In August 2002, mountain climbers attempting to reach the summit of K2 in Pakistan discovered the bones of Dudley Wolfe, the wealthy Boston socialite who had become the first climber to die on the slopes of the world's second-highest mountain in 1939:
"Chubby, clumsy and out of his element, Wolfe nonetheless insisted on being a member of the American-German expedition trying to be the first to conquer the 28,240-foot behemoth nicknamed The Savage Mountain. His motive was simple: He hoped to win back the affections of his ex-wife by impressing her with the headlines that would follow."
Headlines certainly followed. Though Wolfe, a playboy in The Great Gatsby tradition, fancied himself a man of action, on the K2 climb in 1939, he "proved so inept that, at times, he had to be winched up the mountain by Sherpas."
[He scoffed at those who urged him to turn around.]
Sources
The Baltimore Sun, Aug, 2002
