Listen free for 30 days
-
To the Greatest Heights
- Narrated by: Vanessa O'Brien, Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Adventurers, Explorers & Survival
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £19.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Higher Love
- Climbing and Skiing the Seven Summits
- By: Kit DesLauriers
- Narrated by: Gina Rogers
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2006, Kit DesLauriers made history by becoming the first person to climb - and then ski - from the summit of each continent's highest mountain, the famed Seven Summits. Centered on this quest, Higher Love represents a hero's journey, rich with personal insights, life-threatening consequences, and a thrilling crescendo. Spanning seven continents in just two years, this deeply personal memoir recounts Kit's initially secret journey that would change her life forever.
-
Everest: It's Not About the Summit
- By: Ellis J Stewart
- Narrated by: John Weston
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2014, Mount Everest was closed to all climbers after a devastating avalanche claimed the lives of 16 Nepali mountain workers ferrying loads up through the Khumbu Icefall on the mountain's southern approach through Nepal. Almost a year to the day later, in late April 2015, the mountain was once more rocked to its core after a large earthquake struck Nepal, sending shock waves rippling across the Himalayas.
-
-
Interesting for certain people,but perhaps not all
- By Ben Waddams on 02-10-20
-
Aftershock
- One Man's Quest and the Quake on Everest
- By: Jules Mountain
- Narrated by: Peter Silverly
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the worst earthquake to hit Nepal in living memory strikes on 25 April 2015, Jules Mountain is shivering in his tent at Base Camp. To reach the summit of Everest has been a life-long dream, one which he is more determined than ever to realise, having won his battle with cancer two years earlier. The climbers are faced with an impossible set of decisions: to get to a safe zone as quickly as possible? To try to be of assistance in the relief effort? To push on despite everything?
-
Lessons from Everest
- 7 Powerful Steps to the Top of the World
- By: Dr. Tim Warren
- Narrated by: Dr. Tim Warren
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a devastating failed attempt to climb Mt. Everest in 2007 and a brief period of mourning, Dr. Tim Warren became focused on learning the lessons that had been revealed to him while hiking alone for three days down the Khumbu Valley of Nepal to heal his damaged lung tissue in the luxury of oxygen-rich lower altitude. Lessons from Everest describes seven lessons, each a stepping stone to greater understanding and awareness of the reader's inner journey to their own Everest.
-
The Next Everest
- Surviving the Mountain's Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again
- By: Jim Davidson
- Narrated by: Jim Davidson, Tim Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in 81 years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with 18 people losing their lives on the mountain.
-
Structured Chaos
- The Unusual Life of a Climber
- By: Victor Saunders
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders’ follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram.
-
-
A well crafted book
- By Girdle Traverse on 07-12-21
-
Higher Love
- Climbing and Skiing the Seven Summits
- By: Kit DesLauriers
- Narrated by: Gina Rogers
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2006, Kit DesLauriers made history by becoming the first person to climb - and then ski - from the summit of each continent's highest mountain, the famed Seven Summits. Centered on this quest, Higher Love represents a hero's journey, rich with personal insights, life-threatening consequences, and a thrilling crescendo. Spanning seven continents in just two years, this deeply personal memoir recounts Kit's initially secret journey that would change her life forever.
-
Everest: It's Not About the Summit
- By: Ellis J Stewart
- Narrated by: John Weston
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2014, Mount Everest was closed to all climbers after a devastating avalanche claimed the lives of 16 Nepali mountain workers ferrying loads up through the Khumbu Icefall on the mountain's southern approach through Nepal. Almost a year to the day later, in late April 2015, the mountain was once more rocked to its core after a large earthquake struck Nepal, sending shock waves rippling across the Himalayas.
-
-
Interesting for certain people,but perhaps not all
- By Ben Waddams on 02-10-20
-
Aftershock
- One Man's Quest and the Quake on Everest
- By: Jules Mountain
- Narrated by: Peter Silverly
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the worst earthquake to hit Nepal in living memory strikes on 25 April 2015, Jules Mountain is shivering in his tent at Base Camp. To reach the summit of Everest has been a life-long dream, one which he is more determined than ever to realise, having won his battle with cancer two years earlier. The climbers are faced with an impossible set of decisions: to get to a safe zone as quickly as possible? To try to be of assistance in the relief effort? To push on despite everything?
