VITTORIO SELLA. K2-28,250 feet. Karakoram Himalayas at Sunrise. K2 as seen from the east from the rocks above Camp VI., 1909, Sella number HK SC2001. 23.2x18.7" gelatin silver print, printed c. 1909, flush mounted. Inscribed in black ink on mount recto: K2-28,250 feet. Karakoram Himalayas at sunrise / By Vittorio Sella, with the Duke of the Abruzzi's expedition, 1909. Embossed with Vittorio Sella stamp in lower right of print. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso: 2001 (2003 Catalogue) / Ship Tuesday Sure this one / To Fay 18x23 3/8 4961 / Crate & Ship to / Mr Arthur M Con.. / W___ Chester __ / Pa / ex collect. Inscribed in blue marker mount verso: to be Shipped.

The appearance of K2 is quite changed; it has become a mountain of ice. . . The wall, at a very steep angle of inclination, is live ice for 7,000 feet up, and crowned with séracs. It is absolutely inaccessible." KARAKORAM & WESTERN HIMALAYA 1909 BY FILIPPO DE FILIPPI. NY DUTTON 1912 p. 258

In 1909, as Sella was approaching his fiftieth birthday, he and his long-time climbing friend the Duke of the Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, embarked on their most ambitious journey yet, to climb K2 in the Western Himalaya Karakoram range, and to satisfy the Duke's primary intention to set a new high-altitude climbing record. In Tibetan, the name Karakoram means "black gravel," and to reach it meant crossing the vast mountainous region between Kashmir and Chinese Turkestan, a complex system of ranges, immense tablelands, intricate valleys, and mighty rivers.

The Duke wanted to determine how high human beings could climb and survive, a question that could only be solved by direct experience. The expedition ultimately spent over two months on the Karakoram glaciers and returned with a trove of scientific data that included a large number of photographs, a topographical survey of a portion of the high glacier basins, new altimetric measurements and meteorological data, new glaciological and geological observations, as well as the experience of long duration at low atmospheric pressure by both Europeans and natives.

Sella had already accompanied the Duke on expeditions to Alaska and Uganda, and once again the Duke wanted no one but Sella on the Karakoram expedition, knowing that his photographic record would be unsurpassed. Seven Italian guides and porters were chosen from Courmayeur, in the valley of Aosta, Italy. Sella brought with him Erminio Botta, who acted as assistant photographer, guide and porter, and was familiar with camp life and foreign mountaineering.

Good to Very Good: Moderate wear, extensive edge chipping, torn corner upper right.