The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2 by Jennifer Jordan Page B
Authors: Jennifer Jordan
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and assuming his role as trip leader. After he had introduced Wolfe to Sella, he introduced him to Jack. While Fritz was disappointed that Bestor Robinson, his old partner and proven talent, was not going to be with them, he nonetheless had Jack Durrance, a professional mountain guide, on board. Although the younger man was not as experienced on ice, Fritz had lobbied hard for his inclusion knowing that he was a workhorse in the mountains who had more than proven himself on steep and unforgiving terrain, something they had a lot of in their future.
Last to meet up with the team were Chap Cranmer, George Sheldon, and Tony Cromwell, all of whom embarked in Naples and marveled at the opulence of the boat, with George and Chap whooping and clapping each other on the back as they found their way to their sumptuous cabins. Once settled, the men gathered at the oak and leather bar for several rounds of celebratory drinks, most of which ended up on Dudley’s bill.
As the great ship’s horn blasted notice of their departure, the 1939 American K2 expedition raised the first of many glasses of the Biancamano ’s house Chianti. The steamship pulled away from the pier and the men were en route to the definitive summer of their lives.
Chapter 5
The Getting There
Is it not better to take risks…than die within from rot? Is it not better to change one’s life completely than to wait for the brain to set firmly and irreversibly in one way of life and one environment? I think it is…taking risks, not for the sake of danger alone, but for the sake of growth, is more important than any security one can buy or inherit.
—C HARLES S. H OUSTON , K2 diary, 1938
Never was a country more ruggedly beautiful and at the same time more wretchedly ugly.
—G EORGE C. S HELDON , K2 diary, 1939
Crossing the Braldu River on approach to K2. (Courtesy of the George C. Sheldon Family)
A lthough 200 feet shorter and half the weight of the Titanic , the Conte Biancamano resembled the famed ship in its five-star service. From the potted palms lining the promenade deck to the painted ceiling of the music salon to the leather wing-backs and oriental carpets of the library and bar, the boat celebrated luxury with every carved pillar, recessed ceiling, and arched entranceway. As with most steamships before and since, its many meals were the focal points of each day. At dinner the men would dress in dinner jackets and gather in the dining room for the finest wines and culinary fare, its two-story ceiling with a trompe l’oeil vault and its carved balconies resembling an opera house.
In April 1939, the ship was crowded with tourists as well as one thousand German Jews fleeing the Third Reich and heading for Shanghai. While many could only afford third class, those who were in primo classe entertained the other first-class passengers by singing songs and playing the piano and the accordion into the small hours of the night. While Jack dubbed the ship “Little Jerusalem,” Dudley, remembering the exuberance of his Jewish cousins in London, thought these refugees were “the only people on the boat with any personality at all.”
The team enjoyed the week-long passage, particularly George Sheldon, who had never traveled outside the United States. Film footage shot by Dudley reveals a group of boisterous companions, frolicking like the college men some of them still were, playing deck tennis and golf, more than once scorching their skin in the Mediterranean sun, doing back flips into the swimming pool and mugging for the camera on the aft deck. The younger men drank hard and danced late, sweat soaking through their white linen jackets. At every port they all left the ship and toured the exotic harbors and villages along their route, becoming accustomed to the “baksheesh beggars” who pleaded with the rich Americans for money. As the boat left the Mediterranean Sea and began its passage past Port Said and Ismailia and into the Red Sea, Jack marveled
Last to meet up with the team were Chap Cranmer, George Sheldon, and Tony Cromwell, all of whom embarked in Naples and marveled at the opulence of the boat, with George and Chap whooping and clapping each other on the back as they found their way to their sumptuous cabins. Once settled, the men gathered at the oak and leather bar for several rounds of celebratory drinks, most of which ended up on Dudley’s bill.
As the great ship’s horn blasted notice of their departure, the 1939 American K2 expedition raised the first of many glasses of the Biancamano ’s house Chianti. The steamship pulled away from the pier and the men were en route to the definitive summer of their lives.
Chapter 5
The Getting There
Is it not better to take risks…than die within from rot? Is it not better to change one’s life completely than to wait for the brain to set firmly and irreversibly in one way of life and one environment? I think it is…taking risks, not for the sake of danger alone, but for the sake of growth, is more important than any security one can buy or inherit.
—C HARLES S. H OUSTON , K2 diary, 1938
Never was a country more ruggedly beautiful and at the same time more wretchedly ugly.
—G EORGE C. S HELDON , K2 diary, 1939
Crossing the Braldu River on approach to K2. (Courtesy of the George C. Sheldon Family)
A lthough 200 feet shorter and half the weight of the Titanic , the Conte Biancamano resembled the famed ship in its five-star service. From the potted palms lining the promenade deck to the painted ceiling of the music salon to the leather wing-backs and oriental carpets of the library and bar, the boat celebrated luxury with every carved pillar, recessed ceiling, and arched entranceway. As with most steamships before and since, its many meals were the focal points of each day. At dinner the men would dress in dinner jackets and gather in the dining room for the finest wines and culinary fare, its two-story ceiling with a trompe l’oeil vault and its carved balconies resembling an opera house.
In April 1939, the ship was crowded with tourists as well as one thousand German Jews fleeing the Third Reich and heading for Shanghai. While many could only afford third class, those who were in primo classe entertained the other first-class passengers by singing songs and playing the piano and the accordion into the small hours of the night. While Jack dubbed the ship “Little Jerusalem,” Dudley, remembering the exuberance of his Jewish cousins in London, thought these refugees were “the only people on the boat with any personality at all.”
The team enjoyed the week-long passage, particularly George Sheldon, who had never traveled outside the United States. Film footage shot by Dudley reveals a group of boisterous companions, frolicking like the college men some of them still were, playing deck tennis and golf, more than once scorching their skin in the Mediterranean sun, doing back flips into the swimming pool and mugging for the camera on the aft deck. The younger men drank hard and danced late, sweat soaking through their white linen jackets. At every port they all left the ship and toured the exotic harbors and villages along their route, becoming accustomed to the “baksheesh beggars” who pleaded with the rich Americans for money. As the boat left the Mediterranean Sea and began its passage past Port Said and Ismailia and into the Red Sea, Jack marveled
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