Life And Death In High Places

Two friends stand at the foot of the glacier, looking up to Anarchy Ridge. They can't see the summit of the mountain, only its heaving shoulders, the snow whipping off of the thin blade of the ridge, making arabesques against the impossibly blue sky. As they stand in awe for a long time, gazing up at the seeming impossibility of their trek, the mountain awaits in silence. But one of the friends is destined never to return from the ridge alive. As for the survivor, Nicky Horn, that terrible day on the mountain plunges him into a life of deception. His climbing partner's father is seeking vengeance for the death of his son, and Horn must run for his life through a maze of intrigue and secrets. "guarantees an experience as hair-raising for readers as for the three leading (and practically only) characters" Kirkus Reviews

One of the world's best-known writers on mountaineering recalls his climbing career and reconsiders the cost of this most perilous sport.

This book is all about stories. The stories that shape our identities and how those identities shape our destinies for better or worse, for good or evil, in humanizing or dehumanizing ways. Working from the Shakespearian metaphor, All the world s a stage and all the men and women merely players, Pellegrini argues that only by understanding how our storied selves develop can we acquire the tools to modify the roles they dictate for us to play on the stage in the theater of real life. The author deconstructs a wide variety of what he calls toxic, dehumanizing, death-oriented self-scripts as well as creative, humanizing, life-oriented narratives of groups as well as individuals. Following the Native American parable of two wolves engaged in mortal combat within us, one good the other evil, the fundamental premise here is that our identity determines which of our inner wolves we feed and thus, which of them will prevail. Pellegrini maintains that what s at stake in this battle between humanity s collective inner wolves, is not just the quality but the very survival of life on earth. From this perspective, as individual and group selves are humanizingly or dehumanizingly narratizedby the way we exercise our God-given free will in the choices we make, so shall life be impacted throughout the world. To advance the cause of detoxifying identities in our global society, the author presents a rationale and program for an international grass roots social movement aimed at achieving a universal sense of belongingness to a global life system. You can watch and listen to a video in which Dr. Bob Pellegrini talks about this book, and why he wrote it, by entering Identities for Life and Death in the search bar at youtube.com.]

Ken is a young man searching for meaning in his life. He goes to the small town of Wonder where he encounters strange people involved in unusual activities mostly in and around mountains. He can't seem to get away from them, wherever he lives. He also finds kind and supportive people along his journey. As his search for meaning becomes more intense he travels to several places and monuments of historical interest in the world. When he finally finishes his travels he comes to an important conclusion about what is the real meaning of life....

Hutto is living in a tent at twelve thousand feet, where blizzards occur in July and where human wants become irrelevant and human needs can become a matter of life and death—to study the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. The population of these rare alpine sheep is in decline. The lambs are dying in unprecedented numbers. Hutto’s job is to find out why. For months at a time, he follows the bighorn herds, meets mountain lions and bears, weathers injury and storms, and beautifully observes the incredible splendor of the Rocky Mountains. Hutto has a deep connection to Wyoming, having managed a large cattle ranch in his past. He weaves Wyoming’s history of the cowboy, mountain ecology, and the lives of the bighorn sheep into a beautiful flowing narrative. Ultimately, he discovers that the lambs are dying of cystic fibrosis due to selenium deficiency, which is caused by acid rain—a grim ecological disaster caused by human pollution. Here is a new twist on a cautionary tale, and a new voice, eloquently expressing the urgency that we mend our ways.