Climb Your Mountain (2024) - Sir Ranulph Fiennes

"Life's too short to waste time on second-class ambitions. Go for the big ones." 

Few people in life have gotten anywhere near the achievements of Sir Ranulph Fiennes. He is one of the most famous explorers in the world and holds multiple endurance records, including being the oldest Brit to climb Everest and accomplishing the ridiculous feat of running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents just four months after having a massive heart attack. So I would approach this book knowing that you will be faced with the gnawing feeling that you are a coward who has done nothing with their life many, many times.

Although it's being pushed as a self-help guide of sorts, this book doesn't really delve too far into that side of things and, frankly, works much better as a memoir of an absolutely extraordinary life. It's not a life most of us will be familiar with as Sir Ranulph grew up posh. I don't mean 'we had a nice house' posh. We're talking old-school mega-posh, wherein they don't quite have a grasp on reality. Billy Connolly once said "the only difference between the working class and the upper class is that they think it's ok to do Toboggan for a living". That sort of sums it up. 

Being ultra-posh, of course he began his life in the military and the casual manner in which he describes murdering a diplomat in Oman immediately suggests that you're dealing with a different kind of cat. He is hard as nails and completely unflinching in the face of adversity. Once his military career was over, he began going on increasingly wild expeditions and this is where the story gets interesting. 

He begins by talking us through his transglobe expedition, meaning that he and two of his mates traveled the globe from pole to pole mostly on foot. What is required to complete such a challenge is not only incredible physical strength, but an almost superhuman level of mental fortitude. This is where there are lessons to be learned and when you read the passage where he saves their supplies by going into ice water and subsequently cutting his own fingers off so that a deadly bout of frostbite wouldn't spread, you really start to admire the man. 

A recurring theme Sir Ranulph addresses throughout is 'why'? Why take part in such insane and death-defying feats, which require tens of thousands of pounds invested, a small army of manpower, and a massive amount of time, and don't necessarily serve a 'purpose' as we've come to understand the term. His rationale on this subject is that the 'why' is the very thing that drives us as a species and we should be continually looking to expand for expansion's sake because, he argues, that is the very essence of life. This, to me at least, is a very important teaching. It's tempting in this day and age to do things that only benefit oneself materially or 'for the 'gram', and this message could easily be applied to just about any area of life. Do the things you love for the sake of doing them. Set yourself goals for no other reason than achieving them. This creates purpose in itself and it's hard to argue when reading his story. You certainly cannot claim Fiennes hasn't lived a full life. He's done literally everything. So this message was a very poignant and welcome one. 

"Whenever feasible, pick your team on character, not skill. You can teach skills; you can't teach character."

As mentioned earlier, there are a few self-help style nuggets crow-barred in but you get the sense that someone as resolute and unrelenting as Sir Ranulph doesn't really have the time or volition to spoon-feed you nuggets of wisdom so you can go and live a better life. He'd rather offer examples from his own conquests. By taking this approach and demonstrating just how far the human will can take you, you could argue that - for some readers - this will be a much deeper and more meaningful experience. 

For example, there is a passage where Sir Ranulph talks about having a fear of heights, thus dispelling the myth that people like him have no fear in their hearts whatsoever. Rather than succumb to it, like many of us do, he decides to do something about it. While for mere mortals like you are I that might include going bungee jumping on a beach in Crete, for Sir Ranulph the only way to conquer this fear was to go and climb the dreaded North Face of the Eiger mountain. This chapter was one of the most adrenaline-fuelled, page-turning-while-drenched-in-cold-sweat, passages you're ever likely to read. A man hanging from one of the deadliest climbing surfaces on earth, using only his nubbed fingers to keep him alive, is absolutely terrifying. My stomach is flipping now thinking about it. It's a similar experience to watching the film 'Free Solo' but perhaps even more vivid. 

But he did it and he still didn't conquer his fear of heights, which is exactly the point. It's not about relinquishing fear, it's about acknowledging it and pushing through to achieve great things. And that pretty much sums up the life of Ranulph Fiennes. He has done things most of us find unimaginable but what this book captures so well is just how inspiring that can be. There really is a problem if you read all of this and don't feel the need to get up off of your backside and do something. 

"It's not the mountain we conquer, it is ourselves."

As a 'self-help' book, by definition, it probably doesn't get specific enough to qualify as a success in that genre. However, as a memoir and an example of showing you rather than telling you what to do, it is a fantastic, white-knuckle, yarn which I will be certainly be returning back to whenever I feel like I'm resting on the laurels. In that regard, it is arguably a much better self-help book that most out there, even if not necessarily defined as such. If you need motivation in your life, look no further. 

★★★★☆

JB.