Extracts From Ralston Book On Outsidemag.com

An awesome read.
I don't know how he did it, tho I guess after several days and Nil
water he was getting pretty desperate.

I'm gonna have to go get the book now so I can finish the story.
cheers,
Joe Bugden

J+B said:

An awesome read.
I don't know how he did it, tho I guess after several days and Nil
water he was getting pretty desperate.

I'm gonna have to go get the book now so I can finish the story.
cheers,

It's a chilling read and very interesting but that extract had opposite
effect on me. I'm never going to buy that book, I don't want to know
what he did next! :-)

--
***My real address is m/ike at u/nmusic d/ot co dot u/k (removing /s)
np:
http://www.unmusic.co.uk
http://www.unmusic.co.uk/Top_50_Films.html - favorite films
http://www.unmusic.co.uk/amh-s.html - alt.music.home-studio

Andrew Priest <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi

For those interested, Outside Magazine have published online an
extract from Aron Ralston's forthcoming memoir. In case you are
wondering who Aron is, he is the climber who had to cut off part of
his arm to free himself.

I dunno. When you go to the automechanic, which mechanic do
you trust? The one with all his fingers and thumbs and no
gouges out of his face? Or the one who looks like he's been
dragged through a car crushing machine a few times?

The guy I trust about backcountry lore is the guy who's been
there many times and come back with no missing limbs, no
broken bones, no life-threating cases of jock itch, no storries
about harrowing escapes or encounters with unfriendlies.
Not the guy who has close calls and lives. The guy who comes
back with one boot or one glove is the guy I laugh at.

This was true for me growing up on the farm. The local farmers
would fairly often gather over a homebrew and yarn about their
various skills and abilities. And one of my uncles was missing
three fingers off his left hand. He was never the guy I paid
any attention to. He later managed to drive a tractor over
himself, so I feel somewhat smug.

I wanna learn how not to get boulders on my arm. I don't wanna
make idols out of guys who do stupid things and manage to limp
home with a stump. I wanna learn how not to set myself on fire,
how not to fall off a cliff, how not to get chased by a bear,
how not to have unpleasant encounters with other backcountry
hikers. But still go into the woods and far from towns.

So, I'd be much more likely to buy a book by a guy who's done
things like climb this or that mountain, hike this or that great
outback trail, etc., and come back in good condition with great
pictures to show for it. Because that's what I want to do myself.
Socks

"grelbr" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andrew Priest <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hi

For those interested, Outside Magazine have published online an
extract from Aron Ralston's forthcoming memoir. In case you are
wondering who Aron is, he is the climber who had to cut off part of
his arm to free himself.

I dunno. When you go to the automechanic, which mechanic do
you trust? The one with all his fingers and thumbs and no
gouges out of his face? Or the one who looks like he's been
dragged through a car crushing machine a few times?

The guy I trust about backcountry lore is the guy who's been
there many times and come back with no missing limbs, no
broken bones, no life-threating cases of jock itch, no storries
about harrowing escapes or encounters with unfriendlies.
Not the guy who has close calls and lives. The guy who comes
back with one boot or one glove is the guy I laugh at.

This was true for me growing up on the farm. The local farmers
would fairly often gather over a homebrew and yarn about their
various skills and abilities. And one of my uncles was missing
three fingers off his left hand. He was never the guy I paid
any attention to. He later managed to drive a tractor over
himself, so I feel somewhat smug.

I wanna learn how not to get boulders on my arm. I don't wanna
make idols out of guys who do stupid things and manage to limp
home with a stump. I wanna learn how not to set myself on fire,
how not to fall off a cliff, how not to get chased by a bear,
how not to have unpleasant encounters with other backcountry
hikers. But still go into the woods and far from towns.

So, I'd be much more likely to buy a book by a guy who's done
things like climb this or that mountain, hike this or that great
outback trail, etc., and come back in good condition with great
pictures to show for it. Because that's what I want to do myself.
Socks

I think I could hang with you. I have not had a laugh like this in a while.
Feeling somewhat smug when your inbred uncle rolls himself up with his own
tractor. Priceless!

"the Moderator" <sparky@no_spam_engineer.com> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
[snip]

Quoted message said:

I think I could hang with you. I have not had a laugh like this in a while.
Feeling somewhat smug when your inbred uncle rolls himself up with his own
tractor. Priceless!

