The Tower - by Kelly Cordes (Hardcover)

Number of Pages: 400
Genre: Sports + Recreation
Sub-Genre: Mountaineering
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Patagonia
Age Range: Adult
Author: Kelly Cordes
Language: English

About the Book

Patagonia's Cerro Torre, considered by many the most beautiful peak in the world, draws the finest and most devoted technical alpinists to its climbing challenges. But controversy has swirled around this ice-capped peak since Cesare Maestri claimed first ascent in 1959. Since then a debate has raged, with world-class climbers attempting to retrace his route but finding only contradictions. This chronicle of hubris, heroism, controversies and epic journeys offers a glimpse into the human condition, and why some pursue extreme endeavors that at face value have no worth. --Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

Patagonia's Cerro Torre, considered by many the most beautiful peak in the world, draws the finest and most devoted technical alpinists to its climbing challenges. But controversy has swirled around this ice-capped peak since Cesare Maestri claimed first ascent in 1959. Since then a debate has raged, with world-class climbers attempting to retrace his route but finding only contradictions. This chronicle of hubris, heroism, controversies and epic journeys offers a glimpse into the human condition, and why some pursue extreme endeavors that at face value have no worth.

From the Back Cover

"A Shriek Turned to Stone"

Mountaineer Reinhold Messner's description of Cerro Torre, considered by many the most beautiful and compelling mountain in the world, articulates the challenge and controversy that has enveloped this mountain since Cesare Maestri claimed first ascent in 1959.

At the wind-scoured southern tip of Argentina, between the vast ice cap and the rolling estepas of Patagonia, rises a 10,262-foot tower of ice and rock named Cerro Torre. Considered by many the most beautiful and compelling mountain in the world, it draws the finest and most devoted technical alpinists from around the globe. Reinhold Messner, the greatest mountaineer in history, called it "a shriek turned to stone."

But controversy has swirled around Cerro Torre since 1959, when Italian climber Cesare Maestri claimed its first ascent. His partner died on the descent, and generations of world-class climbers attempting to retrace his route have found only contradictions. In 1970, enraged by the doubts and obsessed with proving his success, Maestri used a gasoline-powered air compressor to hammer hundreds of bolts, spaced to be used as ladders, into Cerro Torre's flanks. The Compressor Route instantly became one of the most contentious routes in the climbing world--and, in the decades that followed, it became the most popular route on the mountain. In 2012, when two young, talented, and idealistic climbers, Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk, removed many of Maestri's bolts, the controversy erupted anew. What role should equipment play in the accomplishments of climbers? Who has the right to alter a route, or a mountain? What is the impact of history on our ethics in the mountains? And, most fundamentally, what is the point of alpinism: the summit or the climb? This chronicle of hubris, heroism, principle, and epic journeys offers a glimpse into the human condition, and explores reasons why some pursue extreme endeavors that at face value have no worth.

Review Quotes

Winner for Banff Mountain Book Awards, 2015, Mountain and Wilderness Literature -- Nonfiction

The contrast between the old and the new, very centered opinions by the author and a twist at the end that I was certainly not expecting made it one of the best mountain books I ever read. Cheers to Cordes and his brilliantly written book Thecampsiteblog.com

The Tower by Kelly Cordes is one, if not the best modern mountaineering book I've had the pleasure to read in a long time. Careful though. This is a book that is not easy to sit down. Sad part is, the book does has an ending. coldthistle.com

I simply loved this book, and I'm a weary veteran of one-too-many armchair mountaineering reads, not as easily impressed as I once was by any slab of paper with a mountain on the cover and photos inside of manly men with frost in their beards. I tore through The Tower in two nights, this with a newborn in the house: it's a classic. climbingterms.com

Kelly Cordes has penned one of the most fascinating and well-written chronicles of Cerro Torre, one of the most beautiful, infamous and important mountains in the world. This is a must-have for any armchair mountaineer and history buff. Gripping read from start to finish. eveningsends.com

No mountain in the world is so otherworldly and has such a troubled history. This book is the most in-depth look yet. It examines the social and psychological context that has sparked fifty years of controversies and rivalries, and how belief influences everything we--both climbers and all of mankind--do.-Climber Rolando Garibotti, author of Patagonia Vertical

combining cutting-edge climbing talent, a wicked sharp pen (okay, keyboard), and a passion for accuracy in mountain reporting.
-- John Harlin III, author of The Eiger Obsession

With passion, literary skill, and relentless curiosity, top-shelf alpinist Kelly Cordes takes us on a wild ride through the controversial history of Patagonia's Cerro Torre--the most perfect mountain on earth.
Gregory Crouch, author of Enduring Patagonia

Kelly Cordes embodies the climbing spirit more than anyone I know. I admire him for the way he devotes himself completely to writing and the mountains. He is also my favorite storyteller. I can think of no one better to write the story of Cerro Torre.
-Tommy Caldwell, professional climber

About the Author

Kelly Cordes maximizes outdoor time and climbing alpine-style routes. His climbing includes the first ascent of the Azeem Ridge in "disaster style." He writes to support his passion for climbing and is a Patagonia Ambassador. He lives in Estes Park, CO.