Avoiding the Sudden Stop: Guiding Rainier, and other Northwest mountain adventures in the 1960s

By George Zell Heuston

Grab your wooden ice axe and coarse nylon ropes, because you're about to embark on a 1960s-style mountain climbing adventure-and there's sure to be plenty of fun, fear, and excitement along the way.At just seven years old, George Zell Heuston was a full-fledged mountaineer-climbing and guiding up picturesque Mount Rainier as one of the youngest climbers in the Pacific Northwest.Now, decades later, he shares his most unique experiences in Avoiding the Sudden Stop, a collection of memories, reflections, and chronicles from a youth and young adulthood spent among the region's rugged peaks.Written from his own perspective as a younger man, Heuston's book captures a different era of mountain climbing, when men braved the elements with wool clothing, cold leather boots, and other antiquated gear.But above all, it is a coming-of-age story that explores not only a lifelong appreciation for the sport of climbing but also relationships with friends and colleagues, changing life perspectives, and how journeying into the mountains changed everything for this passionate young mountaineer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1500823643
• ISBN13: 9781500823641
• Release Date: January 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 366 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"