JOHN ROSKELLEY IS WRONG...WOMEN CAN CLIMB WITH MEN
Christine Boskoff is a mountaineer who happens to be a woman. She is also the first American woman to have reached the summit of five 8,000 metre peaks and is looking to summit all fourteen of them. Gasherbrum 2, located in Pakistan in the Karakoram range of the Himalayas, is one of those peaks.

The video is part biographical in that it tells the viewer a little about Ms. Boskoff. She discusses how she became interested in climbing, her reasons for it, and gives some details as to her training for such a climb. She also runs the mountain guide firm, Mountain Madness, which she took over after Scott Fisher's death on Everest in 1996. She herself led the eleven person team on Gasherbrum 2. The team was comprised of one woman(herself) and ten men.

The video is also part travelogue, as it describes the often hair raising journey to Gasherbrum 2, which began in Islamabad, Pakistan. The truck ride to their trekking point was absolutely harrowing, as it wended its way through the mountains. At times, the road was so narrow that wheels of the truck overhung the edge of the road over a precipice. The truck also crossed over a bridge so rickety, it was amazing that someone did not insist on getting off the truck in order to walk across, instead.

After the perilous truck ride, there was an amazing trek to the baltoro glacier. Be prepared for a great view of the imposing Trango Tower, which is four, nearly vertical, miles high. The entire trip to get to Gasherbrum 2 hones home just how precarious a mountain climber's existence can be.

Once they start climbing Gasherbrum 2, be prepared for breathtaking vistas of snow capped peaks, shots of an avalanche, and actual climbing footage. The team climbed without supplemental oxygen or porter support up the mountain. The team loaded and carried to the four camp sites enroute to the summit, while the Balti porters waited at base camp. During the summit climb, the wind chill factor dropped the temperature to about minus forty below. Yet, a number of the team, including Ms. Boskoff, reached the summit without incident, despite the capricious weather.

All in all, this is a well shot, fifty minute climbing tape, which should appeal to mountaineering and climbing enthusiasts.

A highly recommended video for community library collections
Ascent On G2: One Woman's Journey To The Top is the very impressively filmed documentary which follows Christine Boskoff as she and her intrepid team ascend to the summit of Gasherbrum II (G2), the fourteenth highest peak on planet Earth. This 26,320 feet climb over jagged, icy crevasses, past death-defying avalanches and unforgiving blizzards, through temperatures as harsh as forty degrees below zero is a remarkable, riveting excursion ultimately resulting in heavenly views of snow-capped mountains and a feeling of unparalleled accomplishment. Ascent On G2 is a highly recommended video for community library collections and a "must" for all mountaineering enthusiasts and women's sport/athletics fans.