Emotional Rescue
First appeared in the Summer/Fall 2018 issue of Appalachia, the country’s longest-running journal of mountaineering and conservation, published by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Reprinted in the New Hampshire Union Leader and Reader’s Digest as “Footprints in the snow lead to an emotional rescue”.
Emotional Rescue is the true story of Pam Bales and her selfless act of courage and compassion, which led to the rescue of a distressed hiker on Mount Washington. The essay is the basis for the film Infinite Storm, starring Naomi Watts as Pam Bales.
(If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States at 1-800-273-8255.)
Weakness in Numbers: How a hiking partner can be dangerous
Printed in the Winter/Spring 2018 issue of Appalachia, the country’s longest-running journal of mountaineering and conservation, published by the Appalachian Mountain Club.
This essay, about hard lessons learned during my winter traverse of the Franconia Ridge in February 2008, will become the basis for “Full Conditions,” the Prologue of Where You’ll Find Me: Risk, Decisions, and the Last Climb of Kate Matrosova. This experience also inspired me to write The Last Traverse: Tragedy and Resilience in the Winter Whites, about an accident involving two hikers on the same ridgeline eight days later.