The Other Two

The early days on K2 and Kangchenjunga

There was a period of my life when I was obsessed with mountain climbing. I didn’t climb mountains myself, mind you — I had kids and a budget and a creaky back — but I watched other people climb them on TV.

For a while, I mainlined every documentary the TV gods cared to bestow upon me about high-altitude, high-risk alpinism. It was a very particular typ…