009). Wikipedia, "1954 Italian expedition to K2." Wikipedia, "1954 Italian Karakoram expedition controversy." Wikipedia, "Walter Bonatti," "Amir Mehdi," "Achille Compagnoni (kom-pan-YOH-nee] ," "Lino Lacedelli (lah-cheh-DEL-lee)." Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-crux-true-survival-stories--7265181/support. Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast Email us! thecruxsurvival@gmail.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/ Get schooled by Julie in wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/ Use discount code CRUX to get 10% off tuition on a 2-day Wilderness First Aid course! This episode includes AI-generated content.
