INTIMATE, RAW, PAROCHIAL, CLUNKY AND UNIQUE, K2 NORTH RIDGE 1990 IS THE BOOK-LENGTH TELLING OF THE SORT OF STUFF CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING IGNORES. THIS IS A CLIMBERS BOOK, FOR CLIMBERS, THAT LEAVES OUT MUCH OF THE DRAMATICS AND STORY ARCS THAT TURN SO MUCH CLIMBING WRITING INTO OPERA. FALLIBLE AND WITH A VIEWPOINT DIVORCED FROM MANY OF THE CLICHES AND TROPES THAT DEFINE THE GENRE, K2 NORTH RIDGE 1990 IS AN INSIGHT INTO EXPEDITION REALITY.

FIRSTLY, LYLE CLOSS IS NEITHER THE FINEST EXPEDITION CLIMBER NOR CLIMBING WRITER, BUT HE PORTRAYS THE IMPORTANT QUALITIES OF HONESTY, INSIGHT AND THE EYE FOR DETAIL. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE GONZO JOURNALISM OF HUNTER S THOMPSON AND A VERY LONG AAJ ARTICLE, CLOSS’ TELLING OF THE SUCCESSFUL 1990 TRIP TO THE CHINA SIDE OF K2 BACK IN THE EARLY DAYS OF HIGH PROFILE IS BOTH GOOD READING AND AN IMPORTANT ACCOUNT OF ‘BIG’ CLIMBING JUST BEFORE IT WENT MAINSTREAM.

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ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTALLY INTERESTING ASPECTS OF K2 NORTH RIDGE IS CLOSS’ PERSPECTIVE OF THAT OF THE NON-SUPERSTAR CLIMBER, MIXED INTO A TEAM OF BIG NAMES BUT NEVER LETTING IT BECOME THEIR STORY AND NOT HIS. THIS ALONE IS UNCOMMON IN CLIMBING WRITING, BEING NEITHER ABOUT THE BIG NAMES, NOR ABOUT THE ANTITHESIS OF A ‘JUST SOME GUY’ CHARACTER.

CLOSS’ PLACE IN THE EXPEDITION SHIFTS AND IS OPENLY NEGOTIATED, AS ONE OF SEVERAL CONTINUAL NARRATIVES WITHIN A FAIRLY CLUNKY BOOK. THIS COMES ACROSS AS INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC HONESTY RATHER THAN HAVING ANY DRIVE TO WHAT ESSENTIALLY HAS NO PLOT, AND IS AMONG THE BEST DESCRIPTIONS OF A TEAM LAID DOWN IN PRINT.

CLOSS’ PERSPECTIVE CAPTURES A GOOD MIX OF ALPINE DERRING DO AS WELL AS THE LUMPEN TRUTHS OF DAY TO DAY EXPEDITIONS. HIS TIME UP HIGH IS DESCRIBED RAWLY, AVOIDING SUPERLATIVE AND ‘EPICNESS’, WHICH IS SAVED MORE FOR HIS TELLING OF CAMP LIFE, HIS FELLOW CLIMBERS, AND THEIR COMPRESSED INTERACTIONS IN A PLACE FAR FROM THE SOAP OPERAS OF SOMEWHERE LIKE EVEREST.

READERS USED TO THE REALITY TV-STYLE STUFF OF MOST 8000m TALES WILL FIND THIS A REFRESHING CHANGE, AS THE AMERICAN-AUSTRALIAN-PAKISTANI TEAM GETS ON WITH THE JOB IN SERIOUS ISOLATION, WITH ONLY OCCASIONAL CONTACT WITH A NEARBY JAPANESE AND SHERPA TEAM. CLOSS’ TELLING, WITH VARYING DEGREES OF SELF AWARENESS, OF THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THEM PLUS THE CHINESE LIAISONS AND UYGHER HERDERS IS A UNIQUE SCENARIO, WITH A BIZARRE MIX OF ATTITUDES BETWEEN THE VARIOUS ETHNICITIES. ANYONE THINKING OF DOING A LONG, REMOTE EXPEDITION WILL FIND THIS ELEMENT ENLIGHTENING, WITH LESSONS TO LEARN ABOUT HOW CULTURES ENGAGE.

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CLIMBING-WISE, CLOSS, NOT BEING AN EXPEDITION LEADER, PORTRAYS LITTLE OF THE EVENTS FROM THE SHARP END OF THE ROPE. RATHER THAN BEING SOMETHING MISSING – COUNTLESS OTHER BOOKS DETAIL THIS – HE GIVES A GOOD DESCRIPTION OF A GENERAL TEAM MEMBER AND THE ROLE THAT THIS ENTAILS. EXPUNGED OF ALL THE USUAL COMMERCIAL STUFF AND CROWDED CONDITIONS FOUND IN MOST RECENT 8000m TALES, CLOSS IS LEAVING NOTHING OUT REFERENCING EVERYONE ELSE ON THE MOUNTAIN, SIMPLY BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IS THERE. TO HIS GROUP THE JAPANESE OFF ATTEMPTING A NEW ROUTE ON THE NORTH FACE ARE AS ALIEN AS THE LOCAL UYGHERS AND CHINESE, WHILST DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FAMOUS WESTERN CLIMBERS – SWENSON, CHILD AND MORTIMER – ARE INTIMATE BUY STILL WITHOUT SENTIMENTALITY.

