Between a Rock and a Hard Place

"One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told -- Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought him home. It started out as a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands on a warm Saturday afternoon. For Aron Ralston, a twenty-seven-year-old mountaineer and outdoorsman, a walk into the remote Blue John Canyon was a chance to get a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorado's highest and toughest peaks. He'd earned this weekend vacation, and though he met two charming women along the way, by early afternoon he finally found himself in his element: alone, with just the beauty of the natural world all around him. It was 2:41 P.M. Eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, Aron was climbing down off a wedged boulder when the rock suddenly, and terrifyingly, came loose. Before he could get out of the way, the falling stone pinned his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. And so began six days of hell for Aron Ralston. With scant water and little food, no jacket for the painfully cold nights, and the terrible knowledge that he'd told no one where he was headed, he found himself facing a lingering death -- trapped by an 800-pound boulder 100 feet down in the bottom of a canyon. As he eliminated his escape options one by one through the days, Aron faced the full horror of his predicament: By the time any possible search and rescue effort would begin, he'd most probably have died of dehydration, if a flash flood didn't drown him before that. What does one do in the face of almost certain death? Using the video camera from his pack, Aron began recording his grateful good-byes to his family and friends all over the country, thinking back over a life filled with adventure, and documenting a last will and testament with the hope that someone would find it. (For their part, his family and friends had instigated a major search for Aron, the amazing details of which are also documented here for the first time.) The knowledge of their love kept Aron Ralston alive, until a divine inspiration on Thursday morning solved the riddle of the boulder. Aron then committed the most extreme act imaginable to save himself. Between a Rock and a Hard Place -- a brilliantly written, funny, honest, inspiring, and downright astonishing report from the line where death meets life -- will surely take its place in the annals of classic adventure stories. "

Share your thoughts on the Between a Rock and a Hard Place ebook with other internet viewers!

Title of ebook: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
ISBN: 9781416505105
parent-ISBN: 9780743492812
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 368
Published: 09-2004
Released online for download: 09-15-2004
Author of eBook: Ralston, Aron

Format

Encrypted

Sku

ISBN

File size

Security

Printing

Copying

Read aloud

Devices

Mobipocket

Yes

9781416505105

1528 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirements

Download reader

ePub

Yes

7770795710

9781416505105

1377 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirments

Download reader

Digital Editions

Yes

5551389782

9781416505105

4205 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirments

Download reader

Microsoft

Yes

1416505105

9781416505105

1349 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirments

Download reader

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Chapter One: "Geologic Time Includes Now"

This is the most beautiful place on earth.
There are many such places. Every man, every woman, carries in heart and mind the image of the ideal place, known or unknown, actual or visionary....There's no limit to the human capacity for the homing sentiment. Theologians, sky pilots, astronauts have even felt the appeal of home calling to them from up above, in the cold black outback of interstellar space.
For myself I'll take Moab, Utah. I don't mean the town itself, of course, but the country which surrounds it -- the canyonlands. The slickrock desert. The red dust and the burnt cliffs and the lonely sky -- all that which lies beyond the end of the roads.
-- Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Fraying contrails streak another bluebird sky above the red desert plateau, and I wonder how many sunburnt days these badlands have seen since their creation. It's Saturday morning, April 26, 2003, and I am mountain biking by myself on a scraped dirt road in the far southeastern corner of Emery County, in central-eastern Utah. An hour ago, I left my truc ... read full excerpt from: Between a Rock and a Hard Place ebook

Top eBooks in "Adventurers & Explorers"

A Sense of the World

by Roberts, Jason

He was known simply as the Blind Traveler. A solitary, sightless adventurer, James Holman (1786-1857) fought the slave trade in Africa, survived a frozen captivity ...more

Best price: $11.99

Arctic Homestead: One Family's Story of Survival and Courage in the Alas

by Cobb, Norma

MINOOK is an adventure memoir and survival tale; this is the personal narrarive of Norma Cobb, who in 1973 became the last woman to homestead in the Alaskan wilderness...more

Best price: $23.58

Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved

by Long, Elgen M.

earhart's last days are recreated in gripping detail, based on the authors' expert knowledge and a recently discovered report of the final leg of her fateful around-the-world ...more

Best price: $13.16

A Texas Cowboy: or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pon

by Siringo, Charles

After a nomadic childhood, Charles Siringo signed on as a teenage cowboy for the noted Texas cattle king, Shanghai Pierce, and began a life that embraced all the hard work, ...more

Best price: $14.00

Dark Caribbean

by Magers, Rick

DARK CARIBBeAN was written from the author's Ship's Log during the years he was an offshore commercial lobsterman, and then from his Aircraft Log when he was a drug smuggler. ...more

Best price: $9.39

Dead Lucky

by Hall, Lincoln

You may recall the riveting emmy-nominated Dateline documentary about Lincoln Hall, the 50-year-old veteran mountain climber who miraculously survived a night out in the open ...more

Best price: $15.06

Dare to Take the Next Step - Adventures of a Refugee

by Hegyi, Frank

This book contains inspirational stories from the life of a man who led a colorful life, daring to take the next step in search for adventures. These stories include: - ...more

Best price: $9.00

Blue-Collar Wings

by Keith, Robert J

Flying airplanes for sport is expensive. Many recreational pilots are businessmen or executives with sufficient income that allows them to fly. But this recreational community...more

Best price: $5.42

Daring Docs

by Golin, Milton

High drama of investigative reports involving disaster heroism, air crashes, serial murder, hidden American history, childhood and other health disorders, and wartime crises...more

Best price: $5.42

Other Biography eBooks Categories

Biography General (1414)

Regional Subjects (78)

Specific Groups (131)

Adventurers & Explorers (52)

Artists & Architects (243)

Business (75)

Childhood Memoir (28)

Criminals & Outlaws (37)

Editors, Journalists, Publishers (40)

Entertainers (336)