With heart-pounding descriptions of avalanches & treacherous ascents, Barry Blanchard chronicles his transformation from a poor Native American/white kid from the wrong side of the tracks to one of the most respected alpinists in the world. At thirteen, he learned to rappel when he joined the 1292 Lord Strathcone`s Horse Army Cadets. Soon kicked out for insubordination, he was already hooked on climbing & saw alpinism as a way to make his single mother proud & end his family`s cycle of poverty. He describes early climbs attempted with nothing to guide him but written trail descriptions & the cajones of youth. He slowly acquires the skills, equipment & partners necessary to tackle more & more difficult climbs, farther & farther afield: throughout the Canadian Rockies, into Alaska & the French Alps & on to Everest, Peru, & the challenging mountains in Pakistan. From each he learns lessons that only nature & extreme endeavor can teach. This is the story of the culture of climbing in the days of punk rock, spurred on by the rhythm of adrenaline & the arrogance of youth. It is also a portrait of the power of the mountains to lift us -- physically, emotionally, intellectually,