Holding On: A Story of Love and Survival

by Jo Gambi

Having faced death head on, we wanted no regrets. It was time to go'. In 2005 Rob and Jo Gambi became the first married couple to achieve the ultimate adventurer's ambition when they climbed the 'Seven Summits' (the highest mountains on all seven continents) and skied to both the North and South Poles together in record time. Rob is also the first Australian and Jo the first female to achieve this feat. What makes their story even more remarkable is that they achieved all this while Rob was in remission from his second bout of cancer. In spite of setbacks and facing death high in the Himalayas, they persevered and fulfilled their dreams (while unwittingly setting a string of records). Jo's inspiring book is not just an enthralling account of mountaineering and polar achievements; it is a powerful and emotional story of love and survival against the odds.

Genres: Adventure, Nonfiction, Travel, Mountaineering, Autobiography, Climbing

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2006

Reviews

[chucklesthescot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rob has recovered from cancer when he meets Jo but when it returns, painful treatment takes its toll and he and Jo decide to take time away from work to travel and spend more time together while he is in remission. The insane idea of doing the Seven Summits occurs-climbing the highest mountain on each continent. On a training climb in Nepal, Rob takes ill and is in danger of dying as they first cannot get a weather window to get him off the mountain and secondly, conditions and staff at the hospital are shocking. Reading about nurses assaulting Rob as he resists treatment with unsterile equipment, random strangers wandering in to gawp at him, filthy conditions, cleaners doing medical procedures and Jo standing guard to fend off the determined nurses is pretty horrific!

They start their task with Denali, which has weather conditions that I'd never want to experience. The hairy flight in, dragging sledges packed with gear across snow hiding huge crevasses, sickness, biting winds, sub zero temperatures, a mountain from hell to climb...no I don't think it is my idea of fun! Only a lucky break in the weather brings them success. They follow with trips to Africa, Antartica (with a guide who has no polar experience), a hike to the South Pole,, then off to Argentina.

Seriously, I don't know where they got the strength to do this in such a short space of time, pushing Rob's health to the limit. I can understand why friends and family thought they weren't having enough rest time in between. Seven weeks after Argentina, they arrive at Everest. The description of that brutal climbing season was not for the fainthearted. Madness and summit fever have usually sensible people ready to kill themselves to get to the top. Jo's account of the struggle is pretty grim and I can't say that I wanted to switch places with her.

This was a good book. The health struggles and the tough tasks that they set for themselves were fascinating to read about, even if I thought they were a bit mad at times. I hope that Rob is still in remission after all of his cancer treatments as they were a really nice couple.

[Mark Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Sheena · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing story - my only criticism was I felt too much had been crammed into one book - I would've enjoyed reading in more depth about each of the summit bids that they achieved. A very uplifting read though.

[Maryse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. I didn't think I would be that interested but couldn't put the book down.

[Mansoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book of the couple's fastest accent all seven summits. Fascinating account of human endurance and love against unnervingly beautiful summits and personal odds.