Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Aron Ralston

  carabiner (also ’biner): A metal link with a gate that opens and closes, allowing a climber to clip the link to an anchor, the rope, webbing, or a belay/rappel device. For better security, some carabiners have lockable gates.

  chimneying: A climbing technique that uses the counteracting pressure of feet and hands on opposite walls to move up or down a chimney-width rock feature such as in narrow slot canyons. Also known as stemming.

  climbing rope: A special design of rope with a core and sheath that stretches when dynamically loaded, absorbing a significant amount of the energy generated when a climber falls, as opposed to static ropes that do not stretch.

  cornice: A snow feature usually found on summits and ridges where wind blows and compacts the snow into an overhanging bulge, like a frozen wave curl.

  couloir: A funnel- or hourglass-shaped snow-filled gully, usually exposed to rock and ice falling into it.

  crampons: Metal spikes, often arranged ten or twelve per foot on boot-length metal platforms that are strapped to mountaineering boots for climbing snow and ice.

  daisy chain: A six-foot-long sewed loop of half-inch-wide Spectra webbing that is stitched to itself every five inches along its length, creating a series of load-bearing fabric links in a “chain” of webbing. Typically, at exposed rappel anchor sites, with one end of the daisy chain hitched to his climbing harness, a climber clips a carabiner through one of the links to a solid anchor to prevent a fall while working near the edge.

  downclimbing: Descending steep terrain using climbing techniques, as opposed to rappelling or using anchors.

  DPS: Department of Public Safety; in Utah, the DPS oversees the state highway patrol.

  ECSO: Emery County sheriff’s office.

  ICS: Incident Command System, the command structure and guidelines used by most government agencies and search-and-rescue teams to manage large-scale emergency operations.

  Lexan: Trade name of a type of hard plastic, used in some outdoor recreation water bottles.

  mixed: Combination of ice, snow, and rock terrain; also mixed climbing, climbing on mixed terrain, using crampons and ice tools on rock.

  Nalgene: Brand name of a company that makes outdoor recreation water bottles.

  NPS: National Park Service, an agency within the Department of the Interior that administers national monument and park lands.

  progress-capture loop: A knot, such as a Prusik knot, used in lifting systems to hold the load in place while the haul system is reset for a subsequent lift.

  Prusik knot: A special friction knot useful for ratcheting operations such as ascending a rope or in pulley systems. When loose, the knot can be slid up a rope but locks when tightened under downward force.

  randonée (also alpine touring, or A/T): Backcountry skiing equipment similar to downhill ski equipment but with rear binding components that allow the boot heel to lift for uphill travel, then lock the heel down in ski descent mode. Unlike telemark skiing boots, A/T boots can be used with most crampons.

  rappelling: Descending a cliff using a rope and a special friction device.

  rappel ring (also rap ring): A welded aluminum ring that links a climbing rope to an anchor for rappelling, allowing a climber to pull the rope down from the anchor more freely, once the rappel is completed.

  SAR: Search and rescue.

  Spectra: Trade name for a type of synthetic fiber used in climbing ropes and webbing, stronger for its weight than traditional fibers.

  stemming: See “Chimneying.”

  telemark: Backcountry skiing equipment with a single free-heel mode that allows for both uphill travel and downhill skiing; named for a region in Norway. Downhill technique on telemark gear uses an alternating dropped-knee stance that advances one ski in front of the other to execute a turn. Telemark boots have a toe baffle that flexes, which is necessary for the telemark ski stance, but which makes them incompatible with most crampons.

  travertine: A type of rock formed by water with high concentrations of lime that are deposited wherever the stream flows or splashes. As the creek changes course or water levels drop, lime residue solidifies into travertine and changes from white to burgundy as other minerals in the accretion, notably iron, oxidize and turn red.

  webbing: Flat or tubular strips of closely woven high-strength fabric, useful for building climbing anchors. Usually used in three-quarter, one-inch, and one-and-a-half-inch widths.

  yarding: In climbing, to pull hard on a handhold.

  Acknowledgments

  Dedication

  This book is a testimony to the love of my parents, Donna and Larry Ralston, and my awesome sister, Sonja Marie Ralston Elder. For the memories we’ve had together and for the ones we have yet to create, I got out of that canyon.

  With special love for Marjorie Ralston and Grace Anderson, and in memory of my grandfathers, P. K. Ralston and Karl Anderson, and our family friend Betty Darr—I think of you every time I see a sunrise. To the hundreds of friends I met through my time at Cherry Creek High School, Carnegie Mellon University, Intel, and in Aspen, it was all of you who sustained my spirit in the canyon.

  For the awe-inspiring power of the greater spirit, I am here to bear witness that there are energies larger than we are that surround us everywhere, and when the times are right, we can connect with those energies. Those times of connection are the spiritual structure of miracles.

