American mountaineer Aron Ralston: biography, activities and interesting facts

American mountaineer Aron Ralston is known throughout the world for his act, to which he proved that the spirit of a person can soar so high that pain and despair can not break it. His desire to live was as powerful as the mountain ranges, which enabled him to cope with fear and prove: the value of human life is higher than any mountain peak.

Childhood and youth

Aron Ralston was born on October 27, 1975. His childhood was spent in the Midwest USA. And when the boy was 12 years old, the family moved to a permanent residence in Aspen, Colorado. It was here that the young Aron, spending a lot of time in nature, felt a craving for rock climbing and mountaineering. At first it was just a hobby that the young man filled his free time.

Having graduated from the Technical College in 1998, Aron is employed in the specialty. He received the post of mechanical engineer in one of the most reputable firms in New Mexico. However, the nostalgia that followed him all the time over the mountains prevailed. In 2002 he returned to Colorado. Having settled in his parents' home, he could find a job here as well, but on weekends he spent whole days in the mountains. It was then that Aron Ralston set himself the goal of conquering all the 59 tops of the state, the height of which is over 4250 meters (14,000 feet). He could not even imagine that on the way to this goal he would meet with a serious test that would change his attitude to life.

In different sources there can be various variants of translation of the name and surname of the American climber. For example, Aaron Ralston is often used. Aron Ralston - so in his native English language his name is written, that's why the first variant, already used in this article, and the second one, are considered acceptable.

Fatal day

April 26, 2003 was an ordinary day and did not bode ill. Already having a solid climbing experience behind him, Aron was going to make a small trip to the Blue John Canyon, which he visited more than once. The 27-year-old sportsman drove his truck to the Horseshoe Canyon, where he moved to a mountain bike to travel a few more miles to Blue John. Arriving there, he left the mountain bike near the canyon and continued on foot. According to the planned route, Aron Ralston wanted to descend the narrow cleft first. He was going to climb already along the nearby gorge and there, coming out, planned to descend down the steep mountain directly to the place where the pickup truck was left. The total length of his route was 24 kilometers. But on that fateful day Aron was not destined to overcome them.

On the way to the cleft, Ralston met two climbers. They were amateurs, they did not plan anything in advance, so they offered Aaron his company to overcome his route. However, he, being a loner by nature, refused, citing the fact that he stormed the canyon for a while, and an inexperienced company would slow him down. Then he still could not know how much he would regret that he had not taken fellow travelers.

Tragic accident

Aron Ralston, whose family did not know about his plans for the day, was not going to spend the night in the mountains. Therefore, he took with him a minimum of stocks: drinking water, a few burritos, a folding knife, a small first-aid kit, a video camera. Yes, and equipment took only the most necessary. He did not have warm clothes with him. The day was hot, and the shorts with a T-shirt were the most suitable clothes for such weather.

The athlete has repeatedly used this cleft to climb and descend the canyon. The way to one end took usually not more than an hour. Yes, and the distance was small - only 140 meters at a width of 90 cm. For an experienced climber this was a mere trifle.

The width allowed to maneuver calmly during the descent, and the boulders, which were sandwiched between the stone walls, further facilitated the movement. They were able to breathe and quench their thirst. Once again Aron stopped on one of these boulders to look around and choose the further safest scheme of traffic. He checked how firmly the boulder was fixed and found that everything was safe: it seemed that the stone was tightly clamped by sheer slopes. He continued on his way.

At the moment when the athlete, making the next move down, was below the level where the boulder was located, he suddenly slid down. Very little. Only 30-40 centimeters. But this distance was enough for the cobblestone to tighten the palm of Aron, which he held onto a sheer wall. The pain was so strong that the climber lost consciousness for a while from a painful shock. He was rescued by a safety rope, otherwise he would fall down, which threatened an imminent death.

Coming to, Aaron screamed. The pain was so deafening and unbearable that the head stopped thinking. When he was able to get used to the terrible sensations, he began to build his prospects in his thoughts. They were, to put it mildly, not rosy. The hand is trapped in the "trap", there is not a soul nearby, there is no possibility to free yourself, mobility is zero, all popular tourist trails are too far away for anyone to hear his cries for help.

The most important thing is that none of his relatives will miss him, because he lives alone, and he did not inform his parents about his plans. To work out only six days later. Desperation, panic, fear. And the pain is growing ...

