FIRST AND FOREMOST, my thanks go to Margaret Gee, my literary agent, without whose passionate championing of my story over several years, to myriad publishers, editors and potential co-authors, this book would never have been published. Margaret pushed me to dig deep and search within and, in the process, I gained more from my expeditions and learned more about myself and my relationship with the high mountains than I’d ever previously understood.
Thanks also to Brent Waters, who provided wise counsel and much-appreciated administrative support behind the scenes.
Thanks to Julian Welch, who provided editorial review and guidance throughout the writing process and without whom the book would not be nearly as coherent, nor the story as fulsome, as I hope it now is.
Thanks to Sir Chris Bonington, Doug Scott CBE and Peter Hillary for their kind words in endorsing the book. Acknowledgement by one’s peers is gratifying, but acknowledgement by the greats in one’s field of endeavour is the very highest praise.
Finally, thanks to Colette Vella from Melbourne University Press for having the faith to take on the publication of this book and allowing me the latitude to speak the truth where it needed to be told.