The Ledge (36 page)
Authors: Jim Davidson
This cross-section illustration of the crevasse, drawn approximately to scale, represents the challenge I faced—climbing eighty feet of vertical and overhanging ice to reach the glacier’s surface.
Courtesy of Jim Davidson
I knew I’d been through something that would indelibly impact my life, and I knew I’d never want to forget how it affected me when I snapped this self-portrait early on the morning of June 23
—
less than forty-eight hours after the accident.
Courtesy of Jim Davidson
Two days after the accident, heartbroken, I poured out all my emotions in a letter to Mike that I wrote just before leaving Mount Rainier.
Courtesy of Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan
Winds ruffle prayer flags as Prem Lakpa Sherpa and I toss blessed rice toward the mountaintops during our
puja
for Mike’s spirit in Nepal’s Khumbu Valley at the base of Mount Everest.
Courtesy of Jim Davidson; photograph by Gloria Davidson
In the years after the Rainier accident, I returned to climbing icy mountains and embraced all that it brings to my life—in this case, a frozen face on Denali Pass (18,150 feet on Denali, Alaska).
Courtesy of Jim Davidson
The authors strove at all times to re-create events as accurately as possible. In addition to Jim Davidson’s deeply seared memories, the authors relied on other materials that confirmed key details:
A series of tape recordings dictated by Jim in August 1992 in which he recounted everything he could remember of the tragedy on Mount Rainier that had occurred six weeks earlier. These twelve hours of tapes formed the basis for much of the on-mountain dialogue involving the climbing partners.
Jim’s letter to Mike Price, written on June 23, 1992, before Jim departed Mount Rainier.
A tape recording of investigating ranger John Madden’s interview with Jim the day after the accident.
Original National Park Service accident reports.
Jim’s notes, maps, photos, and files about the 1983 Mount Rainier attempt and the 1992 Liberty Ridge climb.
Jim’s writings about the accident, which he began in the fall of 1992.
Newspaper stories about the accident from
The Denver Post
, the
Rocky Mountain News
, and the
Fort Collins Coloradoan
.
Approximately thirty hours of interviews with Jim conducted by Kevin Vaughan during research for the 2008
Rocky Mountain News
series “The Crevasse.”
Jim’s eighteen personal journals since 1981, covering many climbs, expeditions, trips, and other experiences.
Jim’s extensive photography collection, including the pictures he and Mike took on Rainier.
Personal correspondence between Jim and a dozen friends from 1983 to 2010, especially just after the 1992 accident.
Gloria Davidson’s personal journals—in particular, her recollections about Jim’s call from Rainier and about the day they met the Price family.
Jim’s medical records from his emergency room visit the day after the accident.