A breathtaking audiobook by the first American to climb the fourteen highest mountains in the world. For eighteen years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But "No shortcuts to the top" is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. A preternaturally cautious climber who once turned back 300 feet from the top of Everest, Viesturs has an unyielding motto, "Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory."