Customer Reviews

Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Living on an island in Puget Sound, I am surrounded by mountains. I remember listening to the daily reports, not quite two years ago, of the rescue efforts to find three men on Mount Hood. I though at the time, "What would make one want to climb a mountain in the midst of winter?"
Karen James answered that question in Holding Fast, the story of her husband Kelly - one of those three stranded on Mount Hood. Through pictures recovered from her husband's camera, Karen was able to reconstruct what happened on that fatal climb. The men were avid ice climbers and had planned the climb for some time. After they began their ascent, they were aware of the impending bad weather and changed their plans to shorten their time on the mountain. It seems Kelly must have fallen and was injured. An ice cave was dug out for him while the others tried to go for help. As the storm of the decade settled in, with hurricane force winds near the peak, rescue attempts were thwarted. Only Kelly's body was eventually found. It is thought the others were swept off the mountain.
Kelly's death was a very public event and Karen shares the struggles she had. Yet her faith in God was sure as was the help and support of her friends.
For Kelly, climbing was like breathing - he had to do it. Karen surmises that all of this happened to show that Christianity is for adventurous and daring men. When people ask her, "Where was God?" she answers, "In the ice cave with Kelly, holding him."
Holding Fast is a refreshingly honest look at how Christians deal with tragedy. It is an amazing story of God's comfort and support in a time of great distress.

I too needed some closure. I didn't realize how this very public tragedy had lingered in my life.

During the event I was watching the news everyday and scouring the web for updates, or any hopeful information. It was difficult, and I think for most of us observers, painful. I think we all wanted to see the victorious return to their loved ones. For them to have beaten the odds, survived the unsurvivable.

I know I measured myself everyday too...could I hold up? Could I stand in front of cameras and give interviews with such grace amid such pain. What do I have to hold onto if I was so challenged?

This book helped me understand the depths of their pain and how they coped. It also provides hope in that we humans, with love and faith can survive almost anything. Through this book, I am secure in knowing there is a way for us survive the unthinkable, to hold fast to our anchors in life.

Its all the details, and then some...

This book is an amazing story of faith. Karen James, wife of Kelly James, takes you inside eight long days as many people attempt to rescue her husband and two other men off of the top of Mt. Hood. Karen provides detail into her ordeal, focusing on how she relied on God through it all.

The first half of the book details the account as many rescue workers worked day after day in the worst storm on Mt. Hood in a decade. When I first started the book, I had some recollection of what happened in 2006 as the entire country watched the events unfold. As I read further through the pages, many more of my memories of the story surfaced. Ms. James does a great job of detailing her feelings as well as what was happening day in and day out.

In the second half of the book, she provides detail of how she copes daily without the love of her life and how her faith in God has been strengthened through the entire process. Ms. James did a great job of making me feel like I was in the story. The way she discusses the details and her feelings is truly remarkable. This book is a must-read for anyone, especially those going through the loss of a loved one.

The jacket copy for Holding Fast, by Karen James, tells the reader that this is "a real-life journey of adventure, tragedy, love, and loss on the summit of Mount Hood." Tragedy occurred in December 2006 when Kelly James (late husband of the author) and two other climbers were trapped on Mount Hood near Portland, Oregon. After it was discovered that the men were missing somewhere near the summit, family members and friends waited and prayed helplessly as storms pounded the mountain with hurricane-force winds so that rescue workers were unable to search for the victims. When the storms finally relented, rescue workers recovered the body of James from a snow cave near the summit. His companions' bodies have never been recovered.

Now, two years later, James's widow, Karen, shares the "untold story of the Mount Hood tragedy." The book also recounts Kelly's past: the challenges of a difficult childhood with an abusive father and then stepfather; the love story that evolved between Kelly and Karen; and Kelly's relationship with his four children from a previous marriage.

Most of the book is devoted to the events surrounding the climbing trip that took Kelly and his two climbing friends' lives. When Kelly and his two companions missed their pickup time at the base of Mount Hood on Sunday, December 10, 2006, Karen received the call she feared the most. Sheriff Joseph Wampler of Hood River, Oregon, called to make sure that Karen hadn't heard something from Kelly before he and his crew launched a search party for the three men.

