“Thrilling and infectiously interesting, I found this book a great read and hard to put down. What’s next, Steph? Everest?”
Learning to Fly
An Uncommon Memoir of Human Flight, Unexpected Love, and One Amazing Dog
Description
WITH A NEW EPILOGUE BY THE AUTHOR
World-class free climber Steph Davis delivers a “thrilling and infectiously interesting” (San Francisco Book Review) memoir about rediscovering herself through love, loss, and the joy of letting go. The paperback includes a new epilogue in which Davis shares how her husband Mario’s tragic accident has affected her relationship to climbing and flying.
Steph Davis is a superstar in the climbing community and has ascended some of the world’s most challenging and awe-inspiring peaks. But after her first husband makes a controversial climb in a national park, the media fallout escalates rapidly and in one fell swoop leaves her without a partner, a career, a source of income...or a purpose.
In the company of only her beloved dog, Fletch, Davis sets off on a search for a new identity and discovers skydiving. Falling out of an airplane is completely antithetical to the climber’s control she’d practiced for so long, but she perseveres, turning each daring jump into an opportunity to fly, first as a skydiver, then as a base jumper. As she opens herself to falling, she also finds the strength to open herself to love again, even in the wake of heartbreak. And before too long, she meets someone who shares her passion for living life to the limit.
With gorgeous black-and-white photos throughout, Learning to Fly is Davis’s fascinating account of her transformation. From her early tentative skydives, to zipping into her first wingsuit, to surviving devastating accidents against the background of breathtaking cliffs, to soaring beyond her past limits, she discovers new hope and joy in letting go.
Reviews
“In becoming a skydiver and realizing how little she can control, she learns to trust herself again, lets go of her need for total self-reliance, and finds renewal. . . . Davis’s philosophy of facing one’s fears will strike a chord with readers.”
"[Davis] provides a gripping account of how she overcame her fears and her delight as she mastered the skills needed to skydive."
“Learning to Fly is a fascinating read. It looks inside the mind of a unique individual. Davis lives a life very few will understand. Her willingness to push herself physically while protecting herself emotionally is only part of what makes her so unique.”