He married into the family.
Socks

[email hidden] (grelbr) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Andrew Priest <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi

For those interested, Outside Magazine have published online an
extract from Aron Ralston's forthcoming memoir. In case you are
wondering who Aron is, he is the climber who had to cut off part of
his arm to free himself.

I dunno. When you go to the automechanic, which mechanic do
you trust? The one with all his fingers and thumbs and no
gouges out of his face? Or the one who looks like he's been
dragged through a car crushing machine a few times?

The guy I trust about backcountry lore is the guy who's been
there many times and come back with no missing limbs, no
broken bones, no life-threating cases of jock itch, no storries
about harrowing escapes or encounters with unfriendlies.
Not the guy who has close calls and lives. The guy who comes
back with one boot or one glove is the guy I laugh at.

I disagree. The moral from the horrific Ralston story - which he
himself makes - is that if you go hiking then take someone with you
and/or tell someone when and where you are expected back. This is
good advice irrespective of whether the donor has all his limbs or
not. And it's equally relevant whether one is walking in Utah or
Ullswater. If Ralston had taken these elementary precautions he would
not have been reduced to drinking his own urine and amputating his own
arm.

Regards

[email hidden] (Hedley Malloch) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (grelbr) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Andrew Priest <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi

For those interested, Outside Magazine have published online an
extract from Aron Ralston's forthcoming memoir. In case you are
wondering who Aron is, he is the climber who had to cut off part of
his arm to free himself.

I dunno. When you go to the automechanic, which mechanic do
you trust? The one with all his fingers and thumbs and no
gouges out of his face? Or the one who looks like he's been
dragged through a car crushing machine a few times?

The guy I trust about backcountry lore is the guy who's been
there many times and come back with no missing limbs, no
broken bones, no life-threating cases of jock itch, no storries
about harrowing escapes or encounters with unfriendlies.
Not the guy who has close calls and lives. The guy who comes
back with one boot or one glove is the guy I laugh at.

I disagree. The moral from the horrific Ralston story - which he
himself makes - is that if you go hiking then take someone with you
and/or tell someone when and where you are expected back. This is
good advice irrespective of whether the donor has all his limbs or
not. And it's equally relevant whether one is walking in Utah or
Ullswater. If Ralston had taken these elementary precautions he would
not have been reduced to drinking his own urine and amputating his own
arm.

Regards

I agree with Socks. The fact that this guy is being glorified for
being dumb just amazes me. There was an article about him in the
Denver paper the other day, and the guy had a history of being
dangerous and taking risks. That is fine as long as it's only yourself
you are endangering but apparently he got a couple of friends buried
in an avalanche and they will no longer associate with him because of
it. I'm not saying it didn't take a lot to do what he did, I'm just
saying he doesn't deserve hero status. I'm glad he acknowledged the
fact that he should have told someone where he was going, but from
watching the few interviews I've seen and reading quotes from his
book, he comes off pretty proud of himself and I get the impression
that he is saying that because it's the right thing to say not because
he actually means it. Just my opinion.
-Num

[email hidden] (CmftrblyNum) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Hedley Malloch) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (grelbr) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Andrew Priest <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
> Hi
>
> For those interested, Outside Magazine have published online an
> extract from Aron Ralston's forthcoming memoir. In case you are
> wondering who Aron is, he is the climber who had to cut off part of
> his arm to free himself.

I dunno. When you go to the automechanic, which mechanic do
you trust? The one with all his fingers and thumbs and no
gouges out of his face? Or the one who looks like he's been
dragged through a car crushing machine a few times?

The guy I trust about backcountry lore is the guy who's been
there many times and come back with no missing limbs, no
broken bones, no life-threating cases of jock itch, no storries
about harrowing escapes or encounters with unfriendlies.
Not the guy who has close calls and lives. The guy who comes
back with one boot or one glove is the guy I laugh at.

I disagree. The moral from the horrific Ralston story - which he
himself makes - is that if you go hiking then take someone with you
and/or tell someone when and where you are expected back. This is
good advice irrespective of whether the donor has all his limbs or
not. And it's equally relevant whether one is walking in Utah or
Ullswater. If Ralston had taken these elementary precautions he would
not have been reduced to drinking his own urine and amputating his own
arm.

