CONDITION USED GOOD, … A SUNNY DAY IN THE HIMALAYAS,PETER HILLARY, HARDCOVER, 1980

Armchairs of green water ice and a…
“It was coming right for us — a giant, great wave of smaller ice debris rumbling down the face itself. I grabbed hold of the axe and hammer in front of me, trying to leave only my helmet and pack vulnerable to what would very soon be upon me…

Ten strong men pulled on my legs; an angry crowd beat on my helmet and shouted in my ears. The rope slackened; I could hold no longer. Ice, rock, freefall — bounce, tumble in a storm of meteorites rushing across the heavens. An incredible silence.

Ken was gone. Our friend was gone.

God, what a nightmare had come of our happiness, our success, this lovely day… and now this ghastly calamity at 21,000 feet on a sunny day in the Himalayas.”

These deeply-felt words convey the shock and despair the author felt after the avalanche swept him and his three companions off the mountainside — killing one, leaving Peter badly injured, and his two friends shocked and hurt.

The attempt on Ama Dablam was the climax of Peter Hillary’s year in Nepal. Earlier, he had worked with his father, Sir Edmund Hillary, and a Himalayan Trust team on bridge and school hostel construction. This was followed by an attempt on the unclimbed Kusum Kang and a monsoon adventure with his Canadian girlfriend, Nena, in southern India.

The story has zest, humour, romance, and excitement as Peter describes his adventures with the observant eye of an enthusiastic young man. This indeed adds a new dimension to modern mountaineering — with rock music among the peaks. It shows Peter Hillary to be not only an accomplished adventurer but also an author of considerable promise. Readers will eagerly await his future books.