-
Lessons from Everest
- 7 Powerful Steps to the Top of the World
- By: Dr. Tim Warren
- Narrated by: Dr. Tim Warren
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a devastating failed attempt to climb Mt. Everest in 2007 and a brief period of mourning, Dr. Tim Warren became focused on learning the lessons that had been revealed to him while hiking alone for three days down the Khumbu Valley of Nepal to heal his damaged lung tissue in the luxury of oxygen-rich lower altitude. Lessons from Everest describes seven lessons, each a stepping stone to greater understanding and awareness of the reader's inner journey to their own Everest.
-
The Next Everest
- Surviving the Mountain's Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again
- By: Jim Davidson
- Narrated by: Jim Davidson, Tim Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in 81 years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with 18 people losing their lives on the mountain.
-
Structured Chaos
- The Unusual Life of a Climber
- By: Victor Saunders
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders’ follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram.
-
-
A well crafted book
- By Girdle Traverse on 07-12-21
-
Beyond Possible
- The man and the mindset that summitted K2 in winter
- By: Nimsdai Purja
- Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An SBS Gurkha soldier's account of how his tough Nepali upbringing and the lessons learned in his army life enabled his record-breaking conquest of all 14 of the world's 8,000m peaks in under seven months. What happens when ambition meets limitless imagination? Enter Project Possible: a seemingly unreachable goal to climb all 14 'death zone' mountains in record time. The previous record was seven years, 10 months and six days. I did it in six months.
-
-
Amazing feat, but...
- By Benjamin Mason on 03-02-21
-
Walking with the Wounded
- The Incredible Story of Britain's Bravest Warriors and the Challenge of a Lifetime
- By: Mark McCrum
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas, Martyn Ellis, Andrew Wincott, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 2011, four soldiers set out on a challenge that even an able-bodied athlete would balk at: a 200-mile trek, unsupported, to the North Pole. It was the culmination of a journey that began long before, when two friends decided to mount an expedition that would demonstrate how remarkable our armed forces are and raise funds for the rehabilitation of injured service men and women. Little did they know that their idea would ultimately gain global attention.
-
-
Truly inspiring book what an amazing story
- By Matthew on 04-12-13
-
How to Mount Aconcagua
- A Mostly Serious Guide to Climbing the Tallest Mountain Outside the Himalayas
- By: Jim Hodgson
- Narrated by: Jim Hodgson
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mostly serious guide to climbing the tallest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres, this efficient book includes a hilarious day-by-day account, with detailed descriptions of the challenges facing a climber on Aconcagua, such as when to wear your Crocs, which pop music divas to enjoy, and the challenges of pooping at high altitude. Everything you need to know about what it's like to attempt to summit Aconcagua is in this audiobook, served up on a tasty bed of humor.
-
-
just love this book
- By john powell on 04-11-20
-
One Day as a Tiger
- Alex Macintyre and the Birth of Light and Fast Alpinism
- By: John Porter
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the autumn of 1982, a single stone fell from high on the south face of Annapurna and struck Alex MacIntyre on the head, killing him instantly and robbing the climbing world of one of its greatest talents. Although only 28 years old, Alex was already one of the leading figures of British mountaineering's most successful era. His ascents included hard new routes on Himalayan giants like Dhaulagiri and Changabang and a glittering record of firsts in the Alps and Andes.
-
-
Good for mountaineers
- By Gee Jackson on 23-10-19
-
Call-Out
- A Climber's Tales of Mountain Rescue in Scotland
- By: Hamish MacInnes
- Narrated by: James Gibson
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 1960s, MacInnes led the Glencoe Mountain Rescue team and together they developed innovative techniques and equipment in order to save lives - often risking their own in the process - whether night or day, and always at a moment’s notice. He was a central figure in the rescue during the 1963 New Year tragedy in the Cuillins on the Isle of Skye, and led groundbreaking rescues on Buichaille Etive Mor, Ben Nevis, Bidean nam Bian and many other legendary Scottish mountains.
-
-
A great collection of stories from a legend
- By Ms Isobel Oakley on 12-02-22
-
Chasing Extreme
- A Journey of Overcoming Obstacles & Depression to Embrace a Life of Extreme Adventure
- By: Luke Tyburski
- Narrated by: Luke Tyburski
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Luke Tyburski’s dream to play professional soccer on the world stage disintegrated after a series of debilitating injuries, he had no backup plan. His career and everything he’d worked for was over. He reinvented himself as an ultra-endurance adventurer and discovered his superhuman ability to withstand extraordinary conditions and excruciating pain. From the searing heat of the Sahara Desert to a typhoon-ravaged remote island, Luke’s drive to constantly test his limits stunned his family, friends and fellow athletes.
