Rating: 
Summary: Introspective and Revealing
Review: After reading Shadow of Kilimanjaro, I was interested in reading more by Ridgeway. The premise of Sky is for the author to accompany the daughter of a friend who died in his arms while climbing Minya Konka. It was to be a trip of discovery for the daughter, to learn about her father and understand what drove him to the mountains of the Himalayas. But I think the author spends more time trying to understand the decisions he's made over his own lifetime.Extremely well written, packed with accounts of the author's own near death adventure experiences, and full of personal introspection, I found it hard to put the book down once I started it. Not only a memoir and adventure book, but a book that makes the reader stop and think about the decisions they have made in their lives, and the consequences that result. Also makes you question what your true motivations in life are.
Rating:
Summary: Introspective and Revealing
Review: After reading Shadow of Kilimanjaro, I was interested in reading more by Ridgeway. The premise of Sky is for the author to accompany the daughter of a friend who died in his arms while climbing Minya Konka. It was to be a trip of discovery for the daughter, to learn about her father and understand what drove him to the mountains of the Himalayas. But I think the author spends more time trying to understand the decisions he's made over his own lifetime. Extremely well written, packed with accounts of the author's own near death adventure experiences, and full of personal introspection, I found it hard to put the book down once I started it. Not only a memoir and adventure book, but a book that makes the reader stop and think about the decisions they have made in their lives, and the consequences that result. Also makes you question what your true motivations in life are.
Rating:
Summary: Human Loss and Discovery in the Mountains
Review: As a climber and lover of mountains, I have read many mountain adventure books. They provide an enjoyable vicarious pleasure, and occasionally even penetrate to a significant illumination of the mysteries of the human spirit that make the experience of hardship and danger in nature (be it mountains, desert, ocean, etc.) such a powerful lure for many. This book, while it had those elements, was something totally different. My wife lost her father when she was eight years old, also in the mountains. From there the stories diverge in many ways, but the central theme of trying to find, and restore into her life, the father who she never knew, made Asia the star of this book, and her gift in allowing such an intensely personal story to be shared by the world is simply extraordinary. From my own experience I felt I understood her quest and her reactions, and yet the literary grace of the book, along with the beautiful design of the trip itself, left me with a far better understanding of my own wife (and a whole lot of tears). This book is about the living, not the dead; and that is the real lesson at the end. Thank you Asia, and thank you Rick, for sharing it. It is a glorious gem.
Rating:
Summary: A Soulful Adventure
Review: Because the "Lost Father" in the title of this book was a close friend and had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on my life, I picked up Rick's book with anticipation and some trepidation as well. Any fears were groundless. Rick has woven a marvelous fabric of adventure intertwined with a young woman's courageous journey into unknown parts of the world to search for the answers to questions she has asked her entire life. He binds the story with the thread of his own soul searching and past adventures, described in a straightforward, heartful manner. This book touched me deeply. And also entertained me. Rick is a great story-teller, using simple, matter-of-fact language to describe hair-raising, and even life-threatening situations. This is a book for lovers of adventure, for those in the middle of their lives, taking time to look back as well as forward, for those with unanswered questions in their lives, and for anyone with a father - known or unknown. I highly recommend this book
Rating:
Summary: Definately will become part of my permanent Library
Review: I bought this book after reading Seven Summits which recounted Rick Ridgeway's involvement with Dick Bass's and Frank Well's attempt to be the first to bag the "seven summits".
This is a moving story of not only the loss of Rick Ridgeway's friend and climbing buddy in an avalanche in the himalayas where he also almost died but an account of his return voyage with the friend's twenty year old daughter to where the avalanche had occurred some 18 years before. It is a travel narrative, mountaineering book, great insights on Nepal and Tibet with interesting sidetrips through his memories, trips to Patagonia, being in a Panamanian jail when he was but twenty and what it taught him...etc. You have got to like this guy! A perfect read for the introspective armchair adventure traveller who loves Asia; which is the name of the twenty year old girl who finds her father's grave and her way in life on this trip.
Rating:
Summary: Definately will become part of my permanent Library
Review: I bought this book after reading Seven Summits which recounted Rick Ridgeway's involvement with Dick Bass's and Frank Well's attempt to be the first to bag the "seven summits".
This is a moving story of not only the loss of Rick Ridgeway's friend and climbing buddy in an avalanche in the himalayas where he also almost died but an account of his return voyage with the friend's twenty year old daughter to where the avalanche had occurred some 18 years before. It is a travel narrative, mountaineering book, great insights on Nepal and Tibet with interesting sidetrips through his memories, trips to Patagonia, being in a Panamanian jail when he was but twenty and what it taught him...etc. You have got to like this guy! A perfect read for the introspective armchair adventure traveller who loves Asia; which is the name of the twenty year old girl who finds her father's grave and her way in life on this trip.
Rating:
Summary: What a fantastic book...
Review: I had originally read the story of Rick and Asia's journey in Outside Magazine. I could not wait to pick up the book. I have to say, whether you are a fan of the outdoors or not, this is a book for everyone. It is a book about friendships, family, life and death. The playing field just happens to be in the Himalayan Range. Rick has done such a fantastic job of writing that you don't just read this book, you join them on their trek to find a father and friend.
Rating:
Summary: What a fantastic book...
Review: I had originally read the story of Rick and Asia's journey in Outside Magazine. I could not wait to pick up the book. I have to say, whether you are a fan of the outdoors or not, this is a book for everyone. It is a book about friendships, family, life and death. The playing field just happens to be in the Himalayan Range. Rick has done such a fantastic job of writing that you don't just read this book, you join them on their trek to find a father and friend.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Ridgeway!
Review: Ridgeway is the best.... I've been reading adventure non-fiction for a couple of years now and Rick Ridgeway has never let me down... His writing is complete...informative, emotional, and structured. A very fine writer. This book is a solid read! Very touching story of pilgramic voyage between two searching souls....one for closure and one for exposure. Excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: The best of all the mountaineering/adventure books I have read, and I have read dozens. Very moving, metaphysical, and insightful. Essential reading for a fan of the genre.
| 
