TIQUIMANI by Margaret Griffin

"Unclimbed, and said to be unclimbable" was how the American mountaineer and Andes expert Evelio Echevarria described the mysterious Tiquimani, a snow-capped rock bastion which sours 18500 feet into the icy air of the Bolivian Andes.

For a team of South African mountaineers this was the challenge they were seeking.  So they planned the first organized South African mountaineering expedition to go beyond the shores of Africa.  They went to Tiquimani, the unclimbable, and conquered it.  Then followed weeks of adventure in a mountain-studded world where peak after peak arose, few of them climbed or even mapped.

The team, six men from the Western Cape and one from South America, emerged intact, with nine first ascents and several other tough climbs to its credit, including the terrifying West Peak of Condorini, where on one delicate cornice they 'had to breathe gently - and pray'.

Margaret Griffin, the Cape Town journalist, tells their story in fluent and entertaining style.  The expedition's tale is traced from its inception, to the still more tortuous climbing.

Hard cover, with dust jacket.  The overall condition is good.