An awestruck love letter to one of the most spectacular places on earth, from the author of international bestseller The Eight Mountains

Paolo Cognetti marked his 40th birthday with a journey he had always wanted to make: to Dolpo, a remote Himalayan region where Nepal meets Tibet. He took with him two friends, a notebook, mules and guides, and a well-worn copy of The Snow Leopard. Written in 1978, Matthiessen's classic was also turning forty, and Cognetti set out to walk in the footsteps of the great adventurer.

Without Ever Reaching the Summit combines travel journal, secular pilgrimage, literary homage and sublime mountain writing in a short book for readers of Macfarlane, Rebanks and Cognetti's own bestseller, The Eight Mountains. An investigation into the author's physical limits, an ancient mountain culture, and the magnificence of nature, it is an awestruck love letter to one of the most spectacular places on earth.

Paolo Cognetti (Author)
Paolo Cognetti was born in Milan and continues to divide his time between the city and his cabin in the Italian Alps. He is the author of The Lovers and The Eight Mountains, which was an international sensation: a bestseller in multiple languages and the winner of Italy’s Premio Strega and the French Prix Médicis étranger. The film adaptation of The Eight Mountains won the 2022 Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Stash Luczkiw (Translator)
Stash Luczkiw is a US-born writer of poetry, fiction and journalism. He has translated various books from Italian and other languages into English.