Regards

I agree with Socks. The fact that this guy is being glorified for
being dumb just amazes me. There was an article about him in the
Denver paper the other day, and the guy had a history of being
dangerous and taking risks. That is fine as long as it's only yourself
you are endangering but apparently he got a couple of friends buried
in an avalanche and they will no longer associate with him because of
it. I'm not saying it didn't take a lot to do what he did, I'm just
saying he doesn't deserve hero status. I'm glad he acknowledged the
fact that he should have told someone where he was going, but from
watching the few interviews I've seen and reading quotes from his
book, he comes off pretty proud of himself and I get the impression
that he is saying that because it's the right thing to say not because
he actually means it. Just my opinion.
-Num

Here is another vote for Sox. Being a little closerto this than some,
I will not buy his book, watch him on TV, or go see his movie. He had
a serious history of endangering others. The often asked question was,
"When will it catch up with him?" During the winter of 2003, he led a
group of friends who were back country skiing in Colorado across a
classic avalanche situation waiting to happen. It did. Most of the
group got buried, one totally. It took 15 minutes to find him. The
only reason he lived was because one of the others was trained as an
emergency first responder. This is just one of many careless things
that he did. Would I have cut my arm off were I in the same
situation...probably not. But turning this whole thing in to a
multi-million dollar fortune just does not seem right. Ask some of the
people who risked their lives trying to find him what they think.

Got to agree with you here. Learning from others' mistakes is an important
survival technique.
Any solo hiker who makes the same mistakes after hearing about this Ralston
fiasco would just be an example of "evolution in action."

"Hedley Malloch" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (grelbr) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...> > > wondering who
Aron is, he is the climber who had to cut off part of

<snip!>

Quoted message said:

I disagree. The moral from the horrific Ralston story - which he
himself makes - is that if you go hiking then take someone with you
and/or tell someone when and where you are expected back. This is
good advice irrespective of whether the donor has all his limbs or
not. And it's equally relevant whether one is walking in Utah or
Ullswater. If Ralston had taken these elementary precautions he would
not have been reduced to drinking his own urine and amputating his own
arm.

Regards

"CmftrblyNum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

<snip!>

Quoted message said:

I agree with Socks. The fact that this guy is being glorified for
being dumb just amazes me. There was an article about him in the
Denver paper the other day, and the guy had a history of being
dangerous and taking risks. That is fine as long as it's only yourself
you are endangering but apparently he got a couple of friends buried
in an avalanche and they will no longer associate with him because of
it. I'm not saying it didn't take a lot to do what he did, I'm just
saying he doesn't deserve hero status.

Is somebody calling him a hero?

Quoted message said:

I'm glad he acknowledged the
fact that he should have told someone where he was going, but from
watching the few interviews I've seen and reading quotes from his
book, he comes off pretty proud of himself and I get the impression
that he is saying that because it's the right thing to say not because
he actually means it. Just my opinion.
-Num

"SteveM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

<snip!>

Quoted message said:

Here is another vote for Sox. Being a little closerto this than some,
I will not buy his book, watch him on TV, or go see his movie. He had
a serious history of endangering others. The often asked question was,
"When will it catch up with him?" During the winter of 2003, he led a
group of friends who were back country skiing in Colorado across a
classic avalanche situation waiting to happen. It did. Most of the
group got buried, one totally. It took 15 minutes to find him. The
only reason he lived was because one of the others was trained as an
emergency first responder. This is just one of many careless things
that he did. Would I have cut my arm off were I in the same
situation...probably not. But turning this whole thing in to a
multi-million dollar fortune just does not seem right.

Oh, I don't know. People make money in a lot of ways. You offer a product,
people do or don't buy it from you. Big deal.
And he may save several lives by telling his story. After hearing about
this fiasco, some solo hiker may not make the same mistakes.

Quoted message said:

Ask some of the
people who risked their lives trying to find him what they think.

"Earl Jacksboro" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"SteveM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

<snip!>

Quoted message said:

Here is another vote for Sox. Being a little closerto this than some,
I will not buy his book, watch him on TV, or go see his movie. He had
a serious history of endangering others. The often asked question was,
"When will it catch up with him?" During the winter of 2003, he led a
group of friends who were back country skiing in Colorado across a
classic avalanche situation waiting to happen. It did. Most of the
group got buried, one totally. It took 15 minutes to find him. The
only reason he lived was because one of the others was trained as an
emergency first responder. This is just one of many careless things
that he did. Would I have cut my arm off were I in the same
situation...probably not. But turning this whole thing in to a
multi-million dollar fortune just does not seem right.

