When Chris Bonington and his team set out in August 1975 to climb the South West Face of Everest, they were attempting the ultimate challenge of mountaineering- to conquer the steepest and highest face in the world. Two months later, overcoming daunting physical conditions and massive psychological pressures, the lead climbers scaled 1,000 sheer feet of the previously unconquered Rock Band to reach the summit- the hard way Drawing on first-hand accounts of his fellow climbers, Chris Bonington vividly portrays the tensions, emotions and, on one occasion, bitter personal tragedy behind the most spectacular ascent in the history of climbing.