That Sunday evening, Karen and the children succeeded in getting a call through to Kelly's cell phone, getting what information they could about where he was holed up in a snow cave near the summit. This was to be their heartbreaking last conversation, as Kelly told his sons his location and reported that the other climbers had gone down the mountain to get help. He told them that the only food he had was half an orange. And he and Karen spoke briefly, saying "I love you" one last time. It was obvious that Kelly was in bad shape, and the situation was serious.

Karen and other family members and friends flew to Oregon to await the results of the rescue attempts, to be there when Kelly was rescued from the mountain. Anxiety turned to frustration to despair as the weather conditions prevented search and rescue teams from locating Kelly and the other climbers, who, unknown to Kelly, had not made it down the mountain.

Throughout the account, Karen comments on the faith that provided comfort to her during this ordeal:

"When your world falls out from underneath you and you are on your knees, there is nowhere to look but up. Suddenly everything you have claimed about your God and your faith is put to the test. During such a time, you learn where you stand with your Maker, and the most significant question of your life slaps you right in the face: Do you really believe?"

Of course the sad ending to the story is that once the storms relented, it was too late for rescue. Kelly and his friends were dead. Probably the most interesting part of the book for me was when Karen and others pieced together the clues left behind-- the possessions Kelly left in the snow cave, pictures on Kelly's camera, sent and received calls recorded on Kelly's cell phone, and tracks in the snow--to come to some conclusions about what went so terribly wrong on the mountain that weekend.

I think the greatest weakness of this book is that it is unclear what its purpose is. It promises to tell the untold story of what happened on Mount Hood, and it does. It's a gripping, heartbreaking story--three men in the prime of life, experienced mountain climbers--heading out for a weekend adventure that took a tragic turn that no one could have foreseen. It's a unique story, definitely one worth telling.

Yet the extended portions of the book that deal, in great detail, with Kelly and Karen's life before the tragedy and her grief responses after Kelly's death are not necessarily a story worth telling. Karen's descriptions of her husband indicate that he was a loving husband and father with a lot of personality--one of those warm charismatic people that everyone likes. Yet what makes him unique, sadly enough, is his death. Without that, no one would be writing books about Kelly James or Karen and Kelly's love story. While these things were incredibly meaningful and significant to them (as all of our loved ones and our own love stories are to each one of us), their story beyond the Mount Hood incident is not necessarily book worthy.

And this is often the weakness of many books that deal with personal tragedy and grief. While each one of us in this life will experience the profundity of the loss of someone that we love very much, it obviously isn't by any stretch of the imagination a unique experience. As someone who has lost both a sister who died at age 20 and a husband at age 35, I would never suggest that such losses are not deeply significant; in fact, such losses change the person who is left behind to put the pieces back together in huge ways. It is rare to find a book that deals with circumstances like these in a meaningful way, and my managing editor and I frequently discuss what quality there is that makes the difference. And we haven't found the answer. We just know that authors like Joni Eareckson Tada and, in my opinion, Lisa Beamer, author of Let's Roll, have managed to achieve something that most writers, including Karen James, have not. Some writers successfully find that path between personal loss and the Big Picture, but most do not.

A small, but annoying thing that happened throughout the book was the author's recounting of the use of what many would think of as inappropriate language or mild profanity. For example, she tells us that one holiday (Valentine's Day maybe?) after Kelly's death she knew in advance would be a "h--- of a night." I'm not a prude about language, but I'd like to think a good editor would either encourage the author to find a better way to express herself or just have the guts to tell us it was going to be a "hell of a night." Why the consonant/dash when most of us know what word is being left out? If you're going to force the reader to think it, you might as well just say it.

This was my second opportunity, as one of Thomas Nelson's bloggers, to review one of their books at their expense. I have to say that this is a creative program for publicity for Nelson's new releases, and I think it's a great way to get the word out about new releases. Time constraints may take me away from Nelson books for awhile, but we'll see what other options for book reviews arise. It's hard to turn down a free book.

