Savage Arena: The Final Confession of a Young Heart and a Difficult Mountain

｜Curated, Selected, and Introduced by Chan Wai-hung – Works from the Faces Publishing meters Mountain Literature Series｜

"We put ourselves at risk simply because the destination is worth it."

The most important mountain literature award of our time was created for him.
From the Eiger, Dhaulagiri, Changabang, Kangchenjunga to K2
The life and mind of Joe Tasker, a pioneer of lightweight Himalayan climbing
Published for the first time in the Chinese world over 40 years after its debut

Wu Yuan-he, Chairman of "Taiwan Mountain Trails Association"
Lu Chung-han, Global Citizen and Explorer
Lin You-min, Mountaineer
Yi Si-ting, Taiwanese-American Climbing Explorer
Chang Yuan-chih, Mountaineer
Xue Yang, Mountain Photographer
──Recommended

"A gripping story, imbued with tremendous courage and incredible endurance."
──Sir Edmund Hillary, first climber of Mount Everest

"One of the best and most important works of mountaineering literature."
──Sir Chris Bonington, recipient of the International Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award

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"Joe Tasker submitted the manuscript for 'Savage Arena' on the eve of his departure in 1982 with the British Everest Expedition. The expedition's objective was the unclimbed northeast-east ridge (i.e., northeast ridge) of Everest at the time. On May 17, Joe and his close friend and long-time high-altitude partner Peter Boardman were seen above 27,000 feet, making their final summit push. That was the last glimpse of them in this world. As a tribute to these two extraordinary mountaineers, we hope that the publication of 'Savage Arena' can serve as a monument to Joe Tasker – thereby forever commemorating him as a mountaineer, writer, and photographer."
──Publisher's Preface, 1982 First Edition

"Savage Arena" is a memoir written by British mountaineer Joe Tasker in 1982.
Shortly after submitting the manuscript, his presence vanished forever on Mount Everest.
Known as a pioneer of lightweight Himalayan climbing, he recorded in this memoir his journey of dedicating his life to the mountains,
from how he was inspired by classic mountain literature in his youth to his detailed accounts of several climbing expeditions to the Himalayas,
including driving across Eurasia to climb Dhaulagiri,
and the classic ascent with his partner Peter Boardman of the west face of "Shining Mountain" Changabang,
the epic feat of the first oxygen-free ascent of Kangchenjunga via a new route, and the thrilling experiences of two failed attempts on K2.
This book is hailed as one of the most brilliant works of mountain literature, and is being translated and published for the first time in the Chinese-speaking world more than forty years after its debut.

"I never intentionally went to the mountains so frequently, nor did I plan for mountaineering to be my long-term career, but I now feel that every trip to the mountains brings a little bit of freshness and difference, and as long as that remains constant, I will continue to be drawn by that allure, allowing me to linger in the mountains. Endless challenges await me, endless interesting problems await me to solve, endless obstacles still await me to overcome. I am not discounting achievements, nor am I collecting peaks; going to the mountains has simply become my life without realizing it. The K2 expedition highlighted how far we are willing to challenge ourselves, and I think in the eyes of outsiders, people like us are either tired of life or emotional creatures. But in fact, the reason we put ourselves at risk is simply because we feel that the destination is worth it."