Kiwi Alpinist's Top Inspirational Tale

Media release: for immediate use, 17 October 2011

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 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, from her base in Christchurch. What makes this achievement even more remarkable is that, aside from having broken her back in a climbing fall, Pat has also battled with clinical depression.

"These days depression no longer drags me down completely, I've learned to see things differently, be more open about it and ask for help," says Pat, "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 made and the motivations that drive people to take part in this 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. "Actually, it feels pretty much like a miracle when it all comes together like that."

Since 2002 Pat has mounted up to two alpine style expeditions a year to the high mountains of Alaska and Central Asia:

- 2002 climbs two steep ice routes on Mt Huntington in the Alaskan Range, Alaska

- 2003 climbs 'Deprivation' on Mt Hunter and a number of other technical routes in the Alaskan Range, Alaska

- 2004 attempts on Cholatse, in Nepal; and Janahut, in India

- 2005 the first ascent of Xiashe in Tibet

- 2006 the first ascent of Haizi Shan in China

- 2007 an attempt on Beka Brakkai Chok, and the first of ascent of Wahine, both in Pakistan; and the first ascent of Miandi Peak, in India

- 2008 a second attempt on Beka Brakkai Chok in Pakistan

- 2009 the first ascent of Karim Sar in Pakistan, climbed solo

- 2010 an attempt on the West Face of Vasuki Parbat in India

- 2011 the first ascent of the NW Ridge of Koh-e-Baba-Tangi, Afghanistan, with sister her Christine

Pat's mentor, Norman Hardie, still lives in Christchurch. He played a part in three expeditions with Sir Edmund Hillary and was one of the party that made the first ascent of the world's third-highest mountain, Kanchenjunga, in 1955. He was elected to Life Membership of the New Zealand Alpine Club in 1955 and his autobiography, On My Own Two Feet, was published by Canterbury University Press in 2006.

Wind from a Distant Summit by Pat Deavoll will strike chords with experienced climbers and armchair enthusiasts alike. It's available now from stores and libraries and online at www.craigpotton.co.nz

ENDS

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