About the Author

Mike Trueman is a former officer in Britain's Brigade of Gurkhas, a graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst who flew helicopters with the Army Air Corps before commanding the Army Mountain Training Centre in Germany. He has led expeditions in jungles, deserts and mountains around the world, including over twenty to the Himalaya and four to Everest. In 1996 he was part of an international team attempting the Polish South Pillar route on Everest when the much-publicised storm hit the mountain, claiming the lives of eight climbers. As the storm raged, he was asked to descend to Base Camp to coordinate the rescue. In 1999 Mike returned and reached the summit of Everest. Since leaving the army Mike has worked as a humanitarian aid agency director, held European Union appointments in the former Yugoslavia and worked as operations director for a large expeditions company, organising over 1,200 expeditions around the world. Mike is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and has written articles for international newspapers including the Sunday Times and South China Morning Post. He has appeared in a number of television adventure programmes and has spoken frequently on radio. Mike and his wife Jacqui divide their time between West Sussex and Normandy.