Ultimate Feats of Modern Exploration
There is a special breed of person who thrives on risk, for whom an unconquered mountain or an unexplored ocean represents an irresistible challenge. Some are world-famous-Hillary, Heyerdahl, Chichester while others are known only to a tight-knit group of their peers, but all share certain hallmark qualities: a fierce desire to be first and best; a deep commitment to their goals, and most impor tant of all, a kind of determination and endurance that is even more spiritual than physical.
Chris Bonirigton understands the powerful allute of adventure, and in this enthralling book he chronicles a generous selection of the most remarkable and daring exploits of the past half-century. A recond-setting mountaineer, he's the perfect guide to some of the world's most remote, forbidding, and dangerous places, from the blazing sands of the Sahara to the frigid Antarctic ice cap, from the blinding white of a Himalayan blizzard to the pitch-black depths of an underground river. Along with the first-person story of his own pioneering ascent of Annupurna's treacherous South Face. Bonington presents vivid accounts of 16 other epics-on land, on water, and in the air.
We voyage across the Pacific with Thor Heyer-dahl's crew on the primitive balsa raft called KonTiki and ride the jet stream around the world in the gondola of the ultra-modern Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon. We free-climb the vertiginous face of El Capitan and follow the footsteps of solo climbers into the Death Zone of Karakoram peaks. We cling alone and desperate to a tiny, dismasted sailboat in an Antarctic ocean gale, fight gun battles with mur-derous bandits during the first boat descent of the rapid-strewn Blue Nile, cave-dive in narrow passages hundreds of feet beneath the English hills, and much more.
This book isn't just a lively narrative of 17 great adventures; it's also an expert overview of the his tory, lore, and techniques of arronautics, ocean sail-ing, mountaineering, and polar trekking, to name just four, as well as a wonderful portrait gallery of scores of colorful figures, familiar names, and unsung heroes alike. Finally, it's a fascinating analysis of the wide variety of styles and personalities drawn to adventuring, observed with the keen eye of an experienced insider.
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