You can learn a lot from disaster stories. Don't go on a maiden voyage of anything that claims to be the fastest, longest, biggest, or most unsinkable whatever of all time; don't live in California; don't cook over an open campfire in a forest during a historic drought, don't run a marathon in the Sahara; don't go mountain climbing in the winter. In Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Disaster, we learn about what can occur when even experienced climbers attempt a mountain ascent in winter. Ostensibly, the tale is about three climbers who try to summit Mount Hood by scaling its icy north face, with the intent to "down climb" the mountain's other side. The narrative is told by Karen James, widow of Kelly James, one of the doomed climbers.


Good disaster stories have certain conventions that lovers of the genre have come to expect. We hope for a gripping tale, and we've got that here. We know the end of disaster tales (was there anyone in the theater during the film Titanic who didn't know it wasn't just an old-fashioned episode of Love Boat?) and, ironically, that's where the tale derives much of its suspense. How will the protagonists deal with what's facing them? What choices will they make? How do their individual choices weigh against the seemingly random events taking shape? We also have characters who are intrepid risk takers, and we get enough information about Kelly James' early life to know he came from a disadvantaged background, which makes him perfect fodder for an "against-all-odds" story.


In Holding Fast, we're familiar with the tear-jerking media coverage of the search and rescue teams' fruitless efforts. The suspense comes from who did what when, and who knew what when. Karen James frames her tale in day-by-day briefings on the search, complete with details back-filled from messages left on her husband's cell phone as he lay dying in a snow cave. The suspense also comes from following a character who rose from difficult circumstances in his childhood to professional and personal heights, literally, before facing this last challenge. It's exciting, and heart-breaking, and maddening, which is what a fulfilling disaster story is all about.


What doesn't fit the generic mold here is the one-sided view of the disaster. Because it's told by his widow, the story is disturbingly focused on just one climber. We don't even learn what the other climbers did for a living. We know, tangentially, that they have families, because those folks are on the periphery of Ms. James' own vigil for her husband, but we know not much more, other than that they were experienced climbers who were loyal friends to Kelly James (one of the more unsettling moments in the narrative comes just after Karen James hears the news about her husband; although the other families have been sharing the search and vigil with her, "to avoid exposing the James children to the media glare," Karen James immediately returns with them to her hometown of Dallas, without learning the fate of the other climbers).


The other non-generic element is the focus on Karen James' faith. Every chapter is punctuated by references to the James' faith in Christianity, with the climb and its aftermath seeming to be there merely to show readers Karen James' own spiritual struggle. The book ends up being more about this spiritual wrestling (and, perhaps understandably, about creating a lasting memorial to her husband) than it is about a climbing trip gone terribly wrong. We can see why Karen James would use her skills (she co-owns her own PR agency) to shape her husband's image, particularly for his children, and in the face of some criticism of his actions. However, Holding Fast is an oddly context-less account that leaves me wishing the book were more about climbing than about a personal journey. After all, bigger, more important questions for readers loom, and Karen James never addresses them: how should we view those whose personal journeys ultimately imperil others?

HOLDING FAST
The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy
By Karen James, Wife of Mountain Climber Kelly James

As Karen James says in the beginning of her book, "That last phone call was like none other;" likewise, this book I found to be like none other. Even though you know the outcome of Karen's husband, Kelly James, this book, Holding Fast, is spellbinding. I found it extremely awesome to hear of Karen James' strong faith and strength that she received from God through this most devastating catastrophe in her lifetime.

Karen and Kelly James had a marriage truly blessed by God. They were so "in tune" with one another, that Karen actually writes some parts of her book as if it were Kelly talking and thinking. She just knew what was going on in his mind while he was fighting for survival on Mount Hood in Oregon.

During their short-lived marriage, they had outwardly discussed the hazards of mountain climbing, along with discussions regarding dying and heaven. Kelly came to know the love of God at a young age. He had a passion for life and a love for people. His love of the mountains and climbing became a passion that stirred his soul.

Kelly James involved his entire family in planning mountain-climbing trips or stories of the summit. They all enjoyed together the adventure and romance that Kelly experienced when he felt the closest to God on the tops of the mountains. However, the strongest bond they shared was their faith. They learned to keep their eyes on God in their everyday life.

