The Mountain Path

A climber's journey through life and death

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Hardback now out of print. 

SHORTLISTED: The Great Outdoors Book of the Year 2021

CATEGORY FINALIST: Banff Mountain Literature Award 2022

SHORTLISTED: Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature 2022

‘A beautifully written, devastatingly honest account of choosing to live.’ – Marni Jackson, Boardman Tasker Award 2022 Chair of Judges

In 1998, Paul Pritchard was struck on the head by a falling rock as he climbed a sea stack in Tasmania. Close to death, Pritchard kept himself going with a promise that he would ‘at least attempt to live’. The Mountain Path is an adventure book like no other, an exploration of a healing brain, a test of will and a triumph of hope.

‘All I wanted to do was go to sleep. And I was certain that if I did drift off, it would be for the last time.’

In 1998, Paul Pritchard was struck on the head by a falling rock as he climbed a sea stack in Tasmania called the Totem Pole. Close to death, waiting for hours for rescue, Pritchard kept himself going with a promise that given the chance, he would ‘at least attempt to live’.

Left hemiplegic by his injury, Pritchard has spent the last two decades attempting to live, taking on adventures that seemed impossible for someone so badly injured while plumbing the depths of a mind almost snuffed out by his passion for climbing.

Not content to simply survive, Pritchard finds ways to return to his old life, cycling across Tibet and expanding his mind on gruelling meditation courses, revisiting the past and understanding his compulsion for risk. Finally, he returns to climb the Totem Pole, the place where his life was almost extinguished.

The Mountain Path is an adventure book like no other, an exploration of a healing brain, a journey into philosophy and psychology, a test of will and a triumph of hope.

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