A Candid True-Adventure About Mountains, Mistakes, And Finding Purpose

At nineteen, Nick Cienski left college for the world’s highest peaks, climbing with no bottled oxygen, no Sherpa support, and plenty of hard lessons. He survived a hundred-foot fall, a night in the Death Zone with one boot, avalanches, and border standoffs. Between expeditions, he built a second life designing elite performance gear for Olympians, special operations, and even a commercial space suit.

Told in crisp, no-nonsense chapters with dark humor and zero chest-thumping, My Life on the Ledge shows what risk really costs—and why some goals are worth it.



Look inside to find:

• True high-altitude close calls and rescues
• What “turning back” means when it matters
• How top-tier gear gets made and why it saves lives
• Hard-won lessons on grit, failure, and purpose