Beyond the Comfort Zone: Confessions of an Extreme Sports Junkie [Paperback]

Bruce Genereaux (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2002

Beyond the Comfort Zone delivers a thrilling glimpse into the motivations, successes and failures of extreme sportsmen as they tackle Class 5 kayaking, rock climbing, extreme skiing and adventure racing. In this non-fiction adventure narrative, the counter cultural appeal of extreme sports is the vehicle for delivery of an accessible narrative that appeals to the connoisseur and armchair adventurer alike - validating and dignifying many readers' personal extreme sport experiences.

Beyond the Comfort Zone is comprised of compelling, and at times, harrowing mountain couloir, whitewater river or cliff-side sagas. Settings include New England's Tuckerman's Ravine, Chile's Patagonia, California's Sierra Nevada, Arizona's Salt River Canyon, New Zealand's South Island, and Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Characters include internationally recognized cutting-edge players such as kayakers Corran Addison and Steve Fisher, climbers Royal Robbins and Derek Hersey, and adventure racer Blaine Reeves. Each Chapter delivers the reader the "hows" and "whys" of the world of extreme sports - those in which a mistake often results in debilitating injury or sudden death. Confessions' 220 pages includes 134 grayscale images and 12 hand-drawn location maps.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Genereaux explores worlds that few people ever experience. Each story sweeps the reader along with an unstoppable energy." -- Warren Witherell, Founder of Burke Mountain Academy and author of How the Racers Ski

Journeys where what a player stands to lose is completely disproportionate to what he can possibly gain. -- Corran Addison - Founder of Riot Kayaks and world waterfall record holder

Written with great honesty and courage, this unique work explores the often murky divide between personal risk and personal responsibility. -- Royal Robbins - Pioneer in Yosemite rock climbing and international whitewater kayaking.

About the Author

Bruce Genereaux is a light-starch white-collar worker and extreme sports connoisseur and modern-day cowboy. He looks great in a suit, be it a tuxedo or neoprene with a skirt. His archives of 2,000 slides, maps and adventures are revealed in his book, Beyond the Comfort Zone. Genereaux ski raced for Middlebury College's NCAA Division I alpine team in the early 1980s. He is a 5.10 rock climber, Class 5 kayaker and an adventure racer. He consults for natural resource firms and lives with his wife and five children in Hanover, New Hampshire. Now, hsi most harrowing adventures take place in the home, as he is now a lifetime competitor in the "Domestic Adventure Race."

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Class Five Pr (December 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972517324
• ISBN-13: 978-0972517324
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,772,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beyond an inflated sense of self worth, September 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond the Comfort Zone: Confessions of an Extreme Sports Junkie (Paperback)

Beyond the Comfort Zone is a tedious read at best. It is nothing more than an egomaniacal piece of work from a juvenile author. Most disturbing are his notions of leadership. Save your money. American Canoe Association is sending this book free for joining. I question the ethics and morals of this organization for their choice in associating themselves with the morals and ethics voiced in this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book., June 29, 2006

By 

dartmouthbiomajor "dartmouthbiomajor" (Hanover, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Comfort Zone: Confessions of an Extreme Sports Junkie (Paperback)

First: This book is more realistic (and therefore relevant) than most of the outdoor books you'll ever read. This is because the author discusses balancing real life with intense dedication to sport.

I am not sure why there are a couple condemnations of Bruce on this page- these reviews are wholly irrelevant; I'm surprised Amazon has left them up so long. They verge on slander.

That said, I think in general, readers have come to expect outdoor stories from untouchable, god-like authors, who don't "deign" to mention the real circumstances of their lives that influence their decisions to take to the hills, or likewise mention the influences their experiences in the hills have on their real lives.

People have become accustomed to reading stories by and about the Lance Armstrongs, Ian Thorpes, and Ed Viestrus's, who, while all fantastic athletes and I'm sure worthy human beings, are basically pampered and dedicated to the sport in their every waking moment by a cadre of coaches and personal attendants- a condition that most of us would find difficult to obtain. They don't have "real lives" like the rest of us do that can shape their goals in the outdoors and to which they can bring the freshness of perspective won from a week in the hills. (I admit that they have overcome personal obstacles- but as in the case of Lance Armstrong, even their obstacles have been unusual.) The rest of us have the more typical concerns of real life, like finding employment and satisfying personal relationships, so it does us little good to read a book by one of the prima-donnas of the outdoor world for whom these issues do not apply. I humbly suggest we try to read something by someone like us.

Bruce's book then is about trying to get real life to complement adventure as well as possible- a goal that's admirable enough in this day and age. Just because he lets us in on the failings, miscalculations, and bravado of his past doesn't mean would should condemn him- but rather take heed his lessons as the wise counsel of an elder who is only mortal like we are.

Many people drawn to dangerous sports feel a kind of alienation resulting from being at a crossroads in life; having few responsibilities and no ties to any community after having graduated from college, (for example), and are thus prone to letting that level of alienation influence their impulsiveness and daring while at play. Bruce's book then serves at least as a warning- if you gamble like he did, you have to be very lucky to escape unscathed. At best, it's great nail-biting entertainment- since few of us will ever take the risks he took; following along each tumultuous chapter is great fun. Personally, at age 23, I can relate, and Bruce's book came to me at just the right time.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Glad I don't have to paddle with this guy..., July 14, 2004

By 

Shane Hulsey "floodstage2020" (Birmingham, Al) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Comfort Zone: Confessions of an Extreme Sports Junkie (Paperback)

You have to give the guy credit for trying, but he seems to miss the whole point of outdoor adventure through his self-serving and misdirected outings. It's like a train wreck, though, and you just have to keep on reading it to see how bad the author is going to get messed up on his next "expedition". The editorial "praise" is understandably vague, since the only thing the author does worse than "adventureing" is writing about it. We have all met people in our own lives that "just don't get it", right? Well Genereaux is, unfortunately, that guy.