Gabriel Filippi - The Escapist: How One Man Cheated Death on the Worlds Highest Mountains

To all those I hurt, involuntarily, with the start of every new climb.

Annie, Alexandra, Kelsey, Kim, Amy, and Rosieyoure always

with me on the mountain, reminding me that the only thing

that ever really matters is that I return home.

There are seven women in my life who deserve more thanks than I can ever give. To Annie, my loveevery day, I feel privileged just to be with you. Youve taught me more about myself than anyone else Ive ever known. You ground me and protect me even when Im halfway around the globe. Alexandra, my daughteryou amaze me with your parenting skills. I watch you with your own daughter and it makes me realize how important it is to be there for your children. Together with Kim, Kelsey, and Amy, you make up the most endearing quartet in my life. My mother, Claire, is the strongest yet gentlest woman Ive ever known. And my granddaughter, Rosiein your young eyes, I see an adventurers spirit. I cant wait to see where your life takes you, and I thank you for reminding me that Im a grandfather and I have to come home.

I would also like to thank my friend Brett Popplewell. In embarking on this adventure with me, he climbed a mountain higher than Everest. Without him, this book would never have happened. From the start, I stepped back and gave him carte blanche to interview all those around me. I wanted this book to reflect the fullness of my reality, with no exaggerations or glorifications, just the naked truth. Theres no one else I could ever have trusted to open me up so completely for the benefit of you, the reader. He helped me dig deeper into my memories than I thought myself able to, and he helped me find the reasons why I do the things I do. He spent days and nights reading through twenty years worth of illegible journals and listened to hours worth of inaudible mini-cassette recordings. He viewed past interviews, read countless mountaineering books, and watched documentaries about the individual mountains that have made up my many adventures.

Thank you also to my agent, Rick Broadhead, who read an early draft and believed in the potential of this book. I remember his first words: Gabriel, Im mesmerized by your adventures. This from a guy who represents an astronaut! Thank you for your trust, your valuable advice, and your excellent work getting our proposal into the right peoples hands. And thank you to my other agent, Ron Eckel (Cooke International), who ensured this book found a home with a French publisher as well.

Thank you to Kate Cassaday and the team at HarperCollins Canada. Kate, from our first call, your enthusiasm for this book was contagious. I got the sense that you wanted nothing more than to deliver this project to the world even as you prepared to deliver your own baby. It is an honour and a privilege to be able to call myself a HarperCollins author.

Thank you also to the team of Guy Saint-Jean diteur in Montreal. The translation of this book into French meant a great deal to me, and I knew it was in good hands when the director general, Jean Par, informed me that after thirty years in publishing, this was only the second book hed signed without having read the manuscript. My faith in you was reconfirmed when I visited your office in Montreal and met your team of adventurers and outdoor maniacs.

Thank you to my brother Jacques, who convinced me to tell my story and introduced me to the world of publishing. Without you, Id still be on Google, trying to figure this whole industry out.

Thank you to my great friend Elia Saikaly, whom I also consider a brother. Together we have won, lost, laughed and cried, fallen and gotten back up. Weve abandoned climbs but weve never abandoned each other or our innovative projects. Au futur!

Thank you to my friends Dr. Eric Contant and Dr. Sylvain Guimond. You have literally picked me up in the most difficult moments of my life. Is that not the definition of true friendship? Your expertise has helped me climb out of the darkest valleys and reach new heights.

Thank you to Jacques Olek, who shared with me his passion for the worlds eight-thousanders. Before Id really climbed anything, you threw me a phrase that inspired me, and which, twenty years later, still resonates: Tu as dj la passion et le physique; je nai pas de doute, tu vas russir.

Thank you to Patrice Beaudet, guru and guide on my earliest climbs. It was a privilege to learn from one of the greatest climbers in Quebec. And my thanks go to all my other climbing partners and those who trusted me to accompany them on the adventures of their lifetimes.

Thank you to my friend Dr. Guy Thibault, who gave me the know-how to target my training and become a more complete athlete than I ever thought I could be.

I owe more thanks than I could ever write to the many Sherpa of Nepal who have taught me important lessons about compassion, self-help, and personal discovery. I am indebted especially to the late Babu Chiri Sherpa and to his trusted friend and colleague who has become my trusted friend and colleague, Babu Sherpa.

Thank you to David Larose and his staff at Orizon, who believed that the many stories that make up this book could profoundly help others when told on the public stage.

Thank you to everyone else in my life who helped teach me to appreciate every moment and not take anything for granted. And thank you to the mountains for all that they have taught me about myself and my place in this world. The friendships I have made while on the mountains have been a source of great happiness.

Thank you to my sponsors, especially The North Face, without whose generous support my expeditions would not be possible. My relationship with The North Face began thanks to the help of my friend Gino Timbro. I am beyond proud to be associated with you. Thank you also to the entire TNF management team, who make their athletes feel like part of a family and a team. And to Jano Arabaghian for believing in my most recent unclimbed project. Thank you to Charles Spina for your endless support of all my endeavoursthe best is yet to come, buddy! And to Adidas Eyewear (Manuel Magini and his team) and my friends at SmartWool.

Id like to end this with a tribute to all the friends Ive made and lost on the mountainside: Babu Chiri Sherpa, Sean Egan, Ernie Marksaitis, Christine Boskoff, Frank Ziebarth, Nima Sherpa, Wangchu Sherpa, Ngima Sherpa, Jangbu Sherpa, Sona Sherpa, Ihor Sverhun, Dmytro Koniayev, Anton Dobe, Peter perka, Chunfeng Yeng, Jianfeng Rao, Honglu Chen, Ali Hussain, and Michael Heck. This book is very much for you.

Gabriel Filippi

Id like to reiterate Gabriels thanks to HarperCollins Canada for their unreserved enthusiasm for The Escapist from the start, and for recognizing that this book was always about so much more than just the climb and that it needed to be shared across Canada. My thanks to Kate Cassaday for her editorial guidance on this book and for working on it right up to the day she went into labour. Thanks also to Brad Wilson and Adrienne Kerr, who picked up the torch and helped guide us to the finish line. And to Stacey Cameron for carefully proofing these pages, and Natalie Meditsky for keeping us on schedule. Thank you also to Rick Broadhead for believing so strongly in this story and in my ability to write it.

This book evolved out of a Sportsnet magazine article written during the winter of 2014. The idea for the article had come from the magazines photo editor, Myles McCutcheon, whod heard of the attack on Nanga Parbat in the summer of 2013. Without Myles informing me of Gabriels story, or my editor Craig Battles dutiful work in helping me craft that initial article, this book might never have come to be. Thank you to both of you and to the rest of the