The Last Step
Page 42
When I learned of Chris’s death, I went for a long walk on the beach, and among many other issues, I once more wrestled with the question whether or not the rewards of serious mountaineering outweigh the risks. Although I continue to go abroad on a climbing expedition about once a year, and although I now favor smaller peaks in obscure places, each time I still must weigh one side of that balance beam against the other. As for my children, I am hopeful they will stick to backpacking.
— Rick Ridgeway
Ojai, California
February 1999
NOTES
1.Such as royalties from this book you’re reading, the knowledge of which, I hope, takes some of the sting out of what you paid for it.
2.Fortunately, only on his fingers.
3.Every person who contributed twenty dollars or more to the expedition received a postcard signed by all team members, carried by runner from Base Camp and mailed from Skardu.
4.Dianne’s record was passed a few weeks later when two climbers from the American Women’s Annapurna I Expedition reached its 26,545-foot summit.
5.On the 1939 American K2 Expedition, the group’s leader and strongest climber, Fritz Wiessner, along with a Sherpa from Nepal, climbed to within seven hundred feet of the summit via the Abruzzi route. Except for a mistake in routefinding on the final section, which left them in a cul-de-sac at a rock cliff, Fritz would, in all likelihood, have reached the summit—without oxygen. Had it been completed, the ascent would have gone down as the greatest achievement in the history of mountaineering.
6.By estimates based on a thermometer reading at Camp III, where it registered thirty below zero, it was approximately forty below that night at eight thousand meters. Accounting the chill factor for an estimated fifty-knot wind, about 115 below zero, Fahrenheit.
7.Ted Kennedy was absolutely sincere in his admiration. On flying back to the United States after the climb, I stopped in Washington, D.C., and thought to give his office a call and leave a note thanking him for his support of our expedition. The secretary asked me to hold, and in a minute Kennedy came on the phone. “You’re in town? Have you got a minute? Good, come over, I’d like to meet you.” I caught a taxi, and in a few minutes he was giving me a guided tour of the Senate building. We walked to the Senate floor, and I waited outside while he gathered several senator friends who came out to meet me.
“Can you believe that?” he asked them, after relating the climb. He held my hand to show my fingers still black with frostbite. “Without oxygen, to twenty-eight thousand feet,” he said with great enthusiasm.
I was a little embarrassed. “All we did was climb to the top of a mountain—that’s nothing to what you guys do here every day,” I said.
“Oh no,” he replied, beaming. “I think it’s one of the most incredible things I’ve heard anyone doing.”
MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS is a leading publisher of mountaineering literature and guides—including our flagship title, Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills—as well as adventure narratives, natural history, and general outdoor recreation. Through our two imprints, Skipstone and Braided River, we also publish titles on sustainability and conservation. We are committed to supporting the environmental and educational goals of our organization by providing expert information on human-powered adventure, sustainable practices at home and on the trail, and preservation of wilderness.
The Mountaineers, founded in 1906, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit outdoor activity and conservation organization whose mission is “to explore, study, preserve, and enjoy the natural beauty of the outdoors.” One of the largest such organizations in the United States, it sponsors classes and year-round outdoor activities throughout the Pacific Northwest, including climbing, hiking, backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, bicycling, camping, paddling, and more. The Mountaineers also supports its mission through its publishing division, Mountaineers Books, and promotes environmental education and citizen engagement. For more information, visit The Mountaineers Program Center, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-3996; phone 206-521-6001; www.mountaineers.org; or email info@mountaineers.org.
Our publications are made possible through the generosity of donors and through sales of more than 500 titles on outdoor recreation, sustainable lifestyle, and conservation. To donate, purchase books, or learn more, visit us online:
1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201
Seattle, WA 98134
800-553-4453
mbooks@mountaineersbooks.org
www.mountaineersbooks.org