The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier

Davidson relates the story of the mountaineering accident that claimed his best friend, and his own 80-foot climb out of the crevasse into which the two had plunged after "summiting" Mt. Rainier. The suffering didn't stop after he was safe; "survivor's guilt" plagued him as he struggled to "survive the survival." He later found success as a motivational speaker that served as a form of catharsis; his speaking talents are evident in his emotional rendering of the fall and his excruciating, four-hour climb to safety. He traces the path that ended with the two on Mt. Rainier, quoting freely from his friend's journal and recalling his own journey to mountaineering, finding "something that nourished my soul" in the process. The buildup is sometimes tedious, but Davidson and journalist Vaughn (a reporter for the Denver Post) have crafted a modern Aristotelian tragedy. (Aug.)