Hell or High Water, Peter Heller
Hell or High Water, Peter Heller
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Hell or High Water
Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River

Author: Peter Heller

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 9 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/15/2004


Synopsis

The Tsangpo Gorge in southeastern Tibet has lured explorers and adventurers since its discovery. Sacred to the Buddhists, the inspiration for Shangri La, the Gorge is as steeped in legend and mystery as any spot on earth. As a river-running challenge, the remote Tsangpo is relentlessly unforgiving, more difficult than any stretch of river ever attempted. Its mysteries have withstood a century's worth of determined efforts to explore its length. The finest expedition paddlers on earth have tried. Several have died. All have failed. Until now.

In January 2002, in the heart of the Himalayan winter, a team of seven kayakers launched a meticulously planned assault of the Gorge. The paddlers were river cowboys, superstars in the universe of extreme kayaking who hop from continent to continent ready for the next death-defying pursuit. Accompanying them was author Peter Heller. A world-class kayaker in his own right, Heller has logged countless river miles and several major first descents. He joined the Tsangpo Expedition as a member of the ground support team and official expedition journalist and was also granted the exclusive opportunity to write the book about the descent.

Hell or High Water is that book—greatly expanded from his coverage for Outside magazine. Filled with history, white-knuckle drama, and mutiny in one of the world's most storied—and remote—locations, Hell or High Water is as riveting as any of the great epic adventures throughout history. Publication coincides with the release of a documentary about the expedition by National Geographic.

About Peter Heller

Peter Heller is a seasoned adventure journalist and a senior contributor to Outside magazine. Before tackling Tibet, he kayaked in the footsteps of Hemingway along the Cuban coastline, depicted in his exposé Cuba: A Dry Run. He is also the author of Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River and Set Free in China: Sojourns on the Edge. Peter lives in Denver, where he kayaks daily on a lake 100 yards from his front door.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on December 04, 2021

The book's subtitle is a little misleading. For me, this story is more of an expedition into difficult, dangerous, remote, mountainous terrain. Yes, the purpose of the expedition is to support kayakers making a first descent of the Tsangpo river. But that narrative takes only a small part of the boo......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on May 02, 2019

I'm a huge fan of Peter Heller's fiction and have long been meaning to check out his nonfiction - but, clearly, this was a disappointment! The subtitle of this book is "surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River," but that's not entirely accurate - it makes it sound like Heller (an expert paddler in his own ri......more

Goodreads review by Nick on December 02, 2019

This was my first experience reading an Ebook through the screen of my phone. While this was a regrettable decision, Hell or High Water in itself was a fairly interesting story which helped me decide that intense river rafting is something that I'd never like to take part in. I am not sure why a gro......more

Goodreads review by Kyle on March 22, 2019

A solid exploration of a really remote part of the world. Affirmed my belief that river kayaking isn't my thing.......more

Goodreads review by Jason on July 24, 2011

This is one of the best books I've read in years!! I've read several books about the Tsangpo Gorge and it's rugged history, but this account went far beyond the others in its scope, harrowing detail, and the audacity of its attempt at conquering one of the most savage whitewater environments known t......more