Savage Arena

By: Joe Tasker

Narrated by: Stewart Crank

Joe Tasker lies, struck down by illness, in a damp, bug-infested room in the Himalaya, wondering if he will be well enough to climb Dunagiri, his first venture to the "big" mountains. One of Britain’s foremost mountaineers and a pioneer of lightweight climbing, he is about to attempt one of the first true "Alpine-style" climbs in the Greater Ranges.

The Dunagiri attempt forms part of Tasker’s striking tale of adventure in the savage arena of the mountains. A superb writer, he vividly describes the first British winter ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, the first ascent of the West Wall of Changabang - considered a "preposterous" plan by the climbing world - and his two unsuccessful attempts on K2, the second highest mountain on Earth.

Savage Arena is both moving and exciting, an inspirational tale of the adventuring spirit which follows its own path, endlessly seeking new challenges, climbs and difficulties to overcome. It is not reaching the summit which counts, it is the journey to it. It is also a story of the stresses and strains of living for long periods in constant anxiety, often with only one other person, and of the close and vital human relationships which spring from those circumstances.

©1982 The Estate of Joe Tasker (P)2019 Vertebrate Publishing

Mountaineering Adventure

I love mountain climbing stories! It’s fun to have a book take you somewhere you’ll never see in real life.

The Author is Dead

The introduction explains that Joe Tasker submitted the manuscript just prior to departing for an expedition to Everest, from which he never returned. That fact will be in the back of your mind as you listen.

I've read MANY mountaineering stories and this is clearly one of the very best. highly recommended.

Decades of inspiration

For thirty years now I have come back, and back again and again to this wonderful tome of inspiration. Many adventures have been spawned by this literary fuel.

Excellent, entertaining throughout

I liked this better than Boardman's The Shining Mountain. It covers some of the same material, but less exhaustively. Tasker has a knack for the telling detail and anecdote. The early climbs are outrageously bumbling. By the end he's a consummate expert, though still pushing it to outrageous limits. No surprise he and Boardman just kept pushing on the east ridge of Everest until they just keeled over and died.

Unbelievable story of K-2

One of the best book Audio book I have listing two, check this out, it is great.