Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure in Search of a Lost Father [Hardcover]

Rick Ridgeway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2001

A renowned adventurer travels to Tibet with a young woman in search of her father's memory and gains a fresh perspective on his own life.

Combining gripping adventure writing with intimate memoir, Rick Ridgeway takes readers to the mysterious mountain domain of Tibet, and into the remote corners of his past. Twenty years ago, in the wake of a massive and terrifying avalanche, Ridgeway cradled his dying friend Jonathan in his arms and pledged to keep watch over Jonathan's infant daughter, Asia. Now Asia is a vibrant, headstrong young woman; hoping to help her connect with the father she never knew, Ridgeway takes her to the Himalayas Jonathan so cherished. Together, they search for the place where he died.

Their trek through remote and forbidding terrain-under constant threat from lethal storms and jumpy Chinese military patrols-is a fitting backdrop for the precarious emotional journey that Ridgeway and Asia share, as they venture into alien landscapes of memory and self-discovery. Ultimately, the truths they both seek are revealed, not in the images of a life long gone but in the bright promise of future possibility. In a stunning conclusion on a treacherous and wind-battered mountain face, both Ridgeway and his dead friend's daughter finally embrace the deepest realities of death, and of life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On October 13, 1980, alpinists Rick Ridgeway and Yvon Chouinard, in company with National Geographic photographer Jonathan Wright, were struggling up the slopes of the little-explored Tibetan mountain Minya Konka when an avalanche swallowed them. Wright, only 28 years old, died. As he did, Ridgeway writes, "something left him. I saw it." The survivors buried Wright in a rocky grave on Minya Konka's flanks and, dispirited, returned home with the haunting vision of that death always in their memories.

Fast-forward nearly 20 years. Wright's daughter, an infant when he died, asks Ridgeway to take her to Tibet, climb Minya Konka with her, and find her father's grave. Their remarkable journey in honor of a lost friend and father, one that would honor Wright's vow "to live each day as though it were my only one" and that would take them into mountains that had never before been climbed, forms the heart of Ridgeway's thoughtful memoir, which is sure to become a classic of mountaineering literature. The book is, however, more than a simple narrative of a difficult task accomplished; it affords Ridgeway an opportunity to reflect on his many perilous adventures (kayaking in the stormy waters off Tierra del Fuego and scaling Mount Everest among them) and on what drives him to undertake such challenges in the face of hard-earned knowledge of the risks involved--all of it having something to do, as he writes, with "telling yourself you're not sure you can make it, but making it anyway."

Like Peter Matthiessen's Snow Leopard, Ridgeway's book involves a voyage of personal discovery that's rich with meaning. And, like Matthiessen's book, Below Another Sky deserves a place on the shelves of anyone possessed by the spirit of adventure. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

In November 1980, legendary mountaineer Ridgeway watched his friend Jonathan die in his arms after being caught in an avalanche in the Himalayas. Now, 20 years later, as he leads Asia, Jonathan's daughter, on a quest back to the mountains of Tibet in search of Jonathan's grave site, Ridgeway reflects on his friend, on Tibet and on his career as a climber in a moving and exciting tale that is part memoir, part adventure story. To give both the reader and AsiaAnow a young woman who has no recollection of her fatherAa fuller understanding of the man Jonathan was, Ridgeway incorporates entries from his friend's journal into his narrative. Ridgeway's writing is vivid, uncluttered and, mostly, unsentimental. Indeed, the author's voice is most authentic describing climbing itselfAthe lure of the challenge, the thrill of the danger and the sheer beauty of the adrenaline-charged and psychically compelling experience. Although never overtly religious, Ridgeway digs deep to explore his own spirituality in a profoundly spiritual place, recounting his discussions with Asia about Jonathan's commitment to Buddhism and how they may be able to incorporate elements of his beliefs into their lives. Author tour. (Jan. 9)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (January 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080506284X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805062847
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,621,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Soulful Adventure, January 21, 2001

By 

Margo J. Chisholm "The Freedom Coach" (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure in Search of a Lost Father (Hardcover)

Because the "Lost Father" in the title of this book was a close friend and had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on my life, I picked up Rick's book with anticipation and some trepidation as well. Any fears were groundless.

Rick has woven a marvelous fabric of adventure intertwined with a young woman's courageous journey into unknown parts of the world to search for the answers to questions she has asked her entire life. He binds the story with the thread of his own soul searching and past adventures, described in a straightforward, heartful manner.

This book touched me deeply. And also entertained me. Rick is a great story-teller, using simple, matter-of-fact language to describe hair-raising, and even life-threatening situations.

This is a book for lovers of adventure, for those in the middle of their lives, taking time to look back as well as forward, for those with unanswered questions in their lives, and for anyone with a father - known or unknown.

I highly recommend this book

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a fantastic book..., June 18, 2001

By 

Alexander McNeer (Adrian, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure in Search of a Lost Father (Hardcover)

I had originally read the story of Rick and Asia's journey in Outside Magazine. I could not wait to pick up the book. I have to say, whether you are a fan of the outdoors or not, this is a book for everyone. It is a book about friendships, family, life and death. The playing field just happens to be in the Himalayan Range. Rick has done such a fantastic job of writing that you don't just read this book, you join them on their trek to find a father and friend.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Human Loss and Discovery in the Mountains, February 5, 2001

By 

Jim Sheats (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure in Search of a Lost Father (Hardcover)

As a climber and lover of mountains, I have read many mountain adventure books. They provide an enjoyable vicarious pleasure, and occasionally even penetrate to a significant illumination of the mysteries of the human spirit that make the experience of hardship and danger in nature (be it mountains, desert, ocean, etc.) such a powerful lure for many. This book, while it had those elements, was something totally different.

My wife lost her father when she was eight years old, also in the mountains. From there the stories diverge in many ways, but the central theme of trying to find, and restore into her life, the father who she never knew, made Asia the star of this book, and her gift in allowing such an intensely personal story to be shared by the world is simply extraordinary. From my own experience I felt I understood her quest and her reactions, and yet the literary grace of the book, along with the beautiful design of the trip itself, left me with a far better understanding of my own wife (and a whole lot of tears).

This book is about the living, not the dead; and that is the real lesson at the end. Thank you Asia, and thank you Rick, for sharing it. It is a glorious gem.