Living the Adventure: Tales of Mountains, Seas, and a Boy’s Dream

Recently, I picked up Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas by Greg Child, a climber and mountaineer I’d heard of only in passing. I wish I’d discovered his writing sooner. His beautifully descriptive language evokes the siren call of the Himalayas. Published nine years before Jon Krakauer’s 1997 bestseller Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster, Child’s book isn’t centered on disaster, though, like any compelling adventure story, it delves into post-mortem analyses of errors. This book sparked reflections on my love for true-life adventure stories.

I can’t recall the first adventure book I read, but I vividly remember devouring TV documentaries about Everest, exploration, or humans pushing personal frontiers. Isn’t that the essence of adventure? Voluntarily testing our limits—or sometimes having no choice but to do so. Another classic in the climbing genre, sitting beside me as I write, is my abridged copy of Everest: The West Ridge by Thomas Hornbein, edited by David Brower—a stunning photo essay.

One of the earliest books I remember in this subgenre is Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan, a gripping survival tale of one man’s tenacious and ingenious fight to stay alive. Another maritime story, A World of My Own by Robin Knox-Johnston, recounts his epic journey as the first person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop during the 1968–69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race—a race filled with other profoundly moving stories.

While recovering from a severe injury at 39, a close friend gave me The Beckoning Silence by Joe Simpson, the renowned climber who also wrote Touching the Void. In The Beckoning Silence, Simpson grapples with mortality and aging while achieving his dream climb of the Eiger. He references Heinrich Harrer’s The White Spider, which I’ve since read. Both are classics, weaving incredible tales of the mountains’ dangers and rewards.

For those who prefer adventure in bite-sized chunks, I highly recommend the Adrenaline Books and Adrenaline Classics series, mostly edited by Clint Willis. These anthologies collect short excerpts from great adventure storytellers. The three I’ve read and can vouch for are:

• Climb: Stories of Survival from Rock, Snow, and Ice
• Epic: Stories of Survival from the World’s Highest Peaks
• Storm: Stories of Survival from Land, Sea, and Sky

I’ll show my age: while writing this, I’ve been listening to “Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale” from a-ha’s Hunting High and Low album on repeat. It should’ve been a single. This evocative song has accompanied countless moments in my life—ripping down a mountain in powder as a ski patroller, driving a snowmobile to groom cross-country ski trails, or navigating backcountry roads to evaluate programs or assist participants and staff. Other times, it’s been riding my road or mountain bike (usually downhill), trail running in a flow state, casting a fly just so to tempt a trout, or hunting sage grouse in the damp autumn, cresting a mountain with the wind in my face, overwhelmed by the aspens’ beauty. On a peak with my wife or son. Hiking a leaf-strewn trail with my daughter, breathing in the scent of aspen. It’s been a blessed life, truly living that boy’s adventure tale.

Apologies for the late post—real-life intrusions, including ending a long-term volunteering role, kept me busy. By the way, I’ve seen the full cover for The Long Walk Home: When the Power Dies and it is amazing! We’ve got one text correction and then onto setting the release date!