Forbes To The Limits: Pushing Yourself to the Edge--in Adventure and in Business

By James M. Clash

Following modern executives as they push themselves to the limits in life and in business In To the Limits, adventure writer Jim Clash examines the phenomenon of corporate leaders and millionaires who test their limits through high-end, risky adventure-and links the life and business lessons they have learned along the way. Based on his popular column in Forbes, Clash details his own exotic adventures and includes anecdotes from high-profile, daredevil executives who share his passion for adventure-from flying to the edge of space 84,000 feet up (Dennis Tito, Chief Executive of Wilshire Associates), to climbing 20,000-foot mountain peaks (Timothy Forbes, Chief Operating Officer of Forbes, Inc.), to racing open-wheel cars (Mark Patterson, Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston), to swimming at the North Pole (Geoffrey Kent, Chief Executive of Abercrombie & Kent). Clash's dramatic narrative also explores the powerful connection between extreme success in business and in life, and covers topics such as risk-taking, testing personal limits, and dealing with decision-making responsibilities. James M. Clash (New York, NY) covers mutual funds for Forbes magazine and writes a popular column called "The Adventurer" for Forbes Global. An avid wilderness enthusiast, he is a Fellow in the Explorers Club who has undertaken a number of unforgettable challenges-he has climbed the Matterhorn, ridden in a MiG jet fighter at two-and-a-half-times the speed of sound, driven Indy cars at upwards of 180 mph, climbed virgin mountains in Antarctica, and has visited the North Pole twice. Clash has also interviewed legendary adventurers such as Buzz Aldrin, Sir Roger Bannister, Sir Edmund Hillary, and four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears-all of whom are included in this book.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471210935
• ISBN13: 9780471210931
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.4" x 0.9" x 6.2"

Customer Reviews

A terrific read and one heck of a ride!!!!!

If you'd like to "get away" without leaving the comfort of your home, this is the book for you. The author has obviously enjoyed each interesting adventure and so deliciously shares with the reader. Mr. Clash is a master storyteller. The book was a pure joy to read.

The Best Book I Have Read in a Long Time... A+++++++

Not by shaking a hand, but by reading a book, I met an exceptional person today, and his name is Jim Clash. If one were to attempt to sell the life of Jim Clash as a work of fiction it would never sell. Unfortunately, most people wouldn't believe it, because most people don't believe that life can be an adventure, Jim Clash does.Fortunately, Jim Clash writes about his own life with the skill of a novelist. You are traveling 208 miles an hour vibrating under his helmet in a Lambourgini. You are bracing yourself against the rocky summit of Everest as the wind tries to pull you to your death. I feel as if I've been on a hundred exotic journey's in the past few hours. Jim and I have traveled to the North Pole, the South Pole, space, the desert, the mountains, and the depths of the sea. And he really did all these things-an incredible human being who clearly understands the definition of `living'.Jim Clash knows that businessmen who approach their own field like it is the adventure of a lifetime are those leaders and entrepreneurs that will attain the summit of achievement.But the adventure doesn't stop there, for Clash explores the adventure of discovery, the extremes of the mind with Edward Teller and others as he pursues that most perilous of summits-the knowledge regarded by some as frightening in itself. But Clash understands that the most dangerous summits provide the broadest vistas. As Professor Teller says in the book, 'I have never had any doubts that knowledge is good. And I never had any tendency to be afraid of knowledge.' One can feel Dr. Teller's resigned depression at being attacked for discovering dangerous knowledge, and his still visible disbelief that he was attacked for telling the truth when no one else would. 'To the Limits' clearly demonstrates that one man not doing something neither stops the information from existing, nor does it stop someone else from finding or doing it anyway, whether it be a climbing a mountain, or building a smarter or better bomb. Mr. Clash successfully showed me the meaning of being alone at the top of a mountain, and being alone in one's mind with the truth. Two perilous adventures testing the essence of our character.`If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we could literally astound ourselves.' - Thomas Edison Jim Clash lives by these words. In every aspect of his life from business to the extremes of the North and South Pole, Jim Clash has realized the adventure life can be if we would only realize it.This is one of the rare books that has the power to inspire.

To The Limits: Pushing Yourself to the Edge In Adventure

Jim Clash is a classic example of an author that has game. He writes about things he knows. In his book To The Limits, I found myself flipping through the pages with little or no breaks to learn what he experienced as well as to dive into the thoughts and words of some of the worlds greatest adventures; a page turner at its best. As a CPA and also the first person from the Western Hempisphere to climb and ski from 8,000 meters, and from from the death zone on Mt Everest, I can totally relate to where Jim is coming from. The gap between those world adventure leaders he writes about and us mere mortals is bridged in a way that held my attention and entertained me with converstions of fact that were beyond facinating. Adventure has a broad spectrum. It is interesting how Jim correlates that to business and depicts life as an adventure. Nice job. Mike Marolt

Forbes To The Limits

This book is well written. It captures great experiences of present adventurers who are also very successful in their general lives. With the adventures of James Clash, he downplayed it to let average readers like me understand and be encouraged to do exciting adventures that would normally be thought of as exclusive only for extraordinary personalities. Very real that while reading it I want to do it myself. It gave me the rush to do something that would push myself to the extreme and reap the rewards of total satisfaction. I like the fact that most of the facts are current, informative and down to earth. Great reading!

To the Limits

To the Limits is a well-well written account of Clash's first person adventures into the testosterone driven worlds of mountain-climbing, auto racing and near-space travel. The adventure vignettes he presents make for easy, casual night-time reading; it is easy to pick up where you last left the story. Interviews with many of today's legends of exploration round out the reading experience; Sir Edmund Hillary, the son of his climbing partner Jamling Norgay, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and four minute miler Roger Bannister are among the many. For those who may be suffering the effects of a post Iraq adrenaline rush, To the Limits just might be the antidote you need.