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Highest and Hardest: A Mountain Climber's Lifetime Odyssey to the Top of the World - Hardcover | Diverse Reads

Highest and Hardest: A Mountain Climber's Lifetime Odyssey to the Top of the World

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At age 16 Chris Kopczynski carved the words “Everest/Eiger” into the handle of his ice axe, marking his goal to climb the two mountains known as the "highest and the hardest." He accomplished that goal by the age of 33, becoming the ninth American to summit Everest and the first American to summit both the North Face of the Eiger and Mt. Everest. With the climbing addiction in his blood, he set new goals and became the twelfth in the world to climb the highest peaks on seven continents.

Chris’ lifelong odyssey to the top of the world includes the climbs, attempts and summits of every continent’s highest, hardest, and most significant mountains. He gives readers stories of perseverance and survival as he achieved his dreams on Robson in the Canadian Rockies, Chimney Rock in Idaho, the Pamirs and Elbrus in the USSR, Denali in Alaska, Makalu in Nepal, Antarctica’s Vinson, Chile’s Aconcagua, Kosciuszko in Australia, and Africa’s Kilimanjaro.

ISBN-13: 9781493066476

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers - Inc.

Publication Date: 02-15-2022

Pages: 374

Product Dimensions: 6.20(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.00(d)

Chris Kopczynski has climbed with John Roskelley for over 55 years. From their early days bouldering around Spokane, tackling the vertical and technical big walls of the Pacific Northwest to more challenging peaks around the world, they grew to become all-around mountaineers. Roskelley calls Chris the most underrated American mountaineer. With the publication of Chris’s life story, the climbing world can recognize and applaud the accomplishments of this premier world climber.

Table of Contents

Foreword: John Roskelley v

Introduction: Driven to The Death Zone vii

1 Life with Meaning 1

2 Whittier School 7

3 The Science Project 11

4 Teacher from Hell 13

5 Trestle Trauma 16

6 Birdman 19

7 Penance & Penology 25

8 Budding Mountaineer 28

9 Matterhorn & Eiger 34

10 Breakthrough 52

11 Robson 59

12 Joe Collins & Robson 66

13 Chimney Rock 75

14 Pamirs & USSR 87

15 Eiger North Face 102

16 Denali 119

17 Makalu 134

18 Everest 158

19 Kangshung Face of Everest 216

20 Vinson 244

21 Aconcagua 263

22 Elbrus 293

23 Kosciuszko 305

24 Kilimanjaro 311

25 Carstensz 335

26 Into Thin Hair 355

About the Author 357