5Back in Print in Mountaineers Books "Legends & Lore" series, this mountaineering classic is the story of Hermann Buhl's momentous ascent of Nanga Parbat in 1953, which at the time--after Everest and Annapurna--was just the third 8000-meter peak to be climbed. Buhl, though a member of a large expedition, made the summit push solo and set a new bar that measured mountaineers for the rest of the century.

The account of Bhul's harrowing summit climb still thrills with its single-minded commitment and total loneliness. After Nanga Parbat, Buhl played no further part in the exciting mountaineering scene he had initiated. He died in a cornice accident while attempting Chogolisa.