EBOOK
Facing the Extreme
One Woman's Story of True Courage & Death-Defying Survival in the Eye of Mt. McKinley's Worst Storm
Ruth Anne Kocour(0)
About
She stepped into a death zone. The climbers on Alaska's Mt. McKinley called her "the woman." Ruth Anne Kocour, a world-class mountaineer, wasn't bothered. It was part of the challenge she faced as she joined an all-male team to conquer North America's highest peak...the mountain the Indians called Denali, or God.
Faced the extreme. But, nine-days into this ascent, a forty-fifth birthday present to herself, the most violent weather on record slammed into the mountain. Ruth Anne and her group would be trapped on an ice shelf at 14,000 feet for the deadliest two weeks in Denali history. Pinned down by blinding snows, unable to help other teams dying around her, and her own feet freezing solid, Ruth Anne tells of a wind chill of minus 150 degrees, deadly hidden crevasses, and being trapped in a place so violent and unforgiving that it threatened to push her over the edge and into a place of no return. And yet, in prose as crystalline as the ice around her, she tells, too, of beauty, courage, and the spirit that drives true mountaineers higher, as she risks all to go for the summit...and perhaps, for a transcendent moment, touch heaven. And lived to tell about it...in Facing the Extreme.
Faced the extreme. But, nine-days into this ascent, a forty-fifth birthday present to herself, the most violent weather on record slammed into the mountain. Ruth Anne and her group would be trapped on an ice shelf at 14,000 feet for the deadliest two weeks in Denali history. Pinned down by blinding snows, unable to help other teams dying around her, and her own feet freezing solid, Ruth Anne tells of a wind chill of minus 150 degrees, deadly hidden crevasses, and being trapped in a place so violent and unforgiving that it threatened to push her over the edge and into a place of no return. And yet, in prose as crystalline as the ice around her, she tells, too, of beauty, courage, and the spirit that drives true mountaineers higher, as she risks all to go for the summit...and perhaps, for a transcendent moment, touch heaven. And lived to tell about it...in Facing the Extreme.
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Reviews
"I could not put her book down; it kept me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew she made it back. I learned so much about courage and inner peace from Ruth Anne's accounts. A must read for all who want to grow."
Beverly Whipple, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Associate Professor, Rutgers, The State University of Ne
"Kocour passionately recounts how all ten members of her team survived the storm that took the lives of eleven other climbers."
Library Journal
"Facing the Extreme is not just another heroic climbing tale, rather a metaphor for anyone who has faced 'impossible' odds-- and prevailed."
John Long, noted climber and author of Rock Jocks, Wall Rats, and Hang Dogs