num_pages: 352
description: 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 tightknit group of their peers but all share certain hallmark a fierce desire to be first and best; a deep commitment to their goals; and most important of all a kind of determination and endurance that is even more spiritual than physical. Chris Bonington understands the powerful allure 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 record-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 Heyerdahl's crew on the primitive balsa raft called Kon-Tiki and ride the jet stream around the world in the gondola of the uItra-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 murderous bandits during the first boat descent of the rapid-strewn Blue Nile cave-dive hundreds of feet beneath the English hills and much more. This book isn't just a lively narrative of 17 great adventures; its also an expert overview of the history lore and techniques of aeronautics ocean sailing 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. Highlighted by more than 125 photographs illustrations and maps these truly suspenseful tales of triumph -- and often tragedy -- offer a wonderful panorama of adventuring and its all-or-nothing champions the extraordinary men and women who feel most alive when they are on the very edge of a perilous unknown.
language: English
title: Quest for Adventure: Ultimate Feats of Modern Exploration
publisher: National Geographic