Full Description
Beyond Limits is the autobiography of Steve McClure, one of the world's top rock climbers. From his childhood encounters with the sandstone outcrops of the North York Moors right up to his cutting-edge first ascents such as Overshadow (F9a+) at Malham and Mutation (F9a) at Raven Tor, Steve explores his deep passion for climbing and how it has dictated and shaped his life.Introduced to climbing by his parents at an early age, Steve quickly progressed as a climber, developing a fascination with movement and technical difficulty. Rapidly reaching a high standard, Steve became torn between the desire to climb increasingly bold routes and his hesitant approach to danger, with a series of close calls forcing him to seriously question his motivations. Searching for a balance between risk and reward, he struggled to find his place as a climber.Having dropped out of the scene, a chance encounter led to his discovery of sport climbing. Free from fear, Steve plunged headlong into this new style and surged through the grades. Pushing everything else aside, he allowed climbing to take over his life. He reached world-class levels of performance, but once again found himself searching for a balance between risk and reward, yet this time the risk was of losing what is truly important in life. As he searches for what really makes him tick, his climbing comes full circle and returns to where it started - climbing for the love of it.Beyond Limits is the story of a climber and his obsessive exploration of the sport, of finding a true passion, taking it to the limits and attempting to delicately balance this passion against other aspects of life to give the greatest rewards.
Contents
Acknowledgements1 Paradise Found2 Balance Point3 Out of the Blocs4 In Another Life5 Magic in the Air6 Blue Sky7 Hotel Hospital8 The Hitcher9 North Wales10 God's Own Rock11 Shot by the Arrow12 All over the Place13 Into Asia14 Lego15 Climbing, but not as we know it16 The Verdon Gorge17 Peak Performance18 Have No Fear19 It's All Down to Motivation20 Normal World21 A Window of Opportunity22 Professional23 Just the Job24 Jack of all Trades25 I've Made It26 Not all There27 The Performance Tunnel28 I've Lost It29 A Ticking Clock30 Overshadow31 Worth the Risk?32 The Final Exam33 Full Circle34 Finding the BalanceIndex
