The Karakorams are set in the wildest imaginable landscape of range upon mountain range. Just to get one first sight of K2 takes 12 days of hard walking from the nearest road, compared with the two days it takes from the Sherpa village of Namshe Bazaar to Everest Base Camp. And because bottled oxygen is rarely used on K2 (unlike Everest), it has the reputation (well-deserved) of being a real climber's mountain. But however much the mountains of Asia may continue to seize public imagination, for the climbers themselves there are plenty of other mountain ranges to be explored and more than enough challenges to be faced in Russia, in South America, in Alaska, and in Europe.

The North Face of Eager, for example, is still considered a formidable adversary. Not only is one confronted with 9,000 feet of sheer climbing (most big Alpine faces are about 3,000 feet), but certain parts are very difficult to reverse climb in the event of bad weather. (There is an added surreal element in the shape of doors set into rock faces which lead to the comfort and safety of the Jungfraujoch railways and which are often only inches away from the climbers' noses as they clamber past.) There is always new to be negotiated at all levels of climbing. Particularly in the Western Alps, Zermatt, the Mont Blanc Massif, the Bernese Oberland For those who wish to add an extra dimension of discomfort to their hardship, Mount McKinley in Alaska enjoys the distinction of being the coldest mountain in the world. The Andean peaks of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia are blessed with some of the most reliable weather to be found anywhere, and are set amidst some of the most enchanting bird, plant and animal life imaginable.