The Ledge: Experience a wonderfully dangerous adventure

THE LEDGE by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan.
An adventure story of friendship and survival on Mr. Rainier.

In July of 2013 my family and I took a trip to Seattle, Washington.  We went on many different tours during our stay, but hiking 7,200 feet up Mt. Rainier was one of the most exciting things I have ever done.  The pictures and video in this blog are just a sample of the views that we encountered during our days on the Mountain.  Even though we only climbed about halfway up Mt. Rainier's 14,409 foot peak, we were close enough to appreciate the effort it would take to climb to the top. We could actually see groups of mountaineers on their way to and from the summit. We joked about the next time we visit, that we would go all the way to the top, so my sister-in-law bought me the book, The Ledge, by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan as a Christmas gift.  After reading about Jim Davidson's harrowing adventure on his summit climb in 1992, I have a new understanding, and renewed respect for what it would take to me to summit Mt. Rainier and survive.

Jim Davidson and his friend, Mike Price were expert climbers.  Together they had climbed some of the most difficult mountains in North and South America. They were a team, and their experiences made them as accomplished as climbers could be, but as a team, they had yet to conquer one of the prized summits in the United States, Mt. Rainier.  In this narrative, Jim Davidson takes the reader back to his days working with his dad as a specialty painter on structures like bridges, high voltage power stations, and high voltage transmission towers.  His experiences working under such strenuous conditions, became the groundwork for other adventurous endeavors including climbing and mountaineering.  As Jim and Mike finally conquer the summit of Mt. Rainier, tragedy strikes, and Jim is required to rely on every lesson his father has ever taught him, pushing his physical and mental limits, in order to get off the mountain alive.

I have read a few books about survival such as Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Avalanche by Arthur Roth, Everest by Gordan Korman, and a few others.  First of all, this book is nonfiction. It is a true narrative about Jim's survival.  Secondly, it is very recent, and my experience on Mt. Rainier made his story seem so much more believeable. Text to self connections are some of the easiest thinking strategies kids can make.  The problem is that they often are so literal and rarely promote further thinking.  Consider reading a book set in a place that you have visited, or even one set in your hometown.  Think about how your text to self connections might promote higher level thinking.  What if you read a murder mystery that took place at Menominee Park? How would your thinking be different than if the setting was somewhere you didn't know?