Aron Ralston

Aron Ralston
Ralston in 2008
Born	(1975-10-27) October 27, 1975 Indianapolis, Indiana
Alma mater	Carnegie Mellon University
Occupation(s)	Motivational speaker, mountaineer
Spouse	Jessica Trusty

Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American mountain climber and public speaker. He gained fame in May 2003 when, while canyoneering in Utah, he was forced to amputate his right arm with a dull knife in order to free himself after his arm became trapped by a boulder.

The incident is documented in Ralston's 2004 autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place, and is the subject of the 2010 film 127 Hours.

Personal life

Ralston, a graduate of Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, CO and a mechanical engineering and French student at Carnegie Mellon University, was a member of the honor societies Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. At Carnegie Mellon, he served as a Resident Assistant, studied abroad, and was an active intramural sports participant. He left his job as a mechanical engineer with Intel in 2002 to climb all of Colorado's "fourteeners", or peaks over 14,000 feet high during the winter season. In August 2009, Ralston married Jessica Trusty, and their first child (Leo) was born in February, 2010. He's also an avid Phish fan.

Accident

In April 2003, while he was on a hiking trip in Bluejohn Canyon (in eastern Wayne County, Utah, just south of the Horseshoe Canyon Unit of Canyonlands National Park), a boulder became dislodged, crushing his right forearm and pinning it against the canyon wall. Ralston had not told anyone of his hiking plans and knew no one would be searching for him. Assuming that he would die, he spent five days slowly sipping his small amount of remaining water while trying to extricate his arm. His efforts were futile as he could not dislodge his arm. He eventually ran out of water, carved his name, date of birth and presumed date of death into the sandstone canyon wall, and videotaped his last goodbyes to his family.

After five days of trying to lift and break the boulder, the dehydrated and delirious Ralston prepared to amputate his trapped right arm below the elbow in order to escape. Although he never named the manufacturer of the tool other than to say it was not Leatherman, he did describe it as "what you'd get if you bought a $15 flashlight and got a free multi-use tool". After freeing himself, he was still seventeen miles from his vehicle, and he had no mobile phone. He had to rappel down a 65-foot (20 m) sheer wall, then hike out of the canyon in the hot midday sun. While hiking out, he encountered a couple on vacation from The Netherlands, Eric and Monique Meijer, and their son, Andy, who gave him water and then alerted the authorities. He was ultimately rescued by a helicopter search team six hours after amputating his arm. His arm was removed from under the boulder and retrieved by park authorities. It was cremated by Ralston. He then returned to the accident scene with Tom Brokaw six months later, on his birthday, for two reasons: to film the Dateline NBC episode of his accident, and to scatter the ashes of his arm where, he says, "they belong".

Aftermath of accident

Mountaineering and adventuring

Ralston still climbs mountains prolifically, including a 2008 expedition to climb Ojos del Salado in Chile, and Monte Pissis in Argentina. In 2005, Ralston became the first person to climb all 53 of Colorado's mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation, solo in winter, a project he started in 1998 and resumed after his amputation in Blue John Canyon.

In 2008, he climbed Denali and skiied from the 20,320' summit.

In 2009, he led an expedition with his friends on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

While Ralston still intends to climb Mount Everest some day, he did not go along with polar explorer Eric Larsen on his "Save the Poles" expedition in 2010, as was previously reported.

Media appearances

After the accident, Ralston made numerous appearances. On July 21, 2003, Ralston appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman; on October 6, 2005, Ralston appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. On September 10, 2004, Ralston's story was featured on a two-hour edition of Dateline NBC called "Desperate Days in Blue John Canyon." Ralston has appeared twice on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with David Letterman. He has also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, CNN's American Morning with Bill Hemmer, Anderson Cooper 360°, CNN Saturday Morning, and CNBC with Deborah Norville. In 2006, Ralston was also featured as a panelist in Miller Lite's "Man Laws" ad campaign. He also starred on the Australian interview show Enough Rope.

Ralston was also named GQ Man of the Year and a Vanity Fair Person of the Year in 2003. In 2003, Aron was named the first Shining Star of Perseverance by the WillReturn Council of Assurant Employee Benefits.

Ralston will be a contestant playing for charity on the US television show Minute To Win It; which is scheduled to air on February 23, 2011 on NBC.

Other projects

As a corporate speaker, Ralston commands an honorarium of $25,000 per domestic speaking appearance, and up to $37,000 for international speeches. On May 4, 2007, Ralston appeared at Swiss Economic Forum and gave a speech about "how he did not lose his hand, but gained his life back." However, he is known to frequently induce speechgoers to pass out and fall unconsciously to the floor while detailing his amputation. A particularly noteworthy incident occurred at Duke University. During his speech, two students passed out and had to be carried out of the room.

Ralston documented his experience in a book titled Between a Rock and a Hard Place (ISBN 0-7434-9281-1), published by Atria Books on September 7, 2004 which reached #3 on The New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction list, hit #1 in New Zealand and Australia, and is the #7 best-selling autobiography of all-time in the UK.

127 Hours

Main article: 127 Hours

English film director Danny Boyle directed the film 127 Hours about the true story of Ralston. Filming took place in March and April 2010, with a release in NYC and LA on November 5, 2010. Fox Searchlight Pictures funded the film. Actor James Franco played the role of Ralston. The movie received standing ovations at both the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Some members of the audience in Toronto and, more recently, at Upstate, NY, fainted without injury due to the realistic amputation scene. The film was very well-received by film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of 173 professional critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 8.2 out of 10.

See also

• Self-surgery

External links

• Redux: A Climber's Survival Tale
• Aron Ralston: in his own words
• The story on BBC-Outlook (26min)
• The Official 127 Hours UK Facebook Page
• The Official 127 Hours UK Twitter Page