Higher Than The Eagle Soars: A Path to Everest

Description

A highly intimate and epic account of Stephen Venables's life, culminating in his dramatic ascent of Everest, an event that confirmed him as one of the greatest British climbers of his generation. High and wild places have dominated Stephen Venables' life and now he has written a full autobiography which explores how and - more importantly - why he became a mountaineer, and reveals a series of never-recorded adventures on four continents. At its climax he revisits his dramatic success without oxygen on the Kangshung Face of Everest, described by Reinhold Messner as the most adventurous in Everest's history and by Lord Hunt as 'one of the most remarkable ordeals from which men or women have returned alive'. As Venables writes- 'Although we didn't go seeking deliberately an epic near-death experience, it did turn out that way - the ultimate endurance test for which all the previous adventures seemed, retrospectively, to be a preparation.'

Stephen Venables is best known as the mountaineer who in 1988 became the first Briton to climb Everest without oxygen - one of many pioneering expeditions around the world. He began climbing while at Oxford in the early 1970s, and has written eight books about his mountain travels, winning the Boardman Tasker Prize, the King Albert Medal and the Grand Award at Banff International Mountain Literature Festival. He has also appeared in several television documentaries and worked on two IMAX movies - appearing in Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure and writing Alps - Giants of Nature. His most recent book, Ollie, was a Sunday Times bestseller. He is President of the Alpine Club in the year of its 150th anniversary. He lives in Bath with his wife and son.

Having spent time with Stephen on the Eiger, I know what good company he is. He has huge talent and a remarkable story to tell. His Everest climb was one of the great adventures of our time, but what is really fascinating is the life journey that took him to the top * Ranulph Fiennes * There can be no dispute about the magnitude of his achievement...Venables is superb on the terror and exhilaration of climbing...There is a particularly heart-stopping account of a journey up the north face of the Matterhorn. Insightful into his own character, Venables is honest enough to face up to the selfishness that mountaineering requires and the strain it puts on relationships -- Leo McKinstry * Sunday Telegraph * The story of his descent after a night spent the top is... both harrowing and deeply moving * Sunday Times * If you've never climbed, Higher Than the Eagle Soars can still be read for its old-fashioned, self-effacing humour, as the story of a cultured man determined to place himself inside a tradition he loves. Or you can read it for the thrills and spills -- M. John Harrison * Guardian * This is a memoir run through with humanity, humour and a deep abiding love of high mountains and the adventures they provide * Great Outdoors *