Northwest Bookshelf: Jim Davidson, The Ledge

Photo: Courtesy Ballantine Books

IN The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier (Ballantine Books), we meet climbers Jim Davidson and Mike Price, who in June 1992 fulfill their lifelong dream of summiting Mount Rainier. Then, 115 pages into this true tale—which Davidson coauthored with Denver Post reporter Kevin Vaughan—Davidson steps into a crevasse and drags his tethered climbing partner 80 feet down with him. Price doesn’t survive the fall. And Davidson must ascend from the icy tomb alone, stumble to civilization—and onto nearly 20 years of grief, reflection, and, ultimately, redemption.