How can a man who is scared of heights, who lives on an island with not even a single hill, let alone a mountain, decide one fine day to climb the Everest, the highest mountain in the world?

Sal-quċċata tal-Everest is the story of a man who wanted to tread were no Maltese man has gone before - even though he had no idea what it takes to climb a mountain.

This is the story of Marco Cremona's incredible adventure on the mountains. As an engineer, an environmental activist, a keen promoter of water conservation, an opinion maker and above all a man who is always in search for new challenges in life, he was not about to let the small detail of his acrophobia get in the way of his dream.

But his was not a dream that could be fulfilled from one day to the next. It took him long years of exercise and trials on mountains, each one slightly taller and more difficult than the previous one.

It's very easy from the comfort of our living rooms to imagine that climbing a mountain is that something romantic you see in the movies. We could not be more wrong: Cremona walks us through the extreme difficulties, in the world of tents where even toilets are non-existent, where food is limited and where everything has to be carried on the backs of the climbers.

Sal-quċċata tal-Everest, which Cremona wrote with Glen Calleja, tells the story of all that the challenges faced - from his very first "Hmm. Should I do this?" to his "Here I am now on top of the highest mountain in the world."

His is a tale from the heart, and he opens up with the reader and shares stories about his relationships and all the people who have crossed his path in the run up to the main adventure. There's no holds barred, his likes and dislikes are literally, an open book and in Cremona's typical no non-sense style, diplomacy is thrown out of the window. This includes personal insights on group bonding with the team of climbers, to the difficulties of raising enough funds to go on such an expedition.

Sal-quċċata tal-Everest, published by Merlin Publishers, is a book for adventure lovers, for those who live for extreme sports, and for those who love cliff-hanging reading.

Sal-quċċata tal-Everest can be found for sale at all leading bookshops or directly on line from merlinpublishers.com