Product Description

Higher Than the Eagle Soars distills “the intense essence” of his Everest climb, concentrating on the drama of the final climb and nightmarish descent. It is an intimate and epic account of an event that confirmed Venables as the greatest British climber of his generation.

I have been wanting for some time now to revisit the Everest climb. Although the book I wrote about it [Everest: Alone at the Summit] was very successful and has appeared in four different editions, it conformed superficially to an “expedition book,” telling the whole story from beginning to end, with considerable technical detail. It would be good to go back and extract the intense essence of the story, concentrating on the drama of the final climb and nightmarish descent, making a grand finale to the book.

Although Everest wasn’t the end of my climbing career, it was a big turning point: it had quelled the demon of ambition and I sensed that I would probably never do anything quite so extreme in the mountains. And, 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1126295 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-23
• Released on: 2007-10-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 370 pages

Review
“The story of his descent after a night spent at the top is . . . both harrowing and deeply moving.”–Sunday Times


From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap
Praise for A SLENDER THREAD: 'Venables is one of the best climbers in the world, and one of the best writers about climbing . . . Read it, but be careful. You may never be content just to climb the stairs again.' Julian Champkin, Mail on Sunday

'The plummet experienced by Venables on the descent from his successful first ascent of Panch Chuli V in the Himalayas was of the kind most feared by climbers, the failure of an abseil point, an incident which usually guarantees death . . . Venables writes with understated elegance' Observer

'Sensitive to the absurdity and honest about the selfishness, he is, more than most mountaineers, eloquent in describing the satisfactions climbing can bring . . . It is powerful, dramatic writing . . . This is one of the best mountaineering books to have been published for a long while.' Chris Woodhead, Sunday Telegraph

'One of the most successful climbers of his generation . . . outstanding . . . his best book.' Ed Douglas, Climber

About the Author 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.

From the Back Cover
'Having spent time wiht 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.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes