This is an adventure tale told with literary flair about two mountaineering expeditions in the Italian Alps, one a tragically failed military mission to set up a radio tower in the closing months of World War II and the parallel tale of surviving climbers returning to the scene of the dangerous climb to exorcise the ghosts of the past. A group of friends are reassembled in the last days of the war for the mission but not all make it home, and one refused to take part. All the remaining members are coping with the guilt differently. Two refuse to climb at all, until dying request of their mentor and their struggles to cope with post-war life motivate them to tackle the route once again. It is full of the thrills and challenges, but also pays close attention to the interior lives of climbers.
by econoquist