High Infatuation: A Climber's Guide to Love and Gravity

More than just an adventure, this is the story of a woman's soul. Steph Davis takes risks, trusts her impulses, makes decisions based on what feels right and never looks back. Soon after she was introduced to rock climbing, she abandoned the respectability of university life and a potential career as a concert pianist to become a "dirtbag climber," living out of her grandmother's hand-me-down Oldsmobile sedan with Fletcher, her loyal Blue heeler mix.

Today, Davis is one of the most accomplished female climbers in the world, having made first ascents in Pakistan, Patagonia, Baffin Island, and Kyrgyzstan. She was also the first woman to free climb the huge Salathe wall on El Capitan in Yosemite and the first woman to summit Torre Egger in Patagonia.

In High Infatuation, Davis writes on universal themes of life, love, friendship, and personal empowerment, as expressed through a career in climbing. We wait tensely with her through weeks of rain, wind, snow, and sleet, hoping for the weather to improve in the mountains of Patagonia, then feel her heartache as her relationship with the man she will marry is tested by her need for movement and challenge. Davis draws us into her struggles with safety, independence, ambition, and compassion. And by following this young woman's journey, we learn what it means to live a truly adventurous life.

About the Author

STEPH DAVIS is on record with first ascents in Pakistan, Patagonia, Baffin Island, and Kyrgyzstan. Her writing has appeared in Climbing and Rock & Ice, among other publications. She makes her home in Moab, Utah. She was the first U.S. woman to summit 11,073-foot Fitz Roy Peak in Patagonia-a success realized after spending five seasons, a total of ten months, in Patagonia. Follow along on all of her adventures and even ask her questions about her life as a climber on her website, High Infatuation.