Fear no boundary : one woman's amazing journey

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'Climbing is a bit like rolling a dice - sometimes things fall into place and you achieve your aim. Sometimes your number comes up.' - Sue Fear, April 2006

When mountaineers Lincoln Hall and Sue Fear collaborated in writing Fear No Boundary, neither could have imagined that within a year one would be left for dead and the other would die on the mountains they loved.

In April 2006 Sue Fear, the first Australian woman to climb Everest via the North Ridge Route, set out to summit Mt Manaslu, the world's eighth highest mountain. If she achieved this feat, Sue would become the first Australian woman to have climbed five of the world's fourteen mountains over 8000 metres. Sadly it would be her last climb. Although Sue successfully summitted Manaslu on 28 May, tragically she fell to her death in a crevasse during her descent.

Fear No Boundary chronicles the incredible journey Sue Fear took on her path to Everest, following her decision to make travel and adventure-guiding her profession. While Sue’s celebration of her fortieth birthday on top of Mount Everest in May 2003 and the nail-biting climb from Base Camp to the summit provides a framework, this updated edition also details Sue's other climbing achievements and includes a postscript outlining her final expedition.

What drove this slightly-built and unassuming woman from Sydney's leafy North Shore to set her sights on a career as a mountaineer? How did she feel as a woman climbing in a predominantly male domain? These questions and more are answered as we follow Sue's journey around the world and off the beaten track to destinations such as Bolivia, Bhutan, Uzbekistan and Kamchatka, climbing the Andes, Mount Kilimanjaro and of course the Himalaya.

Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2005 for services to mountaineering and the community, in particular the Fred Hollows Foundation, Sue's is an inspirational story.


'Sue was a beautiful person, a great Australian and an inspiration to The Foundation and to all those who knew her' - The Fred Hollows Foundation

'Sue Fear was inspirational. She was a vibrant personality, a mountaineer, a tireless worker for various charities and youth, and a good friend to many' - Australian Geographic