Seattle, 1993, 1st edition. 223 pp, color & b/w photos. Roskelley recounts adventures on Dhaulagiri, Everest, Makalu and the Pamirs. John Roskelley has succeeded on scores of technically difficult ascents, climbed three 8,000-meter peaks, and been on more successful expeditions than any other American mountaineer. In a blunt, outspoken style, Stories Off the Wall focuses on the characters, places, and incidents that have shaped him as a man and a climber. Readers will witness the professionalism and skill that make Roskelley one of the most respected mountaineers in the world.
He has lost toes to frostbite, suffered pulmonary edema, survived avalanches and icy bivouacs. Roskelley, one of America's premier mountaineers, recounts his experiences on the high peaks and his transition from teenage exploits to middle-age prudence. He offers stirring tales of adventure: a dramatic rescue on Denali (Mt. McKinley), an impulse climb on the North Face of the Eiger, tackling a frozen waterfall in Canada's Banff National park. Roskelley claims three 8000-meter peaks; he was the first American to reach the summit of 27,000-foot Makalu in Nepal. He attended the ill-fated 1974 International Climbers Camp in the Russian Pamirs, an expedition beset by an earthquake and avalanches, during which one of his companions and nine women climbers died. To select a climbing partner, Roskelley uses the 'shoelace test'--if the person's shoelaces don't stay tied, he won't tie onto a rope with him or her. His adventures provide peak reading. Hardcover, DJ, Fine.
Jim Wickwire
Jim Wickwire is a veteran of over twenty expeditions to Alaska, South America, the Karakoram and the Himalaya (1972-2001). He is best known for his 1978 ascent of K2 (8,591m), the world's second highest mountain, as part of the first American ascent of K2.
Jim has been climbing since early 1960s. He gained extensive experience in Washington and Oregon Cascades, Alaska,in the Canadian Rockies, Swiss Alps, Andes, Karakoram and Himalaya. He climbed 27 different routes on Mt. Rainier, including four routes on the Willis Wall (twice in winter). He also climbed Mt. McKinley, West Rib / South Face (new route alpine-style, 1972); Mts. Fairweather and Quincy Adams (new routes and complete alpine-style traverse, 1973); K2 (participated in 1975 unsuccessful attempt on still unclimbed Northwest Ridge; reached summit of K2 via Northeast Ridge and upper Abruzzi Route, 1978). On Mt. Everest Jim got close to the summit during his attempt of the North Face via Great Couloir in 1982, and then once again on the 1984 successful expedition via North Col and North Face.
Jim was a leader of a five member team that made the second ascent of Sarmiento's West Peak in Terra del Fuego by a new route on the Southwest Face (1995). He also led two Everest expeditions on the Tibetan side (2001 and 2003).