Oh, I don't know. People make money in a lot of ways. You offer a

product,

Quoted message said:

people do or don't buy it from you. Big deal.
And he may save several lives by telling his story. After hearing about
this fiasco, some solo hiker may not make the same mistakes.

Quoted message said:

Ask some of the
people who risked their lives trying to find him what they think.

I watched the Dateline piece, and maybe it was just the way it was edited,
but he seemed to learn his lesson about taking stupid risks. Jeez, he paid a
terrible price for it.

Martha

Quoted message said:

I see he is on a national book signing tour.
He does his backyard Boulder Sept 20 and Denver Sept 21.

[email hidden] (rick++) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I see he is on a national book signing tour.
He does his backyard Boulder Sept 20 and Denver Sept 21.

Here is the review from the Albuquerque Journal

Hiker Produces a Compelling, Self-Absorbed Account of Utah Ordeal

By Toby Smith
Journal Staff Writer
REVIEW: Aron Ralston's hiking story is like the harrowing driving
stories you sometimes hear, those tales of motorists who skid off a
bridge, crash land in a swamp and hang on for a week as they inch
their way to help.
There's one exception. Ralston, who survived an unbearable,
well-publicized six-day ordeal in Utah last year, left part of his arm
behind. The part he hacked off himself.
As might be expected, Ralston has written a book about what he
endured. Though we know how it ends, it remains a compelling account,
documented now with his own photographs achieved, shall we say, in
mid-cut.
There's a strong New Mexico tether here. Ralston, once an Intel
engineer, lived in Albuquerque for three years. He was active with the
Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council before he bolted corporate life to
work in an Aspen, Colo., outdoors store.
Coincidentally, that Albuquerque group assisted in his Utah
rescue. Moreover, that search was greatly aided by identifying the
truck he drove. It bore a New Mexico license plate.
To his credit, Ralston doesn't spend the entire book on what
happened to him when a truck-tire-size rock trapped his right arm
while he was "slot canyoneering" in a remote section of Canyonlands
National Park.
Instead, he attempts to support the incident by recollecting
anecdotes from his short (he's 28) life.
Doing so works for and against him.

Impetuous loner
The benefit is that we come to see a risk-grabbing adventurer who
grew up itching for the next avalanche. We get to know a gear junkie
who is most comfortable sniffing the paths left by cranky
monkey-wrencher Edward Abbey and suicidal wanderer Chris McCandless.
As an impetuous loner, Ralston is a guy who thinks nothing of
sticking his body down a telephone booth-wide crevice in Utah without
telling a soul where he will be, the No. 1 no-no when heading into the
wilds.
For kicks, he taunts black bears in the backcountry, jumps into
freezing rivers fully clothed, charges off into the frightful night
toward another summit.
Ralston details these audacious acts, returning periodically to
work up the gumption to amputate an arm that is terminally wedged
behind a boulder. (So preoccupied was he with a Phish tape as he hiked
that day, Ralston didn't sense the precariousness of the loose rock
that eventually pinned his limb.)
In an attempt to redeem or perhaps explain himself, Ralston
reveals that he's a disciple of a credo that goes, It's not what you
do, it's who you are.
Trouble is, Ralston fails to convince us that he lives by those
words— even after nearly bleeding to death in Utah. He's still the
consummate peak-bagger, forever tackling high mountains solo and in
the midst of a blizzard. A newspaper item last month said he had
completed the Leadville 100, a maniacal endurance run held at 10,000
feet, and that he can play the piano one-handed.
Some may see these achievements as inspirational. But all they
really do is confirm Ralston's self-absorption. Seemingly not
interested in exploring who he is, Ralston continues to define himself
by telling us what he has done— what crag he has clung to, what
whitewater rapids he nearly drowned in, what wall of ice he picked his
way up. How time after time he hoodwinked death.
In case we missed any of his daredevilry, a swaggering
"biographical chronology" is attached to the end of the book.

