Examining the influence of mountains on the human imagination and spirit, an accomplished climber explains why individuals are drawn to mountains, both as a source of remarkable beauty and as a challenge that must be overcome.

For eighteen years Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. As he recounts his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go. A cautious climber who once turned back 300 feet from the top of Everest, but who would not shrink from a peak (Annapurna) known to...