Rocky Mountain News profiles Aron Ralston, whose path to fame and fortune involved cutting off a limb to save his fanny. Now he’s swimming in cash from speaking engagements, commercial endorsements, book royalties, etc.
Ralston said the book advance exceeded $1 million, but he declined to be specific.
He still drives the maroon 1998 Toyota truck rescuers were looking for in Utah. But he did splurge on the purchase of a townhome in Aspen.
“When I look out the window I joke I gave my right arm for this view,” Ralston says.
I’m sure that gets great laughs among the Aspen zillionaires, who need fresh reminders of the gruesome realities of life in flyover land now that Hunter S. Thompson is dead.
It’s a sad commentary on our society, I think, when we hold to hero or celebrity status (and lavish them with money) somebody who’s benefiting from his own stupidity.
Kurt: You sound as if you think he enjoys the fame and wealth and as if it makes up for the horror of what he went through.
Rest assured, it doesn’t. Until you’ve sat stranded in a slot canyon certain you were going to die — this is no small trauma — and realized your only chance for survival was to, oh, you know, CUT YOUR ARM OFF WITH A DULL KNIFE, and then find the nerve to actually cut said arm off, and then find your way back to civilization and live the rest of your life minus one perfectly functional right hand — then perhaps you’ll have a bit more perspective and be inclined to cut the guy some slack.
And — before he could “saw” through his flesh, he had to first BREAK HIS TWO ARM BONES in order to proceed with the grisly task at hand! (At hand!?) Ultimately, he was a bit foolish — especially for a search and rescue dude — for neglecting to alert anybody to his whereabouts beforehand. (Beforehand?!) G.M.
Before we declare Kurt a cur for having brought up the subject, I’d like to add that his point about people receiving fame and fortune as a result of foolish behavior is valid — it’s just that this example seems inappropriate for making the case (or at the very least insensitive … after all the guy did end up disabled for life.)
I’m sure Ralston would much prefer to have his hand back rather than the fame and fortune. And it took an insane amount of guts to do what he did. I’m not sure I could have.
That said, from what I’ve heard and read, this guy has a history of pushing the envelope. Not only did he not tell anybody where he was going or when he might return when he went into the slot, but he also neglected to bring a buddy for back-up. Previously, he took friends skiing in the Colorado backcountry and nearly got them all killed in an avalanche.
Is he heroic, or careless to the point of reckless disregard of sound decision-making in the backcountry?
Ralston is just one of the most recent examples of folks who overestimate the backcountry challenges and getting in over their heads. I’m just questioning why we place the survivors on pedestals.
Re Pedestals: some things are just human nature, just like how we all know that news reports of terrorist attacks encourage further terrorist attacks, and yet we cannot stop giving huge coverage to these attacks.