SIGNED BY K2 MOUNTAINEER ROBERT H. BATES

BATES, Robert H. The Love of Mountains Is Best. Climbs and Travels from K2 to Kathmandu. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Peter E. Randall, (1994). Large octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. $250.

First edition of this adventure travel narrative spanning a lifetime—Bates rejects the term "autobiography"—signed on the title page by K2 mountaineer Robert H. Bates.

"This record of 70 years travelling and climbing around the world makes fascinating reading. Although the author stresses that it is not an autobiography, it covers most of his life so far as mountains are concerned, including 'three visits to K2 (two of them serious attempts to make the first ascent); winter exploration by dog team of the Saint Elias Mountains in Yukon Territory for the National Geographic Society; the third ascent of Denali (Mt McKinley) for the US Army; testing army clothing and equipment during combat at Anzio in World War II; directing the first Peace Corps group in Nepal; and travelling to the mysterious Great Ice Mountain on the Xinjiang-Tibetan border as part of the first China-US mountaineering expedition.' In fact, it contains considerably more than that, and it almost seems as if the author, in his long life, has visited every country in the world" (Alpine Journal). Early price sticker on front flap of dust jacket.

An about-fine signed copy.