A Slender Thread: Escaping Disaster in the Himalaya

Together with Chris Bonington and other distinguished British climbers, Stephen Venables was high on the unclimbed and sacred mountain of Panch Chuli when, at 1 AM on a dark Himalayan night, his abseil failed and he fell catastrophically, somersaulting from rock to rock and landing, seriously-wounded, at the end of a rope suspended above a 50-degree icefield. This is the story of his arduous and almost miraculous survival, and of the brilliant, committed teamwork which brought him to safety.

Stephen Venables is the first and only Englishman to have climbed a famous new route on Everest, and without oxygen. This expedition was the pinnacle of a distinguished and risky Himalayan career. He is the author of Painted Mountains, (winner of the Boardman-Tasker Prize); Everest: Kanshung Face; and Himalayas Alpine-Style (with Andy Fanshawe).