Running wild in the mountains of eastern Washington as a child, world-class extreme kayaker and entrepreneur Tao Berman continues to run wild through the record books and life. A world-record waterfall-drop holder since his 98.4-foot kayak flight off of Upper Johnston Falls in Canada’s Banff National Forest, Berman is a powerhouse, a living story of pushing envelopes to the unthinkable edge. GOING VERTICAL: THE LIFE OF AN EXTREME KAYAKER (August 2008, $16.95, Menasha Ridge Press) is his inspiring life story of adventure prowess, domination of an extreme sport, and personal audacity to go where others fear to tread. “Once I’ve decided something is doable, it’s all calculation, not emotion; nothing and no one can stop me. Fear is never part of the equation, especially not as I climb into my kayak at the cusp of a falls,” Tao explains in Chapter 1.

More than describing an extreme sport, GOING VERTICAL is also a story of how Berman created a market and built a career as a kayaker, a parallel narrative of his triumph as both a super athlete and a successful businessman. In chapters such as “The Tao of Marketing” and “The Tao of Risk,” he translates the wisdom gained performing extreme sports to the dialect of the business world. “Most people don’t do as well as they could because it takes guts – confidence in their abilities – as well as skill to give up their salaries and create something bigger and better. I’ve chosen to go for it in my sport, but all of us deal with the same types of issues in life. It’s a matter of looking at risks and deciding if we’re comfortable taking them.”

GOING VERTICAL provides a glimpse of accomplishment and shows by example how to attain the attitude necessary for achievement. From the thrill of kayaking over waterfalls to the risks involved in building a career, Tao Berman’s exploits will give readers an exciting ride.
Tao Berman’s first book Going Vertical: The Life of an Extrme Kayaker-is now available.

http://www.amazon.com/Going-Vertical-Life-Extreme-Kayaker/dp/0897326520/ref

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