No Such Thing as Failure: My Life in Adventure, Exploration, and Survival by David Hempleman-Adams

by David Hempleman-Adams

If there's an adventure to be had, it's likely that David Hempleman-Adams has been there first.Ranking alongside Ranulph Fiennes and Chris Bonnington in the pantheon of British explorers, David Hempleman-Adams is the first person in history to achieve what is termed the Adventurers' Grand Slam, by reaching the Geographic and Magnetic North and South Poles as well as climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents. But this feat is merely tip of the iceberg. Having reaching the summit of Everest on the more difficult north side and flown across the Atlantic in a an open wicker basket hot-air balloon, Hempleman-Adams is without question of the hardest, toughest, most fearless men to push the limits of human survival.The question Hempleman-Adams is most often asked is, what drives him on? Why risk frostbite pulling a sledge to the North Pole? Why experience the Death Zone on Everest? Why fly in the tiny basket of a precarious balloon across the Atlantic? Is it simply the case that he likes to push himself to the limits, or is there something more to it?No Such Thing as Failure answers these questions and more, uncovering what drives arguably the world's greatest adventurer.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published September 4, 2014

Reviews

[Sheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Such Thing as Failure is the autobiography of David Hempleman-Adams, one of the greatest adventurers of possibly all time. His achievements include being the first to complete the Adventurer's Grand Slam by scaling the tallest mountains in all seven continents, along with with reaching the Magnetic and Geographic North and South Poles. NSTAF covers his adventures in three main segments: Rock, which features his mountain climbing feats; Ice, which covers his treks to reach the Magnetic and Geographic North and South Poles; and Air, which talks about his hot air balloons achievements such as winning the prestigious Gordon Bennett race and setting multiple distance and endurance records in various hot air balloon classes.

Hempleman-Adams is not only a great adventurer but a good writer as well. His first-hand accounts of his incredible feats were vivid and inspiring. He is definitely not someone content with resting on their laurels, repeating some of his adventures in order to challenge himself even more such as by scaling Mount Everest a second time via a more difficult route. When reading about his adventures, it felt like an immersive experience which gives a lot of credit to both Hempleman-Adams' impressive memory and eye for detail. The dangers of his adventures and the high element of risk are always emphasised upon, especially when reminders that death is a mistake away are always nearby. Well-preserved bodies of climbers were discovered by the author's around Mount Everest and one Spanish climber from another team fell 4000 feet to his death on the same mountain as well. Thin ice led to the author falling into water of well below freezing temperatures when trying to reach the North Pole and mechanical and judgement errors almost led to his hot air balloon landing in the ocean as well. It's indeed quite crazy to think about how lucky Hempleman-Adams has been or how many close shaves he has experienced but his experience and tenacity cannot be discounted when considering his multiple achievements.

Hempleman-Adams' writing almost made me feel like doing some adventuring myself but I say almost because when you consider the amount of danger and expense involved, it's easy to realise that these adventures are definitely not for everyone. His concerns about his family commitments along with his love for his adventures were easy to empathise with and it's admirable how he tries to juggle everything and as he got older, he settled down more in order to spend more time with his wife and daughters. He's definitely some to respect and admire.

Overall, Hempleman-Adam's book gave great insight into all his adventures and achievements. Despite failures and numerous hardships along the way, he continued and tried again until he achieved what he wanted. His spirit is immense and admirable and his book was definitely informative and inspiring as well. 4/5

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think David adams book no such thing as failure earns a 4 star rating off of his detail during everest,north pole and his personal life. Adams does a great job of telling us every little thing about everest and the other 6 mountains some juicy and other giving me chills.the main reason i didn't give this book a full 5 is because i feel like adams didn't give me to really care about his family and his friends.I think the book could've gotten 4 and a half stars if it had focused more on the mountains and poles rather then his personal life with claire.all in all however,this book is a good book with bunches of descriptive parts about mountains and the North and South poles of the world could have been better but still a great book.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly remarkable man who really lives up to his motto 'no such thing as failure' . I like how he has split his adventures into 3 sections rather than writing chronologically. This allows the reader to really understand the challenges that he faced as well as emcompassing his sheet determination for each challenge. The question is 'what is next?' I truly recommend that this book is a 'must' read for anybody interested in adventure and record setting.

[Carole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was bored. I didn't finish it. The author seemed so 'full of himself' that I just decided there are too many books waiting to spend time reading any more of this. I got maybe 100 pages into it. There was nothing to make me want to continue picking up this book. It was just another mountaineering book with nothing that grabbed you & made you want to NOT put it down.