THIS IS A GOOD BOOK FOR A FLY-ON-THE-WALL LOOK AT THE WAY GREAT CLIMBERS OPERATE, INCLUDING RETELLINGS OF DISCUSSIONS, GROUP MEETINGS AND PASSING CHATS. OFTEN CLUNKILY INSERTED, CLOSS NEVERTHELESS HAS A KNACK FOR PORTRAYING DIALOGUE, THAT IS A VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THE WAY CAMPS AND TEAMS WORK.

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IMPORTANTLY, K2 NORTH RIDGE 1990 GIVES A VIEW OF THE APPROACH PHASE OF THE EXPEDITION, SOMETHING THAT HASN’T CHANGED A LOT AND THAT REALLY DEFINES THE NORTH SIDE AS REMOVED FROM ALMOST ALL OTHER 8000m ASCENTS AND LITERATURE. NOWHERE ELSE DOES THIS PROCESS EXIST (EVEN THE NORTH SIDES OG THE GASHERBRUMS AND BROAD PEAK SHARE MOST OF IT), AND CLOSS IVES IT FULL RESPECT, EQUAL TO THE CLIMBING. IN A CONRAD-ESQUE WAY THIS ELEMENT SHOWS HOW THE TEAM EXITS A KNOWN WORLD FOR ANOTHER, REFRESHINGLY CLEAR OF ANY COMPARISONS DUE TO CLOSS’ OWN LACK OF ANY OTHER PREVIOUS 8000m EXPERIENCE.

THIS DETRACTS FROM THE STORY NOTHING AT ALL, AND LETS THE WONDER SHINE THROUGH WHERE SO OFTEN IT IS BACK-BURNERED TO MAKE SPACE FOR HEROICS AND LIST-TICKING. NONE OF THE CLIMBERS PRESENT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT CLIMBING THE 14 8000ers OR ANY OTHER ARBITARY COLLECTION, AND FREES THE NARRATIVE FROM FOCUSING MUCH ON WHAT HAPPENED ELSEWHERE AND HOW FAST.

UNKNOWABLE AT THE TIME, THE LOCATION THEY ARE IN WOULD ONE DAY BECOME THE LAST REFUGE OF TRUE 8000m ALPINISM, SO THE PORTRAYAL OF THE ENVIRONMENT IS WITHOUT THE ALARMING CONTAST IT IS TODAY. THEY KNOW HOW REMOTE THEY ARE, AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE TEAM, BUT DON’T REALIZE THAT WITHIN A DECADE WHAT THEY ARE SEEING WILL BE THE LAST OF ITS KIND.

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FOR THE READER OF FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS CONTENT – THE FEW THERE ARE – K2 NORTH RIDGE 1990 IS THE MOST USEFUL DESCRIPTION OF WHAT IS OUT THERE. RATHER THAN THE ROMANTIC STUFF OF TILLMAN AND SHIPTON OR THE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE STUFF OF WIELICKI AND DUJMOVITZ, THIS IS WHAT GOES ON FROM ALL THE PERSONAL FOIBLES IN LITTLE TENTS TO THE GRANDNESS OF THE LOCATION. THE DETAILS ABOUT GEAR, FOOD, PERSONALITIES, LOGISTICS AND HUMAN INTERACTION ARE HUMAN AND REAL WITHOUT EVER GETTING IN THE WAY OF EACH OTHER TO CROWD THE STORY, GIVEN PERSPECTIVE BY THE FACT THAT THIS WAS AN EXPEDITION THAT FEW RECALL, THAT DIDN’T CLIMB ANYTHING NEW, THAT HAD NO DRAMATIC DEATHS AND AS FAR AS THESE THINGS GO, WENT OFF RATHER SMOOTHLEY.

IN IT’S WAY K2 NORTH RIDGE 1990 IS THE ANTIDOTE TO THE BLOCKBUSTER TALES, OF HOW A SUCCESSFUL ASCENT GOES, IN A VERY REMOTE PLACE. IF YOUR IDEAS HAVE BEEN BUILT ON A DIET OF KRAKAUR, HERZOG AND McDONALD WHAT’S HERE WILL PIERCE THE BESTSELLER FORMAT YET AVOID THE NECESSARY BREVITY OF A PURE REPORT, WITH A GLIMPSE OF SOMETHING CLOSER TO AL ALVAREZ’S FEEDING THE RAT THAN MOST ELSE THAT’S OUT THERE.