 | |
| Author | Silvia Vasquez-Lavado |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genres | Memoir; Addiction memoir; Grief memoir; Adventure; Self help; Lgbtqia |
| Publisher | Henry Holt |
Publication date | February 1, 2022 |
| Media type | Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible Audio |
| Pages | 305 |
| ISBN | 978-1250776747 |
In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage is a book by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado published in 2022 by Henry Holt an imprint of Macmillan.
The book details the author's personal story of surviving childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence in Peru and how she overcame those experiences to become a successful businesswoman and mountaineer. The memoir also documents Vasquez-Lavado's promise to bring a group of survivors from sexual abuse and sex trafficking to the base of Mount Everest before Vasquez-Lavado's journey to climb Mount Everest. In addition, In The Shadow of the Mountain documents Vasquez-Lavado's voyage climbing the highest peaks on each continent.
This is the author's first book. In addition, there is an ongoing film adaptation with Elgin James to direct and Selena Gomez scheduled to play Silvia. [1]
The New York Times Book Review published on February 1, 2022, praises the book by sharing, In a world that demands us to harden, to tell stories of strength and triumph, the bravest act can be embracing our inner child, our fears, our truths, called in the shadow of the mountain. [2]
Elizabeth Hightower Allen of Outside commented "In the Shadow of the Mountain is for anyone with similarly challenging inner journeys—in other words, all of us." [3]
People Magazine called In the Shadow of the mountain "gripping memoir about coping with addiction and sexual violence through mountain climbing". [4]
In March 2023, In the Shadow of the Mountain was awarded the prestigious Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards as the Stanford Travel Book of the Year. Named "a remarkable story of compassion, humility, and strength; Silvia beautifully documents her heroic journey to the summit of Everest, accompanied by five other women, each struggling to come to terms with their trauma." [5]
James W. Whittaker, also known as Jim Whittaker, is an American climber and mountain guide. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, on May 1, 1963, he became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest as a member of the American Mount Everest Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, alongside the Sherpa Nawang Gombu, a nephew of Tenzing Norgay. They ran out of oxygen, but managed to reach the summit.
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.
Tenzing Norgay, born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest, as part of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition. Time named Norgay one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling nonfiction books—Into the Wild; Into Thin Air; Under the Banner of Heaven; and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman—as well as numerous magazine articles. He was a member of an ill-fated expedition to summit Mount Everest in 1996, one of the deadliest disasters in the history of climbing Everest.
David Finlay Breashears was an American mountaineer, filmmaker, author and motivational speaker. In 1985, he reached the summit of Mount Everest a second time, becoming the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest more than once. He is perhaps best known as the director and cinematographer of Everest (1998)—which became the highest-grossing IMAX documentary—and for his assistance in the rescue efforts during the 1996 Everest disaster, which occurred during the film's production.
Erik Weihenmayer is an American athlete, adventurer, author, activist and motivational speaker. He was the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on May 25, 2001. Due to this accomplishment he was featured on the cover of Time magazine. He completed the Seven Summits in September 2002, one of only 150 mountaineers at the time to do so, but the only climber to achieve this while blind. In 2008, he also added the Carstensz Pyramid thus completing the Eight Summits. Weihenmayer has also made noteworthy climbs up the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite in 1996, and ascended Losar, a 2,700-foot (820 m) vertical ice face in the Himalayas in 2008.
Edmund Viesturs is an American high-altitude mountaineer, corporate speaker, and well known author in the mountain climbing community. He was the first American to climb all 14 of the eight-thousander mountains, and the 5th person to do so without supplemental oxygen. Along with Apa Sherpa, he has summitted eight-thousanders on 21 occasions, including Mount Everest seven times.
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was the first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Mount Everest.
Jamling Tenzing Norgay is an Indian Sherpa mountaineer from Darjeeling.
Arlene Blum is an American mountaineer, writer, and environmental health scientist. She is best known for leading the first successful American ascent of Annapurna (I), a climb that was also an all-woman ascent. She led the first all-woman ascent of Denali, and was the first American woman to attempt Mount Everest. She is executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, an organization of scientists who develop and communicate peer-reviewed research to develop innovative solutions to reduce the use of toxic chemicals.
Romeo Roberto "Romi" Garduce, sometimes nicknamed as "Garduch," is a Filipino mountaineer, a scuba dive master, an environmentalist, writer, motivational speaker and works as an IT professional. He began climbing mountains for a cause in 1991 as a member of the UP Mountaineers. Aside from being a mountain climber and IT professional, he became one of the host for the GMA Network public affair shows Born to Be Wild and Pinoy Meets World. He also hosted the GMA News and Public Affairs special entitled Pito Para sa Pilipino with Richard Gutierrez.
Dermot Somers is an Irish mountaineer, explorer, writer, and broadcaster. He was educated in the Irish-speaking Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin, and graduated from University College Dublin with a BA and HDipEd, and worked for a time as a teacher, before concentrating full-time on writing, broadcasting, and travelling. He now lives in Drogheda.
The Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards celebrate the best travel writing and travel writers in the world. The awards include the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year and the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing.
The 1922 British Mount Everest expedition was the first mountaineering expedition with the express aim of making the first ascent of Mount Everest. It was also the first expedition that used bottled oxygen while climbing Everest. The attempt was made from the northern side of Everest out of Tibet. At the time, Everest could not be attempted from the south out of Nepal as the country was closed to Western foreigners.
Rick Ridgeway is an American mountaineer and adventurer, who during his career has also been an environmentalist, writer, filmmaker and businessman. Ridgeway has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was part of the 1978 team that were the first Americans to summit K2, the world's second-highest mountain. From 2005 until he retired in 2020 he oversaw environmental affairs and public engagement at the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. He has authored seven books and dozens of magazine articles, and produced or directed many documentary films.
The South Summit is a subsidiary peak of Mount Everest in the Himalayas between the South Col and the main summit above sea level. Although the South Summit's elevation of 8,749 metres (28,704 ft) is higher than the second-highest mountain on Earth, it is not considered a separate mountain as its topographic prominence is only 11 meters.
Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a Peruvian-American mountaineer, author, social entrepreneur and technologist. In June 2016, she became the first Peruvian woman to summit Mount Everest and the first openly gay woman to complete the Seven Summits, the tallest mountain on each continent from both the Messner and Bass lists.
Nirmal Purja is a Nepal-born naturalised British mountaineer. Prior to taking on a career in mountaineering, he served in the British Army with the Brigade of Gurkhas followed by the Special Boat Service (SBS), the special forces unit of the Royal Navy. Purja is notable for having climbed all 14 eight-thousanders in a time of six months and six days with the aid of bottled oxygen between April and October 2019. This was a record at the time of climbing, although it was broken in 2023 by Kristin Harila and Tenjen Sherpa, who summitted all 14 eight-thousanders in 92 days. Purja was the first person to reach the summits of Mount Everest, Lhotse and Makalu within 48 hours. In 2021, Purja, along with a team of nine other Nepalese climbers, completed the first winter ascent of K2.
Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest is a 2022 biographical documentary about Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to summit Mount Everest on April 22, 1993. The film utilizes archival footage, interviews of people who knew Pasang, contemporary HD footage of Nepal and Everest, and motion graphics to explore Sherpa's pioneering achievements and the cultural and gender challenges she faced in the mountaineering community. It highlights her impact on Nepali society and her inspiration for future generations of Nepali women.
