Three years later, in 2002, he published a book, A Mais Alta Solidão (The Highest Loneliness), in which he describes his experiences in mountain climbing, namely his 1999 expedition to Everest, where he endured bitter adversities.
Born in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, João Garcia started practicing mountaineering in 1982 (15 years old), when he travelled to Serra da Estrela by bicycle to practice rock climbing with “Clube de Montanhismo da Guarda” (CMG) (Guarda mountaineering club).
In 1993 he started his activities in the Himalayas, as part of an international Polish expedition (led by Krzysztof Wielicki) to Cho Oyu, in Tibet.
In June/July 2000 he visited Peru with a party from CAB (Club Alpin Belge), climbing Urus, Ishinca, Tocllaraju, ad Chopicalqui.
During his 2005 Lhotse ascent, his partner Hélder Santos was forced to abandon the summit attempt due to food poisoning.
After considerable logistic complications in the Everest region due to the mayhem caused by the Olympic flame trip to the roof of the world, João reached base camp late in the season and ended up summiting alone, under strong wind.
He was joined by four members of a Korean expedition while most climbers involved in the summit push were forced to go back due to exhaustion and unfavorable climbing conditions.
João Garcia has also climbed the Seven Summits (the highest mountains of each of the seven continents): Mount Everest (Asia), Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America), Elbrus (Europe), Vinson Massif (Antarctica), Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Mount Kosciuszko (Australia).