The Ledge

I was browsing in the sports section of my local library the other day and found The Ledge by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan.  I love stories of survival and this one looked interesting since it took place on Mt. Rainier, a place very close to where my parents live.  This true story is written by the climber it happened to, so in a sense it is an autobiography.  Learn what happens when these two climbers, Mike and Jim, fall into a crevasse on their descent after reaching the summit.  Experience Jim's struggles and emotions in the face of this accident.  You may wonder why reading books like this is so exciting to me: they usually involve death, severe injury and grief.  Here is an excerpt from the book that describes why Jim felt he wanted to share his story and why I like books like this:

"I feel the urge to share what happened on Rainier, who Mike was, and how I survived.  As the years go by, I also feel a growing obligation to pass on what I learned through those struggles in the hope that it might help someone else face and overcome their own harsh challenges.  While I was in the crevasse, Joe Simpson's survival tale convinced me there was a remote chance to escape, and that belief helped spur me to action.  Perhaps I have an obligation to share my story, so that others who hear me might one day tell themselves: "If he did that, I can do this." " 

I have already read  Joe Simpson's Touching the Void so I knew exactly what Jim was referring to when he recalled Joe's experience in his own survival crisis.  I hope that when I am faced with a crisis or trial in my life that I can say, as Jim said, "If he did that, I can do this."

Now I don't know much about mountaineering, and the technical aspects of the book are just that, very technical.  I know enough, however, to create visual images in my mind as to imagine what it was like for these climbers, and the authors tried to describe certain technical moves so the lay person could understand it.  I also learned a lot by reading Joe Simpson's book and also by watching and consequently reading up on the true story of North Face, a movie about a famous attempt in 1936 of the Eiger north face in the Alps.  I can't recommend the movie because, as you might have read, it gave me nightmares for two nights and I still can't think about it without cringing. 

There was no language in this book and subject matter was only a little graphic after the fall occurred.