High Infatuation, Steph Davis
High Infatuation, Steph Davis
List: $15.99 | Sale: $11.20
Club: $7.99

High Infatuation
A Climber's Guide to Love and Gravity

Author: Steph Davis

Narrator: Kendra Scarlavai

Unabridged: 6 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/29/2025


Synopsis

More than just an adventure, this is the story of a woman's soul.

Steph Davis takes risks, trusts her impulses, makes decisions based on what feels right and never looks back. Soon after she was introduced to rock climbing, she abandoned the respectability of university life and a potential career as a concert pianist to become a "dirtbag climber," living out of her grandmother's hand-me-down Oldsmobile sedan with Fletcher, her loyal Blue heeler mix. Today, Davis is one of the most accomplished female climbers in the world, having made first ascents in Pakistan, Patagonia, Baffin Island, and Kyrgyzstan. She was also the first woman to free climb the huge Salathe wall on El Capitan in Yosemite and the first woman to summit Torre Egger in Patagonia.

In High Infatuation, Davis writes on universal themes of life, love, friendship, and personal empowerment, as expressed through a career in climbing. We wait tensely with her through weeks of rain, wind, snow, and sleet, hoping for the weather to improve in the mountains of Patagonia, then feel her heartache as her relationship with the man she will marry is tested by her need for movement and challenge. Davis draws us into her struggles with safety, independence, ambition, and compassion. And by following this young woman's journey, we learn what it means to live a truly adventurous life

Reviews

Goodreads review by Fern on June 12, 2013

I loved this book! For such a short book it was a long read. Her writing is spacious, and every word counts. I was pausing a lot to take in her stories and reflections. She spoke to safety and the unknown really beautifully. As a female climber, a lot of the things people say to deter people from cl......more

Goodreads review by Amy on December 15, 2010

Finished the book in 24 hours; a very fast read. I actually met and climbed with Steph at Carderock in MD when we were both students (new climbers and in colllege) at the U of MD, before she moved CO to pursue climbing and finish undergrad. That was a long time ago! She was super fun and I am still......more

Goodreads review by Paige on July 07, 2024

Awe inspiring and totally badass!!! I love seeing women pave the way fearlessly and humbly in the outdoor community. Such a quick and engaging read!......more

Goodreads review by sendann on February 11, 2013

This book doesn't much live up to its title and tag line. It's a disjointed collection of stories SD wrote for climbing magazines, with some vaguely-connection making biographical stories in there as well. The stories are interesting enough, but the whole thing has this pervading sense of superficia......more

Goodreads review by xavuth on September 05, 2023

This book made me want to climb so much more and see so much more. Steph is a really great storyteller and conveys the confusing and intense relationship I and I know others feel about outdoor sports. Her anecdotes about feeling contradictions, her dog, fear, are relatable and touching. Her revelati......more