  For their friendship and help in my rescue: my roommates Leona Sondie, Brian Payne, Elliott Larson, and Joe Wheadon; my best friend in Aspen, Rachel Polver; my colleagues and managers at the Ute Mountaineer, most notably Brion After and Bob Wade; Steve Patchett, Mark Van Eeckhout, Jason Halladay, Dan Hadlich, and Brad and Leah Yule; and all my friends who helped by phone and by e-mail to create the chain of events that led to my rescue. To Michelle Kiel, Ann Fort, Sue Doss, and Dave Brush, my thanks for your support of my parents in those most terrifying days.

  To my rescuers, what you do day in and day out can hardly be appreciated enough: Rangers Steve Swanke and Glenn Sherrill and the National Park Service; Captain Kyle Ekker, Sergeant Mitch Vetere, and Detective Greg Funk and the Emery County sheriff’s office; Chief Deputy Doug Bliss and the Wayne County sheriff’s office; pilot Terry Mercer and the Utah Department of Public Safety; the volunteers of the Grand, Emery, and Wayne counties’ search-and-rescue teams, Mountain Rescue Aspen, and the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council; the Aspen police; the Meijer family; Wayne Marrs; and Spanish Valley Mortuary.

  Thank you to the staff of Allen Memorial Hospital in Moab, St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, St. Luke’s Presbyterian Hospital in Denver, the Colorado Amputee Rehabilitation Management Team, and the Limb Preservation Institute; as well as to my surgeons and doctors, Dr. Bobby Higgins, Dr. Jeffrey Nakano, Dr. Michael Rooks, Dr. Arline Burnell, Dr. Cynthia Kelly, Dr. Gary Snider, and Dr. Rebekah Gass; and also, Dan Prinster, vice president of planning and business development at St. Mary’s, the day and night nurses at St. Mary’s—with special love for Renae Mason and Kelly Owens—occupational therapist Gary Saunders, and recreational therapist James Tanner, for my first journey outdoors after my accident, to the rooftop of the hospital.

  I also thank Dr. Skip Meier with the Amputee Services of America, who coordinated my rehabilitation with the help of Erin Cantwell; Dr. Howard Belon, occupational therapist Julie Klarich, who coached me to eat crackers with my prosthetic until I got it (it takes the finesse of an egg juggler), physical therapist Carol McGowan and her colleagues, who challenged me to beat the clinic records on the balance balls, and my fellow patients in Dr. Belon’s support group.

  Support, Inspiration, and Encouragement

  Thank you to my friends who flew and drove from around the country to visit me during my convalescence in the hospital and at home.

  Thank you to everyone who wrote my family and me an e-mail, called to see how we were doing, or sent CDs, gifts, margarita supplies, donations, and hundreds of letters of well wishes and encouragement after my accident. I’m sorry
I couldn’t write all of you personal thank-yous.

  Thank you to Troy Farnsworth, Jack Uellendahl, and Branden Petersen at Hanger Prosthetics, Malcolm Daly at Trango, Bob Radocy at TRS, and Dr. Will Craig for the prosthetic equipment that has enabled my independent return to rock climbing, ice climbing, solo mountaineering, canyoneering, kayaking, canoeing, cross-country and telemark skiing, mountain biking, and volunteering with search and rescue.

  Thank you to my inspirations: the mellifluous Luke Dempsey, for his editing; Dr. Harry “Show, Don’t Tell” Kelleher and Bill Bradley, my high school English teachers; Sharon Carlson, for the title idea; Ron Elberger, who embodies the fact that tenacity comes in small packages; my fellow FOCs and the String Cheese Incident; Norm and Sandy Ruth, the soul parents of my New Mexico family; Trey Anastasio and Phish; the authors and subjects of my favorite outdoors literature: John Fielder, Lou Dawson, Gerry Roach, Michael Kelsey, Edward Abbey, Warren MacDonald, Mark Twight, Erik Weihenmayer, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, Chris McCandless, Anatoly Boukreev, Neal Beidleman, John Muir, Jon Krakauer, Jon Waterman, Timmy O’Neal, Douglas Mawson, and Papillon; Quentin Tarantino, from whose work I found the inspiration for the story outline; the NBC documentary group—Tom Brokaw, Colleen Halpin, Karen Epstein, Rich Platt, Craig White, Paul Thiriot, and the Shermanator; and the Landmark Forum.

  Outdoor Teachers and Partners

  For everyone who has ever been tied to me by a rope, you have taught me about not just the mountains and the skills to move among them, but also trust, beauty, friendship, and that soloing isn’t the only way to have fun in the outdoors: Mark Van Eeckhout, Steve Patchett, Gary Scott, Jason Halladay, Marshall and Heather Ulrich, Tony DiZinno, Theresa Daus-Weber, Rich Haefele, Dawn Baker, Dan Hadlich and Julia Stephen, Steve DeRoma, Jon Jaecks, Eric Niemeyer, Kyu Park, Pam Pelky, Bob and Yvonna Graham, Howard Huang, Bill Hemmen, Paul Budd, the Misiuks of Washington, Jamie Laurens, Jon Heinrich, Scott MacLennan, Jim Dennis and the NMMC, Rick Inman, Dave Johnson, Dave Benjes, Jeff Herd, Greg Jackson, Aaron Blawn, Judson Cole, Jamie Stoutenberg, Angie Kokjer, Mike Michalek, Guido Bender, Carl Drew, Megan Simon, Sarah Hall, Chewy Hoover, Tony Angelis, Suwei Wu, and Jackie Blumberg.