-
-
Inspiring in more ways than one
- By Mr. Stephen J. McCann on 29-12-21
-
Journeys North
- The Pacific Crest Trail
- By: Barney Scout Mann
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Journeys North, legendary trail angel, thru hiker, and former PCTA board member Barney Scout Mann spins a compelling tale of six hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2007 as they walk from Mexico to Canada. This ensemble story unfolds as these half-dozen hikers - including Barney and his wife, Sandy - trod north, slowly forming relationships and revealing their deepest secrets and aspirations. They face a once-in-a-generation drought and early severe winter storms that test their will in this bare-knuckled adventure.
-
-
The PCT text. The one
- By Jacob Russell on 31-01-21
-
Climbing the Walls
- By: Kieran Cunningham
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After spending a decade restlessly globetrotting in search of a way of life that worked for him, journalist Kieran Cunningham alighted on Sondrio, a small town in Lombardy, Italy. A stone’s throw from the Alps, there he found the perfect combination of fresh mountain air, a strong network of local friends and lots of climbing. Finally he was able to accept and manage his diagnosis of bipolar I. And then Lombardy found itself the European epicentre of COVID-19 and subject to the strictest of lockdowns.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Paul Devlin on 04-07-21
-
The Chomolungma Diaries
- Climbing Mount Everest with a Commercial Expedition (Footsteps on the Mountain Diaries)
- By: Mark Horrell
- Narrated by: Mark Horrell
- Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Chomolungma Diaries is a true story of ordinary people climbing Mount Everest with a commercial expedition, and preparing for the biggest day of their lives. Imagine your life clipped into a narrow line of cord five miles above the Earth, on the world’s most terrifying ridge walk. This book will bring you just a little bit closer to that experience.
-
Found
- A Life in Mountain Rescue
- By: Bree Loewen
- Narrated by: Rachel Perry
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mountain search-and-rescue volunteer Bree Loewen's to-do list isn't quite the same as most people's. A former Mount Rainier climbing ranger and trained leader in mountain search-and-rescue, Bree shares the drama and the camaraderie of this work, as well as the challenges of trying to fit her other roles as wife and mother into what is still largely a masculine environment. In a fearless voice - disarming yet laced with dark humor - Bree guides us through intense recoveries, vivid wilderness landscapes, and the warmth she discovers in motherhood, community, and purpose.
-
Both Feet on the Ground
- Reflections From the Outside
- By: Marshall Ulrich
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You’re stressed, tired of answering the beeps on your phone and computer. Your kids get too much screen time. You don’t know where your next meal was grown or raised. One of the best forms of therapy is simple: Get out and stay out - as often and for as long as you can. In Both Feet on the Ground, Marshall Ulrich champions “disconnecting to reconnect”, urging you to spend time unplugged, eat food whose origins you understand, and push yourself to try something bold and personally compelling.
-
The Sharp End of Life
- A Mother’s Story
- By: Dierdre Wolownick
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wife and mother. Teacher and musician. Marathoner and rock climber. At 66, Dierdre Wolownick-Honnold became the oldest woman to climb El Capitan in Yosemite - and in The Sharp End of Life: A Mother’s Story, she shares her intimate journey, revealing how her climbing achievement reflects a broader story of courage and persistence.
-
-
Fascinating account of how climbing opens minds
- By Belcruit on 17-05-20
Summary
When Vanessa O'Brien was made redundant in 2008 as part of the recession, she moved to Hong Kong with her husband for his career and resigned herself to being 'just the wife'. There she was, aged 46, bored, uninspired, unemployed. Was this going to be how she was going to live the rest of her life?
One night in the infamous Kee Club, over shots of tequila, a friend suggested O'Brien climb Everest and that was the start of an epic journey she never looked back from as she climbed Everest, K2 and many other mountains.
This is her inspirational story. As O'Brien says, she couldn't explain to her listeners how she got to the top of K2 at the age of 52 without being honest about what came before. In To the Greatest Heights, she reveals the trials and tribulations of her difficult childhood and the result is a life-affirming book that shows how she achieved these climbs in spite of and because of her past.
To listen to To the Greatest Heights is to know that there is a path to overcoming the worst of what happens to us, a path that helps us reach the summit of our lives, too, whatever our age.
Critic reviews
"What a wonderful, honest, refreshing book, full of free-spirited adventure, humour and profound thoughts to provide inspiration to anyone who simply dreams of getting out and doing their own thing." (Sir Chris Bonington)
"Ernest Shackleton listed those qualities an explorer should possess over a century ago: optimism, patience, idealism with imagination and courage. Vanessa's qualities are truly akin to these." (Alexandra Shackleton)