What to do?

The first thing Aaron Ralston tried to do is to get a mobile phone from his pocket shorts with his free hand. The moaning and sobbing of the "prisoner of the canyon", which accompanied these attempts, helped to overcome the terrible pain. Phone Aaron took out, but only communication in a narrow mountain cleft was unavailable.

It was necessary to make a decision regarding further actions. The athlete in the mind formed several options: to wait for random tourists to enter the canyon; Try to break the boulder near the place where he clamped his hand; Hook the cobblestone with a safety rope and make attempts to move it from the spot or to accept and wait for death.

5 days - as a whole life

A young, full-strength athlete was not going to die. Therefore, in turn, I began to try each of the options. At first he decided to hook the boulder with a rope loop. He did it successfully, but here's a failure. No matter how hard Aaron tried to move a huge cobblestone, he did not even move a millimeter. Then he began to try to crush the stone: first he used a folding knife, then a carbine.

Nightfall brought a strong drop in temperature. She sank to 14 degrees. Through the chills and pain, the unfortunate mountaineer continued his attempts to shatter the stone. But all is unsuccessful. So passed the whole day.

Dead end

Hoping for a miracle, Aaron sometimes called for help in the hope that one of the savage tourists would hear him. The result was not. The stone captivity that held down the young man took the last forces. But he did not give up.

Despite the severe saving of water and food, on the third day the stocks ran out.

The sun's rays made their way into the narrow crevasse only about noon, only for half an hour. A brief reminder of the outside world forced the athlete to remember not only the leftover "parents" and friends, but also to think that he himself, perhaps, will never see the sun again. At noon on the fifth day, with a titanic effort, he managed to get a camera out of his backpack and took a farewell video that was meant for parents. In it, he asked for forgiveness and confessed to them in love, and also expressed his last wish that his ashes be scattered over the mountains.

A strange dream

He continued to love the mountains even in these terrible moments, when he was practically certain that his life and biography would end in this narrow cleft. Aaron Ralston, tired of a vain fight, suddenly turned off and fell asleep for several minutes. And he saw a strange dream ... or a vision. He did not understand this for sure. A man appeared to him, to whom a boy ran to meet him, stamping his small legs. The man's face from a dream lights up a smile, he reaches out to the child, takes and hugs the baby tightly! But only with one hand ... Aaron is dawning: a man in a vision is one-handed!

Having crossed myself ...

The decision came instantly. Yes, he will be disabled, but will live! Yes, it may not be enough to get to the pickup truck, but maybe he will meet wild tourists!

Aaron thought about the knife, but he was too stupid. It took him much time to grind him about the ill-fated boulder. And only by the night the man was convinced that the knife was sharp enough to cut the skin, tendons, muscles, blood vessels. But in order to cut the bones, a cheap penknife is not suitable. There was nothing to do: the bones would have to be broken. Even imagine how terrible is the desire to live with a man who decided to deprive himself of his hand! But the young man knew he had not done much in this life. He broke his elbow and radius bone, placing a carabiner under his forearm, and then, having cut the soft tissues with a knife, Aron Ralston amputated his arm.

The rescue

He swayed on the rope, bleeding. There was nothing to wash the wound. Aaron was on the verge of insanity from the raging wild pain. Only on the sixth day he could get to the bottom of the canyon. Periodically losing consciousness, reaching the goal, finally fainted.

A few hours later two tourists approached the canyon, who saw the unfortunate Aaron. They called the doctors, and two hours later the rescued athlete was already lying on the operating table of the hospital. When he came to himself, he firmly stated: "I'm fine!" And only the word "possible" that was followed by the trace showed what the young man had to go through.

"127 hours"

A film about Aron Ralston called "127 Hours" directed by director Denny Boyle. Despite the almost complete lack of dynamism, the picture turned out to be lively and touching. The role of Aaron was beautifully performed by actor James Franco.

What a pain and suffering experienced Aaron Ralston, the film can not convey. But to remind desperate people in life that there is always a way, certainly, can.

It must be said that even now that Aron has lost his hand, he is successfully moving towards his goal, continuing to conquer the tops of more than 14,000 feet. Now there are 53 of them in his asset. There is no doubt that one day this number will reach 59.

And the dream was prophetic. Aron married, and in 2010 the couple had a son Leo. Each time, clinging to his son, the happy father remembers the dream that saved his life.