Legacies Made and Lessons Learned on the World's Highest Peak

In To Touch the Sky, three interwoven stories play out in the shadows and on the slopes of the tallest mountain on earth. First, author Jeffrey Oderman recounts his April 2014 trek to Everest Base Camp, his quest to climb a lesser but still imposing peak to the south of mighty Everest, and the back stories of many larger-than-life personalities he encounters along the trail. Second, we learn of the avalanche that buried sixteen climbers just above Base Camp that year, five of them members of the author's extended team.

Finally, we look back on the first mountaineers to challenge Everest. In June 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine vanished into the clouds high on the mountain. For a century, the question of whether they summited before perishing has remained the greatest mystery in the history of mountaineering. Based upon clues the mountain has revealed over time, To Touch the Sky provides a plausible and poignantly spiritual ending to the tale.

At once intimate and epic, To Touch the Sky takes you on a high-altitude journey of pride, peril, and perseverance.