Elusive Summits

<p>At a time when the greatest mountains in the greatest ranges had been climbed by numerous routes collected like stamps and written about extensively <strong>Victor Saunders</strong> and his friends relished the exploration of the slightly lower slightly humbler but often more aesthetically satisfying and no less testing summits in the 6000- and 7000-metre range. With thousands of unclimbed peaks in the <strong>Karakoram</strong> and <strong>Himalaya</strong> to choose from these were ripe fruit for the committed mountaineers of the day.</p><p>In his <strong>Boardman-Tasker-winning <em>Elusive Summits</em></strong> <strong>Victor Saunders</strong> describes four expeditions to the <strong>Karakoram</strong> to <strong>Uzum Brakk Bojohaghur Duanasir Rimo</strong> and the stunning <strong>Spantik</strong>. Battling crevasses and violent weather injured climbers and dropped rucksacks Saunders and his friends make a string of exciting and difficult ascents.</p><p>Saunders communicates the highs and lows of expedition life with relish good humour and a keen eye for the idiosyncratic among his companions. His first book <em><strong>Elusive Summits</strong></em> is a wonderful celebration of the sheer exhilaration that comes from the hardest level of alpine-style exploration in the Karakoram.</p>