We are very excited to be hosting the Mt. Washington Valley event for Michael Wejchert and his debut book, Hidden Mountains – the story of a climbing adventure gone wrong in a remote Alaskan mountain range, the impossible rescue attempt that followed, and the fraught cost of survival.
Michael will be in conversation with another local climber and author, Mark Synnott, as the two discuss climbing, writing, and what brought Michael to write about this event from 2018 when four friends set out on a climbing expedition to Alaska’s Hidden Mountains, one of the last wild ranges in North America.
We are hoping for a great evening and to make sure we have enough space and so that everyone can hear and see, we will be having the event up at the Theater in the Wood in Intervale. Books for both authors will be available for sale there and there will be a signing after the event.
More information on Hidden Mountains:
In 2018, two couples set out on a climbing expedition to Alaska’s Hidden Mountains, one of the last wild ranges in North America. A rarity in modern climbing, the peaks were nearly unexplored and untouched, a place where few people had ever visited and granite spires still awaited first ascents. Inspired by generations of daring alpinists before them, the four climbers were now compelled to strike out into uncharted territory themselves.
This trip to the Hidden Mountains would be the culmination of years of climbing together, promising to test the foursome’s skill and dedication to the sport. But as the climbers would soon discover, no amount of preparation can account for the unknowns of true wilderness. As they neared the top of an unclimbed peak, rockfall grievously injured one of the climbers while he was out of sight, leaving him stranded and in critical condition.
Over the course of the next nine hours, the other three climbers worked to reach their companion. What followed was a pulse-pounding rescue attempt by Alaska’s elite Pararescuers in one of the most remote regions in the country—raising difficult questions about wilderness accessibility, technology’s role in outdoor adventure, and what it means to weigh risk against the siren song of the mountains.
With visceral prose, Michael Wejchert recounts the group’s rescue and traces the scars left in the wake of life-altering trauma. Weaving the history and evolution of rock and alpine climbing with outside tales of loss and survival in the mountains, Wejchert gives a full picture of the reward—and cost—of following your passions in the outdoors.