Masherbrum

In 1960, he had organized another first ascent in the Karakoram, leading a team of American and Pakistani mountaineers to the top of Masherbrum — sometimes known as Doomsday Mountain — at upward of 25,600 feet.

“Nick had the capacity to fantasize and to translate fantasy into reality,” Tom Hornbein, who was part of the Masherbrum team, said in a telephone interview.

Andrew and I flew for an hour back down the Baltoro Glacier, swinging in our helicopter past some of the most startling peaks in the world — Masherbrum, Trango Towers.