Kiwi Alpinist's Top Inspirational Tale

Pat Deavoll was fifteen years old when she first met the person who would determine the course of her life to come.

Just old enough to join the school tramping club, she climbed her first mountain with Norman Hardie, one of New Zealand’s greatest mountaineers. Norman recognised and encouraged Pat’s potential and helped her discover her true passion in life.

These days, Pat is considered to be one of New Zealand’s top mountaineers. She has been climbing at an elite level for more than three decades, participating in world-class expeditions to the great mountain ranges of Alaska, the Canadian Rockies, and Central Asia, including the Himalayas and the Karakorum. What makes this achievement even more remarkable is that Pat has accomplished it despite a life-long struggle with clinical depression.

“These days depression no longer drags me down completely,” says Pat. “I’ve learned to see things differently, be more open about it and ask for help. But I still have to remind myself from time to time how very lucky and privileged I am to have done the things I’ve done and been the places I’ve been.”

“That I can still climb with a knee replacement is quite an achievement too,” she jokes.

Pat’s autobiography Wind from a Distant Summit is being published this October. It delves into the more personal aspects of elite mountaineering – the extreme conditions, the sacrifices that must be made and the motivations that drive her and others to take part in a notoriously risky sport.

“To be fit, funded, acclimatised and half way up an unclimbed face with a strong partner in good weather is the most amazing feeling,” she says. “It’s pretty much a miracle when it all comes together like that.”

Wind from a Distant Summit by Pat Deavoll will strike a chord with experienced and aspiring climbers and armchair enthusiasts alike. It is available from bookstores and libraries nationwide and can be purchased online at http://www.craigpotton.co.nz

ENDS