Transcendental state
Nowhere in "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" does Ralston discuss
what he gives to others, or what he is contributing to the world
beyond an appreciation for the environment and its majestic scenery.
Oddly, there's barely a mention of Ralston's father. Because life
seems to be all about Aron, we never learn his father's first name nor
what he does for a living. Surely the kid gleaned something from the
old man.
And yet Ralston manages to attract us. His feelings about wanting
to go it alone to achieve a transcendental state are readily
identifiable. Morever, he writes well, particularly for a first-timer.
Some quibbles: There's far too much brand-name dropping of equipment.
And, on occasion, a reliance on the florid phrase: "I resume my
excavation as darkness from my penumbral hole spills into the desert
above me ...''
Those missteps aside, the panic, fear and hestitancy Ralston
describes during his Canyonlands nightmare are presented brutally and
straight-up, right down to the last drop of urine that he drinks to
stay alive.
Surgical note: The actual severing was done with a $15 multi-tool,
and Ralston had foresight to break the bones in his forearm to make
the grisly task easier.
It would be hard for anyone to say what he would do if stuck
similarly to Aron Ralston. A self-indulgent obsessiveness clearly
helped him save his life. Not so strangely, that same characteristic
got him into his predicament.

Toby Smith, your writeup sounds like you're envious of Aron. Self
absorbed you say? I see him as totally happy with who he is and
living life 100%. His story is about survival in a situation most
other people would give up--or die from ignorance of what to do. Sure
he messed up by not telling anyone-he admitted it. What a great
example for anyone who thinks they can't get out and "just do it" and
for anyone who may have a disability and think they can't.
Could YOU cut your arm off and rapel down a cliff then walk seven
miles? If more people were Aron's kind of self indulgent there would
be more happy people in the world.
Aron's credo is "Its not what you do its who you are"?? Yeah! Aron
is 100% Aron! take that and go for a hike Mr. Smith. :P

"David" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You know... the Phish CD's is one of the things that really struck me
about his story. He outlined all of his equipment in the book (from the
extracts posted here) and said that he had a heavy load but considered
everything to be essential... including a CD player with a bunch of
Phish CD's?! I guess it's just me... but I honestly cannot comprehend
the idea of being in such a magical place and wanting to listen to
CD's?! If he had been focusing his attention and energy on what he was
doing and where he was... on awareness and being... instead of moving
along scatter-brained with Phish blasting in his ears and his energy
focused in every which direction... maybe he would not have made that
mistake with the loose boulder in the first place. Maybe.

Well, especially Phish. I mean....blech....I can't think of worse music. If
he was listening to Borknagar or Enslaved or Opeth, I'd have more respect
for him.

Martha

"Karen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Toby Smith, your writeup sounds like you're envious of Aron. Self
absorbed you say? I see him as totally happy with who he is and
living life 100%. His story is about survival in a situation most
other people would give up--or die from ignorance of what to do. Sure
he messed up by not telling anyone-he admitted it. What a great
example for anyone who thinks they can't get out and "just do it" and
for anyone who may have a disability and think they can't.
Could YOU cut your arm off and rapel down a cliff then walk seven
miles? If more people were Aron's kind of self indulgent there would
be more happy people in the world.
Aron's credo is "Its not what you do its who you are"?? Yeah! Aron
is 100% Aron! take that and go for a hike Mr. Smith. :P

Karen,
My sentiments exactly. We command people to act independently, think for
themselves, stop following the masses, and the moment they do we condemn
them.
The kid goofed up, got his act together, and saved his life. My hat's off to
him.

"Karen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Toby Smith, your writeup sounds like you're envious of Aron.

I'd give my right arm to be like Aron Ralston.

Sorry, make that "I'd have to give my right arm to be like him".

Quoted message said:

If more people were Aron's kind of self indulgent there would
be more happy people in the world.

If more people were Aron's kind of self indulgent there would be more happy
people in the world because more people's enemies would be dead or missing a
limb.
--
Mark South, Super Genius: World Citizen, Net Denizen

Quoted message said:

I'd give my right arm to be like Aron Ralston.

Sorry, make that "I'd have to give my right arm to be like him".

Quoted message said:

If more people were Aron's kind of self indulgent there would
be more happy people in the world.

Interestingly he commented in Denver booksigning that had he had
foreknowledge of the incident, he might have still choosen to go through with it.
Because its become the central experience of his life and who he is.