Aron Ralston's story of a remote hike in Utah Canyons. An experienced outdoors enthusiast, Ralston ended up trapped by an 800-pound boulder wedged across his right forearm. This book tells his story how he made it out of this predicament. He also gives a biography of his life and stories behind trips to Yosemite and climbing many of Colorado's 14ers.

Published in Hardcover:
• September 2004
• 320 pages
• ISBN-10: 0743492811
• ISBN-13: 9780743492812

Published in Paperback:
• August 2005
• 368 pages
• ISBN-10: 074349282X
• ISBN-13: 9780743492829

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Reviews

Viewing: 1-7 of 7

Alan Ellis

Terrible

Voted 1/5

I respect and admire Ralston for his experience. However, I thought the book was poorly written and boastful. It would have been much better with a humble approach. I didn't finish the book.

Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:50 pm

Dean

Not one for my wife

Voted 3/5

The initial part of this book is filled with stories of his narrow escapes. An encounter with a bear on an ill advised solo effort in the Teton wilderness, almost drowning in the Colorado river, a close call with an electrical storm on Humphries, and on and on.

The guy is pretty incredible but often his judgement seems to be suspect as far as what he was doing. I'm not sure how anyone can remember every detail of a climb or experience but then again, everyone has different abilities. His minute to minute account of the Blue John Canyon episode was chilling and like Alan Ellis, I did detect a form of boastfulness on Aron's part. Still, I found it an interesting read.

Posted Jan 28, 2007 3:21 pm

redsplashman23

So many close calls

Hasn't voted

This persons experiences can make one think of your own close calls you may have had and to think before attempting something to far in left field. A great read with some interesting experiences Aaron went through.

Posted Feb 19, 2007 5:59 pm

KirtDavis

Good Read

Voted 4/5

Crazy guy should have never been alive to write a book with so many close calls. After seeing the interview on TV, he did seem kind of arrogant though, but after cheating death so many times...

Posted Feb 20, 2007 4:46 pm

Bob Sihler

Cheap fame

Hasn't voted

I haven't voted since I haven't read this and won't.

Hats off to Ralston for his guts, but a Bronx cheer for cashing in on this. Make no mistake-- I, and I'm sure many other SP members, too-- have gone off alone into wilderness and accepted the risks. I've gone solo and off-trail deep into Wyoming and Montana wilderness where no one would find me, and I know that's violated about every "rule" there is, but this guy capitalizes on his experience. Instead of being seen as some kind of hero, he should be seen as a tough fool, perhaps what many of us are. I suppose one can't blame him for taking the money offered, and it does take some serious mettle to cut your arm off and keep going, but he is really nothing to admire. All he did was have the admittedly incredible guts to get out of the bad spot he got himeslf into.

Don't glorify this guy by buying his book. If you're tempted to get it, ask yourself this: could it have happened to me, and was I going against the grain of all good advice? If you say yes to both, skip this book. With a little bad luck, YOU could have made the money!

Posted Mar 7, 2007 4:38 am

2skinners

Interesting read

Voted 5/5

I enjoyed this book all the way through. Although I agree with everyone above that it seems a lot of his outings seemed to involve unneccessary risks. It was interesting how he weaved the story from moments while he was stuck right to remembering some of his past experiences. When he began to hallucinate, it gave me a unique perspective of what someone may feel as they are inching closer to death. My wife thinks he is an idiot, and I cannot disagree. However he has accomplished feats that very few can even dream of. To cut off his own hand took some serious intestinal fortitude. To go on and finish his quest to climb the remaining Colorado 14ers in the winter with an artificial hand is quite amazing, regardless of how many risks he was taking. Overall if you look past his mistakes, and perceived arrogance, this can be a decent book to read.

Posted Jun 30, 2007 3:56 am

jfox

Would've been better if...

Voted 1/5

it had been written from the perspective of an arm that cut off Aaron Ralston! The arm then goes on to fame and fortune landing spots on Oprah, Good Morning America, and Montel. The arm then becomes the newest fab celebrity, is followed by paparazzi, gets strung out on drugs, gets a DWI, enters rehab, gets a singing contract from P-Diddy, makes a hit record, tops the charts, goes on tour, gets busted picking up a prostitute, then ends up on The Surreal Life! Or not.

Posted Aug 12, 2008 3:20 pm

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