Travel Guides Travel Writing Walking & Hiking Guides Nature Writing & Wildlife Climbing & Mountaineering
The Tower book cover
Cerro Torre Controversy

The Tower

by Kelly Cordes

Audiobook Narrated by Bernardo de Paula 9 hrs and 9 mins

Listen to a Sample

Free with Audible trial · Amazon buyer protection

Kelly Cordes delivers a gripping account of obsession, rivalry, and the most controversial climb in mountaineering history. At the heart of the story stands Cerro Torre, a savage Patagonian spire shrouded in mystery and myth, and the decades-long question of whether its first ascent was genuine or the greatest hoax in alpinism.

Through meticulous research and compelling storytelling, Cordes unravels the tangled web of ambition surrounding Cesare Maestri's disputed 1959 claim and his audacious 1970 return with a petrol-powered bolt gun. The narrative explores themes of truth, ego, and the ethics of climbing whilst paying tribute to the mountain's brutal beauty and the climbers drawn to its impossible walls. This is essential reading for anyone fascinated by mountaineering's darker chapters and the thin line between achievement and deception.