From publisher blurb:
According to popular myth, an interviewer once asked the renowned mountaineer George Mallory the question, “Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?” Legend tells us that he quipped, “Because it’s there.” In the minds of many seasoned mountaineers and novices alike, these three words best summarize their motivation for risking life and limb to climb to the figurative top of the world. Explorers imbued with an innate sense of adventure do not look upon these mighty giants as obstacles. They see them as challenges that beckon a select handful of courageous souls to match their minds and bodies against the ultimate immovable objects. Mountains inspire humanity to dream of achieving the impossible. The tallest peaks literally reach into the clouds, daring brave men and women to climb into the heavens and behold the world in the same manner the gods do. Those who possess the grit and determination to stand atop and conquer one of these stony behemoths walk among an elite brotherhood for the rest of their days.
The same steely resolve courses through the veins of adventurers who embark on a journey into this rugged, unforgiving landscape. Although they also possess the inner drive that propels climbers onto greater heights, more tangible rewards motivate many of them to bore into the heart of a foreboding, haunted mountain or scale the walls leading to a distant, snowcapped summit cloaked in a veil of ominous fog. Vast deposits of precious gems, metals, and minerals await the courageous few who dare delve into the mountain’s underbelly and wrest their prize from its covetous owner. Some adventurers hold firm to the belief mountain summits are sacred sites. Their faith tells them the denizens dwelling atop the frozen mountaintops hold the answers to the world’s profoundest mysteries and may be willing to share their secrets with those they deem worthy. The cause of righteousness spurs others to ascend into the clouds and battle against the malevolent men and monsters who commit heinous acts far from prying eyes in these remote, isolated locales. Regardless of their reason for setting foot into this inhospitable environment, in order to prevail in their quest, adventurers must not defeat only their enemies. They must also vanquish the mountain itself.