Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure in Search of a Lost Father

by Rick Ridgeway

Combining gripping adventure writing with intimate memoir, Rick Ridgeway takes readers to the mysterious mountain domain of Tibet and into the remote corners of his past. In what Tim Cahill called the "most intensely personal" of his books, Ridgeway recounts the extraordinary journey he takes with Asia Wright, the daughter of his friend Jonathan, who was killed during an expedition with Ridgeway in a terrifying avalanche twenty years earlier. Hoping to help her connect with the father she never knew, Ridgeway takes her to the breathtaking Himalayas her father so cherished. Trekking through forbidding terrain and threatening weather, and past jumpy border patrols, they search for the place where he died.

Here, Ridgeway's storytelling technique hits perfect pitch as he weaves together indelible stories of past adventures with his and Asia's journey of self-discipline and self-discovery. Below Another Sky is at once an evaluation of a life lived on the edge and a wrenching story of loss-and of truths revealed.

Genres: Adventure, Travel, Nonfiction, Climbing, Biography, Outdoors

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[An · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book at a local bookstore totally randomly, but ended up loving it. I'm surprised that this book doesn't get recommended more when you search for mountain/ adventure/ travel reads. It is beautifully written and perfectly balanced between adventures and emotions. I love that it does not get too technical, but instead focuses more into how it FEELS like to be climbing/ exploring. Rick appeared as an honest, likable man to me, and his love for nature and strange lands shows through every page.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I don't have a yearning for climbing Himalayan peaks, I really enjoyed the retelling of many adventures throughout this book. However, I did find it weird that the author was so critical of Asia's commitment and skill level of photography and how it was referenced more than once.

[Jayna Sheats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book on the airplane from San Jose (California) to San Jose (Costa Rica) many years ago (well before Goodreads existed, I think), and cried most of the way through it. Ridgeway has a talent for human emotion that one doesn't expect from a hardcore male mountaineer. One gets the clear impression that he's learned a whole lot since his stereotypical teenage boy years (which he describes some of in the book). It's a superb story that gives its due to the spiritual nature of climbing, the mountains of Tibet and nearby, and the feelings of people who are passionate about them and those who love them (and get hurt just as badly when it goes wrong).

[Pam Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. A very touching story of Rick’s journey to retrace the trip he was on with his friend where his friend had died in an avalanche. He took his friends daughter so she could experience the journey. She was just a baby when her dad died. You feel like you are with them as they take this journey and she is reading her dads journal from when he had walked the paths she was now traveling.

[Alene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up really enjoying this, was only slightly turned off by the author trying to determine what his friend's 19-year-old daughter should pursue for a profession. But the adventures were great and it was really a great way to learn about a father she'd never known and for readers to honor the memories of loved ones gone and pursuing what good things to remember about everyone we meet.

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travelogue, memoir, adventure, mountaineering stories...a bit disjointed, but fantastic subject matter by amazing mountaineer, adventurer, writer, filmmaker Rick Ridgeway. Lots of good material if you stick with it.

[Doug Saribay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartwarming and heartbreaking. Rick covers a lot of the same stories he wrote about in "Life Lived Wild," but there was so much more to this journey than what he covered in that book. It's an incredible journey and a touching story of bringing time full circle.

[Haley McBride]

read this in the Kathmandu airport

[Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Below Another Sky was a great surprise, the first book in a while that I literally wasn't able to put down. In fact, I think I got sunburned from staying outside too long to finish it!
That said, I don't know if I'd describe it as an "enjoyable" read. It's probably more accurate to call it a "bittersweet" read. The subject matter is heart-wrenchingly poignant. A (relatively famous) mountaineer/filmmaker returns to the scene of the death of his friend 20 years later, only this time he is bringing along his friends daughter. This reads like a personal journal, and in many ways I suppose it is. Ridgeway leaves it all out in the open, and I respect how honest he is in the book. He constantly questions why he does what he does. Ego? Hubris? He addresses all his self-doubt about how "pure" his need to push himself to the edge really is.
I don't want to provide any spoilers, but the book definitely builds to a tense climax. It's also a book that stays with you. I've actually had trouble sleeping the past couple of nights as I think through the life decisions that Ridgeway made, and contrast them with my own. Most of us can reach back into our lifetimes and find at least one even that we would classify as a "near death experience." Ridgeway experienced a dramatic one, one that his friend did not survive. And fundamentally, the exploration of that event is what this book is about. Definitely a classic text.

