K2 (Adventure Press)

Howkins, addressing the reader through stories told to a bemused hitchhiker, reports much more than the sheer achievement of her ascents of K2, notable though they were. Along the way she tells him, and us, of a failed marriage, of the logistical nightmares that accompany any expedition to remote places, of the endless conflicts that can ensue when climbing partners are not carefully vetted. As the lone woman on her K2 climbs, Howkins had more than the usual problems to contend with, though those problems--bad weather, scary bus rides along the Karakoram Highway, the constant presence of death--were hard enough. All of them get an airing in Howkins's book, but for all that, her sense of adventure far outweighs the many downsides.

Why take on such a challenge in the first place? A friend warned her about trying to explain, and Howkins toys with a few explanations: the rush gained by conquering fear, denying the fragility of human existence, and "embracing survival with gusto." In the end, though, her best explanation is this: "When you get to the top of K2, there's nowhere left to go. There is a cessation of passion, of the desire to move forever upwards. There is emptiness, and the closure of a circle. You are back where you started. You're at peace." --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

It stands as the ultimate challenge to human endurance, where dreams and destiny meet—and often collide. Its routes are steeper and more difficult than those of Mount Everest, and the weather is significantly colder and less predictable. Only 148 men and women have reached its summit—and 21 of them never made it back down.

The mountain, of course, is K2, and Heidi Howkins didn't want to “just climb” it. She insisted on doing it alpine style—without established camps, porters, or supplemental oxygen. K2 is her riveting, stunningly photographed first-person account of her historic climb, as a member of the American K2000 expedition. Seeking to be the first American woman to accomplish this feat, Howkins, a mother of a seven-year-old, believes the rewards of living on the edge outweigh the risks whenever she sets foot on the world's highest peaks. “Mountaineering is a life-or-death situation,” she explains. “And I have to be ready for whatever challenge I may face. I take it seriously. My daughter gives me a desperate kind of strength that helps motivate my training.” K2 is a powerful testament to this uncommon courage and determination.

She tells that story and more in K2: A Quest For The Summit. Eventually she frees herself from Zee, she rises above the obstacles placed in her way from other climbers in this male-dominated world. She's a good writer and tells the story well.

It's not a story of one climb but of several, it's a series of memoirs, really. Why does Howkins use the hitchiker 'Hiddle' as a foil - someone to tell her stories to? Other reviewers of this book have dismissed him as a fictional character, (and a bad device at that) - yet nowhere in the book does Howkins say that he is...so why do they assume so? Because it's impossible to believe a man could sit in a car with a woman and listen to HER talk? Pay attention to HER talk? If Hiddle the hitch-hiker is a fiction, why did Howkins think it necessary to use this foil? Well, their conversations do illuminate her stories the more...for example in the beginning with his talk of 'Ananku' or trouble. She is capable of learning from her adventures, long after they have passed.

''Go ahead, I'm listening.'' she has Hiddle say. One wonders if in the real world she ever had a man who said that to her, and meant it.


A Mixed Effort   March 6, 2002
 7 out of 11 found this review helpful

Ms. Howkins is a professional mountain climber who is not afraid to take on the tough ones. She has attempted K2, the roughest of the big ones; Gasherbrum II, the north face of Kanchenjunga, and Everest without supplementary oxygen. In other words, she's won her spurs.

The narrative device is the author telling her story and thoughts to a hitchhiker. This is supposedly the staging area for each chapter. It is not a successful mechanism and seems needlessly contrived. The book takes a few scenes from Kanchenjunga where Ms. Howkins found romance with a Spanish climber, a brief narrative of her first K2 climb with her ex-husband, who appears to be a certified mad man, and the remainder is devoted to her second K2 climb, Project K2000.

The book badly needs organization; the reader is frequently confused about what expedition she is talking about, and continuity is completely absent. While reading, I had the impression she was lifting passages from her private journals and entering them in a scattershot fashion. I later found out that almost the entire section on Project K2000 had first appeared in Mountain Zone. The author barely characterizes her teammates on Project K2000; she doesn't even give their last names. It is as if Ms. Howkins was confronting faceless enemies. I have read many times about how difficult it is for women climbers to be accepted in the male fraternity of mountaineers, but the treatment Ms. Howkins endured was appalling: ignoring her, referring to her by obscene names, trashing her tent. I couldn't believe well-educated, civilized men would behave in such a fashion toward the one lone woman on their team. She states that if she had been a wife or companion of one of the members, there probably would have been less friction.

I found Ms. Howkins likeable, smart and perceptive with a flair for the lyrical. However, the book lacks a focus and seems hastily put together. C-


Bad read   February 4, 2002
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is the worst mountianeering book I have ever read. Heidi Howkins may have accomplished great feats in her mountianeering career, but writng books is not one. This book is more of an account of the mess she has made of her personal life, rather than high adventure. If you are looking to read about the beauty and tragedy of K2, you will not find it here. You will find failure, and blame. It is a horrible jumbled account of several experiances, several of which do not belong in print.