A Slender Thread: Escaping Disaster in the Himalayas

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?

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?

KLIATT

Steven Venables somehow lived through a truly horrifying experience. Struggling down after nightfall from the first successful climb of Panch Chuli V, he and his companions could see the welcoming light from their tent far below. Then, at 19,000 feet, a piton slipped and Venables found himself tumbling out of control through rocks and snow. He came to a stop 300 feet down, semiconscious and with both legs broken. With food and water nearly gone, and oxygen tanks nearly depleted, both mountaineering ethics and common sense demanded that the injured man be abandoned to his fate. The epic struggle of his teammates to carry him down through avalanches and ice fields makes up the bulk of this exciting book. At heart, Venables is a romantic, as are most high-altitude climbers. His account of his life up to that heart-stopping moment, and his ordeals afterward, are full of the beauties of high mountain peaks and the mystical satisfaction that comes from conquering their awesome heights. He is also a writer of no little skill, having already published the story of his ascent of Everest's fearsome Kangshung Face (Everest: Alone At The Summit, Adrenaline Classics). In its way, A Slender Thread is fully as absorbing as Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and The Death Zone by Matt Dickinson, both of which were bestsellers a few seasons ago. The present generation of articulate, younger writer-climbers has greatly changed the face of traditional mountaineering literature. (Adrenaline Classics) KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, Publishers Group West/Avalon, 236p, illus, 23cm, 00-049748, $14.95. Ages 13 to adult.Reviewer: Raymond L. Puffer, Ph.D.; Historian, Edwards Air Force Base, CA, May 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 3)