“Careening down the glacier, buried alive, I realized this was it; I was dying. In those few seconds as death wrapped its arms around me, I felt suspended in time and space. Life slowed down. Time seemed to pause. I was a spectator witnessing my own death.”
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The lines above are an excerpt from “From This Day Forward,” my personal account of surviving the worst climbing accident in North American mountaineering history. This story is featured in Beyond the Summit, a collection of seventeen stories representing my twenty-two years working as an international mountain climbing guide. However, my book is not simply a record of my ascents over the decades. I take the reader of Beyond the Summit on an exploration of failures as well as the successes, the triumphs as well as the tragedies, the physical landscapes as well as the psychological landscapes. And this is what sets my story collection apart from the other mountaineering and adventure books currently on bookstore shelves.
Naturally, a few of my stories will tell the tale of reaching a summit; for example, I write about guiding Mt. Everest, which is an attractive goal for the mountaineer, but for me it provided an opportunity to stand on top of the world and take a look from a unique perspective. In many ways, the real challenge, the valuable journey, began as I made my way down from the summit. I found myself asking, “What now? What am I going to do with this experience?” I began to reflect, to consider what it all meant, to wrestle with the importance of it all, to interpret the real meaning. And it is this process of reflection that is at the heart of the book and makes for a unique read.
The book’s purpose is to provide an uncensored glimpse into the mind of a professional mountaineering guide and climber. The book will reveal the many threads of a climber’s concern not often discussed or exposed such as fear, doubt, regret, and guilt. The book focuses on the internal dialog before, during, and after major climbs and climbing experiences, some tragic, others not, but all worthy of reflection. This approach makes Beyond the Summit unique and significant as readers discover that climbing is not grounded in courage and fearlessness, but rather there is a human and vulnerable side that each of us carries. As climbers, we are not fearless; we have learned to harness our fear, exercise some control over it, and climb confidently on the mountain. We must acknowledge the power of the mountain and the indomitable force of nature. The mountain demands our respect. And if we climb with confidence, care, respect, and belief, the mountain may allow a safe passage to her summit, followed by a safe return and time to reflect upon the meaning of the experience. Beyond the Summit immerses the reader in that world of reflection.
However, the story collection is not restricted to reaching the summit of a mountain. In fact, many of the most memorable experiences are found in the adventure of traveling to and from the peaks. Stories of a military coup, a visit to a Bolivian prison, a reflection on poaching in East Africa, and other experiences revolving around climbing trips result in a stories worth telling. This, too, sets the book apart. Oftentimes, the summit is merely a goal, a destination, and the real value in seeking that summit is not realized on the summit but beyond.
Update:
This manuscript has piqued the interest of a handful of publishers and editors. It is currently being revised based upon their suggestions.