Holding On, A Story of Love and Survival
| Page Type | Gear Review |
|---|---|
| Object Title | Holding On, A Story of Love and Survival |
| Manufacturer | Jo Gambi (Portrait Books) |
| Page By | silversummit |
| Page Type | May 3, 2009 / May 3, 2009 |
| Object ID | 6100 |
| Hits | 3800 |
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BOOK SUMMARY
Holding On begins with Rob and Jo meeting and Rob quickly learning to climb and become a mountaineer in his late 30s. They marry a year later and disappear into the civility of work and school. It takes a personal crisis to push them beyond their comfort zone.From the Parliament's Speaker's website: "After battling Rob's cancer together and living with the knowledge that it may return, Rob and Jo decided to do more things together and went on to become the first couple to climb the seven summits and ski to both the North and South poles. An amazing story of strength and belief....and that's before they had even began to climb.
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. Jo is also the first female, and Rob the first Australian, to have achieved 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. Having been warned that his cancer could reoccur, Rob and Jo both left their jobs in order to spend as much time together as they could, and embarked on what was to become an incredible adventure. In spite of setbacks and facing death high in the Himalaya, they persevered and fulfilled their dreams (while unwittingly setting a string of records). They experienced and endured more together during several challenging years, than most couples would in a lifetime, overcoming illness and living with an intensity few people ever know.
In 2005 Jo entered the Guinness World Records for the fastest female ascent of the ‘Seven Summits’ and still holds this record and Jo was the second British woman to climb Everest’s more difficult and daunting North Ridge."
PRODUCT DETAILS
Price: $19.95Paperback: 302 pages with color photographs
Author: Jo Gambi
Publisher: Portrait Books
Year Published: 2006
Language: English
ISBN: 0-7499-5122-2
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silversummit - May 3, 2009 1:11 pm - Voted 4/5
Good, quick read!Gambi is a great writer but don't expect lengthy descriptions of each summit. The poles get quite a bit of attention as well as Aconcagua, Denali, and Everest of course but other summits are barely mentioned. Also given no mention is their sponsorship by companies etc. so I continually wondered how they pulled off these extremely expensive jaunts to Antarctica, the Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia and the trips back to the U.K. and Australia between climbs. Overall though, this is a fast read; great for seeing the seven summits (or at least some of them) from a couples' point of view.