Conquistadors of the Useless

National Geographic Adventure's "100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time"

"The finest mountaineering narrative ever written." — David Roberts, author of Mountain of My Fear

Conquistadors of the Useless captures the energy of an optimistic world that was shaking off the restraints of war and austerity in the mid-twentieth century. Lionel Terray, with his passion for climbing, epitomized much of that brave new world. Despite his father’s bemusement at a son who needed to climb mountains, Terray pursued the beauty and purity of alpinism. His thirst for climbing led him from the European Alps to the highest summits in the world in the Himalayas and the Andes. He was part of the expedition that reached the summit of Annapurna for the first time--the first 8000-meter peak to be climbed. Partnering with the greatest alpinists of his time, including louis lachenal and Gaston Rébuffat, not to mention Maurice Herzog, Terray achieved some of the most impressive climbs of the century; he seemed at the center of every major new initiative of his era.

But this book is not only about big climbing achievements and historic first ascents; it is above all a book about mountains and their secrets--and what a life devoted to mountaineering can mean to a dedicated climber. Writing in an honest, straightforward, and yet occasionally tongue-in-cheek manner, Terray shares his consuming passion for mountaineering.

It is a story for those who love and know the mountains, and also for non-climbers. Indeed, Terray wrote it for them to explain why--why this need to always climb higher and farther, how there was purpose in doing something which could seem so useless.