  Recommended Reading

  For the stories and history of Blue John Griffith, I used Pearl Baker’s book and recommend it for an entertaining look into the lives of the anti-heroes who populated the backcountry of southeastern Utah in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

  Baker, Pearl. The Wild Bunch at Robbers Roost. Abelard-Schuman, New York, 1971.

  Additionally, I recommend the following books for the influence they have had on my life.

  Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. Random House, New York, 1968.

  ———. The Monkeywrench Gang. Avon Press, New York, 1975.

  Bickel, Lennard. Mawson’s Will: The Greatest Survival Story Ever Written. Dorset Press, New York, 1977.

  Boukreev, Anatoly, and G. Weston DeWalt. The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest. St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1997.

  Dawson II, Louis W. Dawson’s Guide to Colorado’s Fourteeners, Volumes 1 and 2. Blue Cover Press, Monument, Colorado, 1994.

  Kelsey, Michael R. Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau, 4th Ed. Kelsey Publishing, Provo, Utah, 1999.

  Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Villard Books, New York, 1996.

  ———. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster. Villard Books, New York, 1997.

  Pirsig, Robert. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. William Morrow and Company, New York, 1974.

  Roach, Gerry, and Jennifer Roach. Colorado’s Thirteeners, 13,800 to 13,999 Feet: From Hikes to Climbs. Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado, 2001.

  Simpson, Joe. Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival. Harper & Row, New York, 1988.

  Twight, Mark F. Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber. The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, 2001.

  Twight, Mark F., and James Martin. Extreme Alpinism: Climbing Light, Fast, & High. The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, 1999.

  Text Permissions

  Phish song lyrics appearing on pages 16 through 20 are reprinted with permission from Who Is She? Music, Inc; extract from Dark Shadows Falling by Jo Simpson published by Jonathan Cape and appearing on pg. 72 is reprinted with permission from The Random House Group Limited; lyrics from the song “Desert Dawn” by String Cheese Incident/Christina Callicott appearing on pg. 98 are reprinted with permission from Christina Callicott; extract from Into the Wild by John Krakauer appearing on pg. 73 is reprinted with permission from The Random House Group Limited; extracts from Kiss or Kill by Mark Twight appearing on pages 94, 114, and 286 are reprinted with permission from Mountaineer Books; song lyrics from “Fearless” performed by Pink Floyd appearing on pg. 154 are courtesy of Roger Waters; extract from the film The Matrix Revolutions appearing on pg. 228 is reprinted with permission from Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc.; extract from the film Fight Club appearing on pg. 273 is reprinted with permission from Fight Club © 1999 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Monarchy Enterprises S.a.r.l. and Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. All rights reserved; song lyrics from “(I’m a) Roadrunner” performed by the Jerry Garcia Band appearing on pg. 332 are reprinted with permission from the Hal Leonard Corporation.

  Photographs

  In the Grand Canyon, April 1999.

  Mom and me, 1977.

  My sister and me at Grandma Ralston’s, 1983.

  At Yellowstone National Park, 1987.

  My first skiing trip, 1987. Note the fear.

  Betty Darr and me at my graduation from Carnegie Mellon University, 1997.

  American Gothic. Mom and Dad at Lake Chelan, Washington.

  With Mom, Dad, and Sonja on the top of the 14,084-foot Handies Peak, 2000.

  Sonja and me at Havasupai, Thanksgiving 1998.

  My first alpine rock climb: Mark Van Eeckhout and me, in front of Wham Ridge on Vestal Peak, on Labor Day 1998.

  The Grand Teton, two days before the bear stalking.

  On the summit of Mount Humphreys, Arizona, March 1998.

  My first solo winter fourteener—Quandary Peak, December 1998.

  Ringing the Bells—South Maroon Peak, March 2003.

  Steve Patchett, Jason Halladay, me, and Bob Graham, on top of Dallas Peak, Labor Day 2001.

  My footprints on the Knife Ridge on Capitol Peak, February 2003.

  Maroon Bells and the Sleeping Sexton in winter.

  Mount Sopris.

  The equipment I carried into Blue John Canyon. All original, except the CamelBak, webbing, and burritos.

  The tourniquet, and the multi-tool.

  In Blue John Canyon—the last photograph of my right hand.

  Megan McBride and Kristi Moore.

  The S-log at the entrance to the lower slot of Blue John Canyon.

  The gauntlet in the lower slot of Blue John Canyon, fifteen yards above the accident site.

  Forty-eight hours into the entrapment.

  Day three.

  11:36 A.M., Thursday, May 1, 2003.

  At the bottom of the Big Drop rappel, forty-five minutes after the amputation.

  At the pool of water below the Big Drop.

  The rescue helicopter.

  My rescuers: Mitch Vetere, Greg Funk, Terry Mercer, Kyle Ekker, and Steve Swanke.

  Climbing the North Face Direct of North Maroon Peak, May 2004.