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High on Ship Rock, November 1960
I climbed with my toes on small rounded edges while pressing my hands sideways on shallow scoops, making hard moves that I knew I could not downclimb. I reached my indentation just as Stan hollered, “NO MORE ROPE!” This was as far as I could go, and the rope hung slack and unprotected between Stan and me. I was on my own up here, but that was just the position that I wanted right now.
– Gerry Roach - from Transcendent Summits
In his gripping autobiography, world-class climber Gerry Roach tells an action-packed tale of self-discovery and spiritual growth laced with hard-edged reality. Transcendent Summits revisits boyhood ambitions and a man’s ascents on some of the most captivating peaks: the Third Flatiron, Longs Peak, the Grand Teton, the Mexican Volcanoes, Ship Rock, T2 in Eldorado Canyon, Denali, and Rainier. Each of these memories reveals Gerry’s passion for the ultimate experience and an ability to bring his readers on belay. It is rare that a climber looks back across so many years with such a keen perspective, but Gerry has done just that. The concept of a Transcendent Summit matured over time as the lad grew into a boy, and later, as boy became man.
For more insight into Transcendent Summits, see the readings below. Scroll down for information on Ride the Breath – the sequel to Transcendent Summits.
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| Click the cover for a larger image |
As we approached the crater rim, the bulimic cloud still towered over our heads, and a deep roar accompanied the seething eruption. It was almost a blackout in the fierce pumice rain, but we had escaped Bombs. The crater rim was only a few feet above us now, but the rim looked fragile. I visualized the rim collapsing under our weight and flicking us into the abyss. Were we being drawn into the fire like insects? Was this Bonded Climb our final sacrifice to the gods? Our answers were on the summit, so I crawled to the rotten rim on all fours and peered into the volcano’s soul.
– Gerry Roach - from Ride the Breath
In part two of his gripping autobiography, world-class climber Gerry Roach continues his action-packed tales of mountaineering around the world.
His stories are laced with a hard-edged reality that is tempered by his spiritual growth. Ride the Breath follows his continuing quests,
picking up where his first book Transcendent Summits ends.
This candid memoir takes you to some of Earth’s most captivating peaks and lands:
the Tetons, the North Cascades, the Canadian Rockies and Yukon, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, the Antarctic, Rainier, Iceland, Norway, the Alps,
Africa’s fabled Kilimanjaro, the Australian outback, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Hawaii. In each of these stories Gerry better defines
the edges between risk and reward, lust and loss, dreamtime and terrortime, and perhaps most importantly, transcendence and transgression.
Gerry has a unique ability to take his readers into the mountains with him and hold them on multiple belays.
In the end, the life lessons learned transcend his climbs, allowing Gerry to include his readers on his climb for peace,
which becomes an every-growing Odyssean exploration.
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| Click the cover for a larger image |