Some quotes that I thought were keepers:
- his friend's quote on how to climb K2: "You go about it the same way you would go about eating an elephant...You take it one bite at a time."
- the personal motto of Peter Aufschnaiter (who escaped the British POW camp with Heinrich Harrer) "Esse Quam Videri - To Be Rather Than to Seem."
- quoting his friend's journal: "I will strive to treat every day as though it were my only one. I have wasted many days, and no doubt I will waste more. But by experiencing and accepting the reality of the present, I can learn not to regret the past, nor fear the future."

[J.C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not a person one could call an "adrenaline junkie" by any stretch of the imagination. My idea of a rush is, well, I don't really have any. Regardless, I do occasionally enjoy a book written about some sort of adventure. The Perfect Storm, Into Thin Air, The Cruelest Miles, I really enjoyed these books. I would not run out and join a long liner, or tie some dogs to a sled and hit the Alaskan trail just cause I liked something but I still loved the tales that they told. I felt like those were good books that put me with the people engaged in that adventure or struggle to overcome the odds.

Below Another Sky is not one of these engaging books. Or maybe it is? I don't really know anymore. Its not that I didn't like the concept of the book (read the description if your interested) and its not like I had any problem with delivery. His writing was fine, he opens well (with the accident) and does a decent job of balancing the journey he is on now with the journeys he has had in his life.

I guess I just wasn't in the mood or didn't have too much interest.

Maybe I just don't care to read about peoples near death experiences (drugs, mountains, gangs, ect.) anymore.

Or maybe I'll come to regret never finishing it.

But then again, life's to short to read stuff you just don't care for.

[Electriczen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It is 1980. In the wake of a churning, terrifying avalanche on a remote Tibetan mountain face, Rick Ridgeway cradles his dying friend, Jonathan, in his arms and pledges to keep watch over Johnathan's daughter. The years pass, and Asia, now a vibrant and headstrong young woman, approaches Ridgeway with a request that is both simple and profound: Will he take her to her father's beloved Himalayas, to search for he place where he died."

This terrific book chronicles both Ridgeway's amazing life as an adventurer as well as a daughter's search for the father she never knew through the lens of the mountains and people of Tibet and the Buddhism her father embraced.

[Anthony Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part travel story, part a man's memoir, part a young woman's story to restore a piece of herself that's missing because she never knew her dad. I loved reading this book, partly because of how much I appreciate Tibet and Nepal, and partly because as a parent I cannot imagine my son growing up without me.

My one criticism would be the ending feels abrupt, but the journey getting there is hard to put down, tweaks the heart and puts one in the mood for reflection and for giving loved ones a good hug.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps my favourite Ridgeway book. Rick is 50-something and the daughter of a climbing friend, now 20, wants to see where her father fell and died and was buried. The site in Tibet is not easy to get to, he is feeling his years, and she is an inexperienced mountaineer/climber. Beautiful imagery and an important trip for both of them.

[Patagonia Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

A renowned adventurer travels to Tibet with a young woman in search of her father's memory and gains a fresh perspective on his life. Combining gripping adventure writing with intimate memoir, Rick Ridgeway takes readers to the mysterious mountain domain of Tibet, and into the remote corners of his past.

[Sally Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an amazing story that had me looking at myself and my inner person. Wonderful narratives and a truely sorrowful story come together very well. I never put this one down and I believe I cried very much.

[Michael Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An APL Recycled Reads find. A feel good story of a "best friend" lost and helping his 20 year old daughter get close to his memory all wrapped up in one interesting adventure story. Well worth the read!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rick is a friend of Uncle Gene's. It is a great book and goes into why people become mountain climbers.

[Miles26 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much jumping around, bits and pieces.

[Carole]

excellent

[Marvin Soroos · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best travellogs of mountain climbing adventure that I've read.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most moving, inspirational and informative books I have read. True story.