Unseen extremes : mapping the world's greatest mountains / Stefan Dech, Reinhold Messner, Nils Sparwasser.

Includes index.

Trailblazers: foreword / Pascale Ehrenfreund -- Mountains: the fourth dimension / Stefan Dech, Reinhold Messner, Nils Sparwasser -- Of scientists and mountaineers: the making of this book / Stefan Dech, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner. Kailash : Where the gods dance: history -- The jewel of snows: profile -- Milarepa: the secret of renunciation / Reinhold Messner. Mont Blanc : The birth of modern mountaineering: history -- The while alp: profile -- Ordeal on Mont Blanc / Pierre Mazeaud. Matterhorn : The end of innocence: history -- Between two worlds: profile -- Alone on the Matterhorn / Hervé Barmasse. Ushba : Double conquest: history -- Borders and borderlines: profile -- As dangerous as it gets / Adolf Schulze. Denali : The face of midnight sun: history -- Exposed to extremes: profile -- On the roof of North America / Barbara Washburn. Aconcagua : The great face of the New World: history -- The forces of nature: profile -- No going back / Robert Paragot. Nanda Devi : The sacred double peak: history -- Risen from the ocean: profile -- The northwest face of Nanda Devi / John Roskelley. Mount Everest : A record in itself: history -- A mere moment of fame: profile -- Beyond our limits / Stephen Venables. K2 : Mountain of mountains: history -- Extreme in many ways: profile -- "I had the feeling I was being carried" / Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner. Dhaulagiri : the white mountain of the Himalayas: history -- White faces, rough climate: profile -- no impossible ways / Tomaz̆ Humar. Nanga Parbat : The king of mountains: history -- Growing higher: profile -- Beyond the "point of no return" / Sandy Allan. Annapurna : The "first eight-thousander:" history -- Rainbows in the ice: profile -- The south face, Alpine style / Yannick Graziani. Masherbrum : A challenge for the future: history -- An insight into the Earth: profile -- We shall try again / Hansjörg Auer. Histories / Reinhold Messner -- Profiles / Andreas Mulch and Nils Sparwasser -- From data to images / Nis Sparwasser -- editors, authors and project partners -- Index.

This thrilling combination of science, history, geography and adventure brings together more than 170 breathtaking virtual images of mountains, created using modern satellite technology with unprecedented precision and detail, allowing viewpoints that have never before been possible; the history of mountaineering, retold by world-class adventurer Reinhold Messner; first-hand accounts of expeditions by great climbers: Sandy Allan, Hansjörg Auer, Hervé Barmasse, Yannick Graziani, Tomaz̆ Humar, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Pierre Mazeaud, Robert Paragot, John Roskelley, Adolf Schulze, Stephen Venables, and Barbara Washburn.