When Karen received "the" phone call confirming her missing husband and two other fellow climbers, she knew it was the "real deal," which had been her greatest fear of being a mountain climber's wife. Throughout the entire search for her husband, she remained strong, positive, hopeful, and encouraging, with a tremendously strong faith in God.

All three mountain climbers were men of faith. This was also shown through their families, who were concerned for the rescue workers, and periodically sent food and drink.

Kelly James and his two friends, Brian Hall and Jerry Cooke, were prepared and experienced climbers. Karen's steadfast faith remained with her, even while being tested, but she knew it was their time to go home to God.

In her book Holding Fast, Karen James shares her most intimate feelings and emotions, and how she was able to come to terms with her husband's death and find a sense of peace.

The title of the review sums it up. This book is not on a par with "Into Thin Air", "Last Man on the Mountain", "Touching the Void", etc, not does it give you the insight into the lives of climber's families like Maria Coffey's 'Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow". It is primarily a story about the climber's wife and her faith. As a non-Christian, I found the religious aspects baffling. Clearly, the author just continually reframes events so that God is helping and loving her, even as her husband dies on the mountain.In addition, there are some somewhat offensive bits implying non-believers go through their lives full of emptiness(which I know I do not).I wish I had realized it was not a true mountaineering/adventure story before I bought it. I slogged through to the end hoping there really would be some insight into what went wrong for these experienced climbers (I believe Brian Hall was present on Everest during the events of Krakauer's "Into Thin Air"), but there wasn't.A complete disappointment

The minute I openedthis book , I coulnd'nt put it down. As a resident of white Salmon, Wa This story was gripping from the start. I remember when they were looking for the men duringthe rescue then turned recovery mission. It was a sad ending. This book gave me a sense of closure. Karen had a story book romance that so many of us wish we had ourselves. I recommend this book to anyone.

This is a review for Book Review Bloggers, [...]
Holding Fast is the story of the three mountain climbers trapped on Mount Hood in December 2006 and those they left behind. When veteran mountaineers Kelly James, Brian Hall, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke went missing on Oregon's highest peak during the worst winter storm in a decade, the search caught national media attention. In Holding Fast, Kelly's wife Karen tells the moving personal story of her husband's life, the tragedy that claimed him and his climbing partners, and the search for answers and peace.

The book is an interesting read and an emotional rollercoaster. The first section of the book is devoted to Kelly's childhood and his marriage to Karen, setting the stage for the following chapters that describe the tragedy from Karen's personal perspective. She portrays Kelly as an incredible man of God, a loving father and husband, and a skilled and avid mountaineer.

When Kelly and his climbing partners go missing on Mount Hood, Karen and the families are there waiting for their return. After a grueling week of bad weather, dead ends, and failed rescue attempts, Kelly's body is discovered in a snow cave near the summit. Karen's life is torn apart in an instant, and she spends the next several months fighting the grief that threatens to consume her. But she depends on God for her strength and her faithful friends for support, and after a difficult journey she is able to find the answers that she needs, pick up the pieces, and move forward with peace and purpose.

I would recommend this book to anyone. The incredible account of these three men and their families was an encouragement to me. Holding Fast puts more than a face- a life- to the name Kelly James, and tells the untold story of faith, hope, and love behind the headline.

This is a GREAT book. I don't remember hearing about the Mount Hood Tragedy. And to tell the truth I was skeptical if I would even like reading this book. The question to was -- would it be to emotional and uninteresting and such.

But, when I started reading this book I got hooked really quick. Karen James is a phenomenal writer. While reading this book you know what the end result of the mountain climbing of Kelly, Brian, and Nikko but not all the background or who they were. Through Karen's book you get to know Kelly, Brian, Nikko, and all of the people involved in this tragedy.

While I read this book I was hoping God would filp the script and I would find out Kelly, Brian, and Nikko made it. The greater story or lesson of this story is that of 3 Christ loving men who loved life, family, and friends. And how they touched the people around them and still do.

I cannot recomend this book more highly.