Versante Sud We Just Wanted to Climb the Sky novel mountaineering

We Just Wanted to Climb the Sky by Bernadette McDonald is a deep dive into the world of Polish Himalayan mountaineering, chronicling a golden era when men like Kukuczka, Kurtyka, and Wielicki redefined the limits of the impossible on the highest mountains on earth. This book tells the story of a generation of climbers who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, men who, with limited means but unwavering determination, accomplished extraordinary feats, opening new routes and achieving the first winter ascents of the Eight-Thousanders. It is a powerful and moving portrait that reveals the motivations, dreams, and tragedies of a group of friends and rivals united by a single, consuming passion: to reach the sky with their own hands.