‘If I could choose a place to die, it would be in the mountains.’
Clouds from Both Sides
is the autobiography of
Julie Tullis
, the first British woman to climb an 8,000-metre peak –
Broad Peak
– and the first to reach the summit of
K2
, the world’s second-highest mountain.
A truly remarkable woman, Julie describes her early days in a London disrupted by World War II; her family life, climbing, teaching and living by the sandstone outcrops of
High Rocks
and
Harrison’s Rocks
in Tunbridge Wells, Kent; and her experience as a high-level mountaineer and filmmaker. Tullis demonstrates her determination and self-discipline through training to black-belt standard in both judo and aikido, and never allows financial concerns to keep her away from the high mountains – a place where she felt at peace. Filled with vivid accounts of frostbite, avalanches, snow blindness and exhilaration alongside her climbing partner
Kurt Diemberger
,
takes us to
Yosemite, Nanga Parbat, Everest
.
First published in 1986 before her death, and with an additional chapter written by
Peter Gillman
documenting Tullis’s final, fated expedition to K2, this story is as relevant and awe inspiring today as it ever was. Tullis’s achievements are timeless and her attitudes and opinions far ahead of their time.
is a tribute to the memory of an inspirational woman determined to strive for her dreams, an extraordinary account of her adventures and an exhilarating testament to her courage.