The Totem Pole: Surviving the Ultimate Adventure

Suspended from a massive needle of sheer rock, the waves crashing beneath him, Paul Pritchard was in his element, set to conquer one of the world's most formidable natural monoliths, the Totem Pole. Suddenly everything went black.

When he regained consciousness he was hanging upside down, watching his blood pour into the ocean below. He had been struck on the head by a rock the size of a television set. On a precarious ledge far above him, his climbing partner Celia watched in horror. In a superhuman feat of strength, she struggled for ours to haul him up the rock face before scrambling back to solid ground and running for help.

Trapped on a ledge in one of Tasmania's most hostile and rugged environments, Paul clung to life for ten hours during a daring abseil rescue. But his ordeal was far from over. Told by doctors that he was unlikely to walk or talk again as a result of his terrible head injury, the year that followed was to test his endurance beyond all limits.

From scaling the world's highest peaks to learning how to walk and talk all over again, Paul was faced with the end of his climbing career and a future without the woman who had saved his life. But he refused to be beaten. Alongside a cast of characters that could have stepped out of 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', he rediscovers his sense of adventure. With wry humour and rare insight, he shares the painstaking journey to recovery and finding love again.

'The Totem Pole' is a heart-pounding adventure, a fascinating insight into the landscape of the human mind and a story as inspiring as it is impossible to put down.

Contains black and white photographs.