Table Of ContentOne Man’s Climb
A Journey of Trauma,
Tragedy and Triumph on K2
One Man’s Climb
A Journey of Trauma,
Tragedy and Triumph on K2
Adrian Hayes
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by
Pen & Sword HISTORY
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Yorkshire - Philadelphia
Copyright © Adrian Hayes, 2018
Hardback ISBN: 9781526745378
Paperback ISBN: 9781526751652
The right of Adrian Hayes to be identified as Author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
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Photograph Credits: All images Adrian Hayes unless otherwise stated
Song Credits:
Page 99: Landslide, Fleetwood Mac - Nicks, S. Warner Bros Records, 1975
Page 192-3: Everglow, Coldplay - Berryman, G, Buckland, J, Champion,
W, Martin, C, Parlophone Records Limited, 2015
TO ALEXANDER, CHARLOTTE AND NICKLAS
MY LONGINGS, MY LOVES, MY LEGACY
FOREWORD
I FIRST MET ADRIAN IN 1992 in Salalah, southern Oman,
when he, like myself twenty-five years earlier, was serving on
secondment with the Oman Armed Forces, whilst I was completing
the expedition to find The Lost City of Ubar – the ruins of a city that
existed 3,000 years ago in southern Arabia. We have met up again
on my subsequent visits to the region and make contact every so
often. On our most recent get-together he mentioned how his life
had unwittingly followed much of mine – army officer, special
forces and Oman, together with tackling the world’s extremes in
the mountains, poles, deserts and jungles. I am humbled that, as
a teenager growing up in the New Forest in southern England, he
considers me one of his greatest influences and I was delighted
to write the foreword to his first book, Footsteps of Thesiger, which
traced his journey by camel and foot across the Empty Quarter of
the Arabian Desert.
Unlike me, Adrian has always been a mountaineer first and
foremost and, having accomplished some impressive feats on all
terrains in his life, I wasn’t entirely surprised when he told me he
was returning to the mountains to attempt, arguably, the greatest
of them all – K2. I’ve always felt a cold shiver at the merest mention
of the world’s second highest mountain and the appalling statistics
on it make for sombre reading. I fully accept, therefore, that for
the vast majority of people it is unfathomable why anyone would
want to risk their life climbing it.
And yet that viewpoint, whilst completely understandable,
undermines the very essence of an intrinsic human spirit and
desire to push the boundaries beyond what may seem like common
sense, whether it is in the mountains, poles, underwater or even
into space. There are few major accomplishments in any walk of
life without there being some risk; the skill is to minimize it as
much as possible. On K2, that is inherently difficult and the huge
risks and low success rates are undoubtedly largely in nature’s
viii ONE MAN’S CLIMB
hands. Luck will therefore always play a part in either surviving or
succeeding and Adrian fully acknowledges that he was extremely
fortunate with both of his two attempts on the mountain.
One Man’s Climb is a remarkably honest and transparent
account of the challenges, both externally and internally, that
anyone who dares to take it on experiences. I congratulate Adrian
for this fascinating read, for attempting K2 and for becoming one
of only a tiny handful of Britons who have reached the top – and
lived to tell the tale.
RANULPH FIENNES
CONTENTS
FOREWORD ��������������������������������������������������������������� VII
INTRODUCTION ������������������������������������������������������������ 1
PART ONE
You’re Crazy .........................................................................................5
A History of Disaster .........................................................................14
The Seeds are Sown ...........................................................................24
The Taliban Strike ...............................................................................39
Skardu and the Baltoro ......................................................................49
Base Camp ...........................................................................................63
Uneasy Signs .......................................................................................72
All is Lost .............................................................................................87
Requiem .............................................................................................102
PART TWO
Re-entry ..............................................................................................113
In the Zone ........................................................................................124
All in the Team..................................................................................138
Mind, Body and Spirit .....................................................................150
One Step at a Time ...........................................................................160
Overcoming the Odds .....................................................................172
Descent to Safety ..............................................................................186
Return to Reality ..............................................................................197
The Living Years ...............................................................................205
