Stephen Venables and three companions made the first ascent of Panchu Chuli V—a remote Himalayan peak on the borders of India, Nepal and Tibet. A rappel anchor failed on the descent, pitching Venables into a 300-foot fall. Crashing through the black night, flung from rock to rock, he assumed that he was plunging to his death. Against all odds he survived, but was left stranded 19,000 feet above a labyrinth of glaciers and snow slopes with two broken legs, the threat of gangrene, and scant food or medical supplies. If he was to return to his wife and son waiting at home some 5000 miles away, Venables knew he had to draw on his reserve of courage and determination. The third Adrenaline Classic, A Slender Thread is a spellbinding account of Venables' survival—and his intense personal struggle to understand the risks he takes for the sake of his insatiable passion for climbing. He comes as close to anyone to answering the unanswerable question: Why do they do it?

A Slender Thread:  Escaping Disaster In The Himalaya

STEPHEN VENABLES

Biographies & Memoirs

ARROW (RAND)

An exceptionally moving story about a courageous autistic boy, and the effect he had on all who knew him, written by his father, a successful mountaineer.“Like the swallows, Ollie came in the spring and left in the autumn. Dancing, singing, swooping — there was something birdlike about his energy, joy and laughter — but also the fleeting, transitory, enigmatic quality of his life. At the age of two he lost the ability to speak, when autism turned his life — and ours — into a baffling challenge. Then at four he almost died from Leukemia. Chemotherapy worked its magic, but at six he had a relapse. He fought hard and made a full recovery. Then, just six months from the Official All Clear, a brain tumour was discovered. After a brave struggle, he died very suddenly. His body had gone into meltdown. He was twelve.“This is not a story of passive suffering or failure. Ollie had extraordinary courage. Time after time he bounced back, determined to enjoy life. He had astonishing endurance.”“I would like to explore the journey we made with Ollie and to tell his story. Unlike a mountaineer, pursuing extreme experiences for self-gratification, he had difficulty thrust upon him — his courage was real. For me, too, although I did not have to do all the physical pain and suffering, the journey was far more compelling than any expedition.”From the Hardcover edition.

OLLIE

Arrow

<p>Every day, the path up the South Col route to the summit of Everest becomes a little more worn by the tread of dozens of package-tour climbers, but few dare to try the East, or Kangshung, Face, a sheer, avalanche-swept wall of snow and ice only first conquered in 1983. Five years later, Stephen Venables intensified the challenge by leading three unknown American climbers up the East Face - this time without oxygen. The question to most climbing experts wasn't whether they would summit, but whether they would live. They nearly didn't Everest: Alone at the Summit is Venables' rousing account of one of the greatest feats of twentieth century mountaineering, a triumph over doubt, the elements and the limits of human endurance that has never been repeated. "Climbers or not, all will be interested in this mountaineering thriller of a tiny band pulling off an incredible victory-an account so stirring it will be put down only to obtain a moment's breather." -- American Alpine Journal</p>

Everest: Kangshung Face

Sports & Outdoors

Pan/Macmillan

Painted Mountains: Two Expeditions to Kashmir

Hodder&Stoughton Ltd

<p>This is the story of the author's remarkable feat of climbing to the summit of Mount Everest alone, unaided by oxygen and by a new route, in 1988. His previous book "Painted Mountains" won the Boardman Tasker Award for Climbing Literature.</p>

Odyssey Books

Island at the Edge of the World: South Georgian Odyssey

Travel

Time Warner Paperbacks*

SHACKLETON AT SOUTH GEORGIA

Robert Burton

Epic a mountaineering term that evokes a sense of treacherous disaster. The climb that went wrong: fighting blinding snowstorms and horrific avalanches; days spent tentbound running low on food, water and oxygen; surviving broken bones and shattered spirits. With writing from Greg Child, David Roberts, Stephen Venables, Alfred Lansing and others, Epic is a collection of the most memorable accounts of legend-making expeditions to the world s most famous peaks, often in the worst possible conditions. Epic is an adventure audiobook at its most compelling! · Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award Winner · ForeWord Magazine's Audiobook of the Year Winner · AFIM Indie Award Winner · Independent Publisher Magazine's IPPY Award Finalist

Epic: Stories of Survival From The World's Highest Peaks

Science & Math

Alfred Lansing

Art Davidson

Charles Houston

Greg Child

David., Roberts

Maurice Herzog

Robert Bates

Nature & Ecology

Listen & Live Audio, Inc.

Everest

Allen& Unwin

The history of climbing Everest is a chronicle of tragic failures and triumphant achievements, featuring some of the world's most celebrated climbers. 'To the Top' tells their stories and creates a picture of what drives people to brave the dangers of Everest.

To the Top : The Story of Everest

Children's Books

Walker Books

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Books by STEPHEN VENABLES