The story of one of Britain's most daring climbers and how he reached extreme heights.
Leo Houlding started climbing at ten years of age in the Lake District and was the youngest person (and first Briton) to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in the United States at eighteen years, which cemented his reputation. He has since gone on to summit the world's toughest peaks and explore the most extreme places on our planet.
During such explorations he has had to deal with tragedy when close friends and colleagues have been killed or badly injured, and he will discuss how you deal with such loss and carry on. Honest, raw and exhilarating, Closer to the Edge will be a 'warts-and-all' insight into the extreme life of one of Britain's best mountaineer adventurers. What drives him? How does he assess risk and judge what level he'll take himself to be successful, and how does he balance this with teaching his own children the lessons he has learnt in some of the world's most dangerous and extreme places.
Leo is the real deal.
He shouldn't be alive. - Sir Ranulph Fiennes
One of the greatest mountaineers Britain has ever produced. - Steve Backshall
He's a brilliant climber. He makes everything seem so incredibly easy. In rock climbing, your twenties are probably your peak time. He is the equivalent of an Olympic athlete. I still love my climbing as much as I ever have done, but I don't think I ever climbed as well as Leo does. - Sir Chris Bonington
- Bear Grylls
One of the best climbers ever to have lived - Jeremy Clarkson