In 1977, Jack Roberts, a California “Stone Master” and experienced young alpinist, met Simon McCartney, a highly motivated 22-year-old Brit who had cut his teeth climbing in Europe with some of the most respected mountaineers of the time. Over the next three years, the pair enjoyed a magical partnership during which they completed two of the boldest and most audacious climbs in the history of Alaskan alpinism. Then McCartney disappeared from the climbing scene entirely, emerging now, nearly 40...