High Drama: Mountain Rescue Stories from four Continents

208 pp. Index. Includes two sections of b&w plates, and a few maps. Dark blue cloth with gold imprint. Dust jacket in clean condition. In this collection of true accounts of mountain rescue, German Bergwacht leader Ludwig Gramminger sets down some epic moments on the North Wall of the Eiger in the pre-helicopter 'thirties, including the agonizing attempt to rescue Toni Kurz, and he follows it with an account of would be rescuers obliged to rescue themselves on the Matterhorn. There is an avalanche story in the Tatras; from the United States comes the recovery of a party on the Grand Teton, and from the Pamirs, Paul Nunn's account of a deadly blizzard on Peak Lenin. New Zealand provides stories over a span of years from La Perouse and Mount Cook. The book is rounded off by an outstanding example of self-help in the annals of mountaineering -- Doug Scott's account of his and Chris Bonington's Do It Yourself rescue descent of the Ogre. Fine Condition. Seattle, Washington: Mountaineers, 1980. First Edition. $28.