A formerly obese and bulimic cocaine addict recounts how the death of a friend helped her overcome her problems and reach amazing goals, which included climbing the peaks of Mount Everest After beating bulimia and the twin addictions of alcohol and cocaine, climbing mountains would probably seem like a walk in the park. For Margo Chisholm, author of To the Summit , her quest to become the first woman to climb the highest mountain on each continent--known to the mountain-climbing community as "the Seven Summits"--was her victory march. Traveling from Africa to Antarctica to the Himalayas, Chisholm chased her dream, scaling mountain after mountain, with only Everest eluding her. Coauthored with Ray Bruce, Chisolm's story is an inspiring one. Even her failure to reach Everest's summit becomes a triumph of acceptance. Chisholm chose mountain climbing and adventure travel as a means to overcome dysfunctional behavior that included bulimia and alcoholism. Between 1988 and 1993, she climbed six of the Seven Summits (the highest peaks of the seven continents) and was the oldest woman (42 years) to climb Mt. Vinson in the Antarctic. Her two attempts on Mt. Everest were turned back just before the summit push. The joy and techniques of climbing are acknowledged, but Chisholm is better at communicating the difficulties of changing emotional attitudes and of growing psychologically. Buy for substance-abuse support programs rather than for mountaineering collections.?Paula M. Strain, Rockville, Md. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. Chisholm's goal was to conquer the highest mountain on each of seven continents, but only after facing up to multiple addictions--including alcohol, food, and drugs. Even after becoming clean and sober and pursing dreams of climbing in the world's most awe-inspiring mountain ranges, Chisholm was constantly beset by self-doubt. Her negative inner dialogue is so present, in fact, that it is often exhausting to accompany her on her treks while having to listen in on the consuming voices of gloom that exist even when she is engaged in scaling mountaintops. It is to Chisholm's credit, certainly, that she overcame behaviors debilitating enough to be an apparent death sentence. For those struggling with their own demons, her endeavors will doubtless prove inspiring. And although Chisholm fell short of achieving the greatest summit--Everest--the average armchair traveler can expect to find stimulating passages amidst the personal tragedies and triumphs. Alice Joyce The compelling, if at times aggravating, tale of Chisholm's journey from the land of the dead to the thin air of high peaks, told with the help of Bruce, an editor for Self-Help Psychology magazine. In her mid-30s, Chisholm was a wreck: hooked on booze and dope, unable to control her eating, tempering her moods with Nyquil and Sinutabs, fancying she was controlling her weight with a massive daily intake of laxatives, unable to go to work or even get out of bed. Thanks to fate, destiny--call it what you will--she found her way to a rehab group that got the recuperative ball rolling, and coincidentally, in the mid-1980s, Chisholm discovered mountain climbing. She wanted to climb the seven summits, the highest mountains on each continent, and her quest became a bit of an obsession: She wondered if she simply switched one addiction for another. But her motives feel purer than that. She was trying to claw her way out of a deadly slough, and she realized she had to be physically and spiritually up to the challenge. Spiritually, Chisholm discovered God, and readers may feel they have been foisted into a confessional role. Her mantra is ``God's love, God's strength, God's will, I can.'' Inner voices dog her: The pessimist Martha and the perfectionist Ghost in White taunt her unmercifully. Physically, the adventurer's quests were daunting: Kilimanjaro, Denali, Cerro Aconcagua, Everest, mountains that demand resources no non-mountaineer could imagine. Chisholm's excitement at being on the roofs of the world, or at least sitting under the eaves at base camp--highly descriptive, with nuggets of climbing wisdom--is palpable. When Everest eludes Chisholm, and she takes it in stride, readers may sense that she has covered her most impressive terrain. (photos, not seen) (First printing of 60,000; author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. The author was past her 40th birthday when she decided to reject her shel tered, predictable life and embark on a trek to the Himilayas - even though overweight and a substanc e abuser. Her journey with a photographer friend who was also a dedicated adventurer led to her new heights climbing mountains - and changing her lifestyle. Chisholm's inspiration autobiogra phy is absorbing. -- Midwest Book Review Vanquishing her old negative voices, Ms. Chisholm was able to look at Everest not in defeat but realistically, knowing that by being "strong and determined and whole