No Mountain Too High: A Triumph over Breast Cancer (Adventura Books) [Paperback]

Andrea Gabbard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 1998 | Series: Adventura Books

This is the story of 17 women who battled against breast cancer and took on the challenge of climbing Argentina's Mount Aconcagua, the tallest peak in the Western hemisphere, to raise awareness about a disease that has reached epidemic proportions. Journalist Andrea Gabbard deftly interweaves the personal stories of each team member with the gripping account of their journey through cancer to the top of the mountain.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

High-altitude mountaineering is typically about conquest?pitting one's physical strength, endurance and courage against nature's most challenging conditions. When 17 survivors of breast cancer took on Argentina's Mt. Aconcagua, one of the seven summits in the world against which all serious climbers test their mettle, their motivations were more complex, however. Their assault on the mountain was a metaphor for vanquishing disease, specifically breast cancer. Gabbard (coauthor, Lou Whitaker: Memoirs of a Mountain Guide) joined Expedition Inspiration to cover the climb; her intimate portraits of each woman's struggle, with cancer and with the mountain, illuminate the group's loftier goals: to increase public awareness of the disease, to raise funds for research and to inspire unity among breast cancer victims. The women, ranging in age from 18 to 61, discuss the harsh choices they made between lumpectomies and mastectomies, radiation and chemotherapy, and they offer their thoughts on breast reconstruction. Many report loss of libido and disintegration of their intimate partner relationships, and all speak of the terror of recurrence. The January 1995 expedition required little actual technical expertise, and although there were difficulties (two and a half days spent tent-bound in a snowstorm at 16,000 ft., for instance), this is less the usual, dramatic assault-on-the-summit saga than a moving collection of recovery profiles that exalts these women's consciousness-raising goals over physical prowess or survival skills. Editor: Faith Conlon. (July) FYI: A portion of the profits of No Mountain Too High will be donated to breast cancer research.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In 1989, outdoorswoman Laura Evans, 40, lost part of her breast and several lymph nodes to cancer. She was determined not only to survive but to continue mountain climbing, and in 1992, less than two years after ceasing treatment, she undertook to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. Heartened by her success, she decided to climb another mountain, but for breast cancer. Thus, Expedition Inspiration was born. With Andrea Martin, founder of the Breast Cancer Fund, she led 17 women who had fought breast cancer, ranging in age from 21 to 61, on an incredible internal as well as external journey. They challenged the western hemisphere's highest peak, Argentina's Mount Aconcagua (22,841 ft.), to heighten awareness of breast cancer. Gabbard, the journalist who accompanied the expedition, has each of its members speak of her diagnosis, treatment, successes, disappointments, and hopes and of overcoming fear and self-doubt to get to the summit. Gabbard's account deserves to reach readers concerned with women's health issues as well as those who enjoy true outdoor adventure stories. Whitney Scott

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (July 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580050085
• ISBN-13: 978-1580050081
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laura Evans passed away October 17, 2000, October 24, 2000

By 

Avid Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Mountain Too High: A Triumph over Breast Cancer (Adventura Books) (Paperback)

She was the founder of Expedition Inspiration, and chose the 16 other women whose lives are chronicled in this book. I was the journalist on the team and followed Laura and the women through their training and then on to the expedition on Argentina's Mount Aconcagua. Last October, Laura was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor, unrelated to her breast cancer, which she had conquered. In both this book and the book that Laura wrote, called "The Climb of My Life," and also available from amazon.com, you will witness the incredible courage, determination and will to survive of these women. In addition, you will be making a donation to the cause to fight breast cancer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars extremely interesting and inspiring., August 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: No Mountain Too High: A Triumph over Breast Cancer (Adventura Books) (Paperback)

A book everyone should read. It is an exciting adventure story as well as an inspirational story of women who have survived not only breast cancer but the treatment and the emotional turmoil which comes with this disease. These are real, live women who are heroes in anyones language..

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but was expecting more..., November 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: No Mountain Too High: A Triumph over Breast Cancer (Adventura Books) (Paperback)

I think this is an inspiring book, but to be perfectly honest it seems that this book was written specifically for women who went on Expedition Inspiration. This book is like a diary. Since this book peers into so many different lives, it lacks focus. There are too many people and it's hard to remember who is who. Esp since the author chops the books into before cancer, after cancer, before climb, after climb type of chapters. The author wants to concentrate on too many things: the people & their stories, the past, the present, the climb, the doctors, cancer etc. Way too many topics. It's difficult reading a survey book for that purpose. It would have been nice to have focused on 3-5 people to really have a more in depth understanding of what this challenge was like for them.