Higher Than The Eagle Soars

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