ARON RALSTON

Aron Ralston, un experimentado excursionista de veintisiete años, emprende un solitario paseo por un remoto y estrecho cañón de Utah, cuando una roca de más de trescientos cincuenta kilos se desprende y le aplasta la mano y la muñeca derecha contra la pared del cañon. Ademas del dolor terrible al que se ve sometido, Aron se da cuenta de que ha quedado completamente atrapado. Nadie sabe donde esta; nadie vendra a rescatarlo. Le queda agua y comida para pocas horas mas. Su unica herramienta es una navaja de bolsillo. Sus opciones se agotan una a una. En la quinta noche, presa del delirio y de escalofrios incontrolables, Aron grava su propio epitafio en la pared de roca, convencido de que ya no volvera a ver la luz del dia.Sin embargo, al dia siguiente tiene una idea terrible y salvadora: si pudiera usar la roca para partir los huesos de su brazo, tambien podria amputarselo usando la navaja como un bisturi.Convertida en una exitosa pelicula dirigida por el oscarizado Danny Boyle y protagonizada por James Franco, 127 Horas es la historia real y estremecedora de una asombrosa hazaña de supervivencia, narrada con el pulso de un thriller psicologico, asi como un testimonio de primera mano de los extremos a los que un hombre puede llegar para salvar su propia vida.

Aron Ralston, un experimentado excursionista de veintisiete años, emprende un solitario paseo por un remoto y estrecho cañón de Utah, cuando una roca de más de trescientos cincuenta kilos se desprende y le aplasta la mano y la muñeca derecha contra la pared del cañon. Ademas del dolor terrible al que se ve sometido, Aron se da cuenta de que ha quedado completamente atrapado. Nadie sabe donde esta; nadie vendra a rescatarlo. Le queda agua y comida para pocas horas mas. Su unica herramienta es una navaja de bolsillo. Sus opciones se agotan una a una. En la quinta noche, presa del delirio y de escalofrios incontrolables, Aron grava su propio epitafio en la pared de roca, convencido de que ya no volvera a ver la luz del dia.Sin embargo, al dia siguiente tiene una idea terrible y salvadora: si pudiera usar la roca para partir los huesos de su brazo, tambien podria amputarselo usando la navaja como un bisturi.Convertida en una exitosa pelicula dirigida por el oscarizado Danny Boyle y protagonizada por James Franco, 127 Horas es la historia real y estremecedora de una asombrosa hazaña de supervivencia, narrada con el pulso de un thriller psicologico, asi como un testimonio de primera mano de los extremos a los que un hombre puede llegar para salvar su propia vida.

One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told -- Aron Ralstons searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought him home. It started out as a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands on a warm Saturday afternoon. For Aron Ralston, a twenty-seven-year-old mountaineer and outdoorsman, a walk into the remote Blue John Canyon was a chance to get a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorados highest and toughest peaks. Hed earned this weekend vacation, and though he met two charming women along the way, by early afternoon he finally found himself in his element: alone, with just the beauty of the natural world all around him. It was 2:41 P.M. Eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, Aron was climbing down off a wedged boulder when the rock suddenly, and terrifyingly, came loose. Before he could get out of the way, the falling stone pinned his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. And so began six days of hell for Aron Ralston. With scant water and little food, no jacket for the painfully cold nights, and the terrible knowledge that hed told no one where he was headed, he found himself facing a lingering death -- trapped by an 800-pound boulder 100 feet down in the bottom of a canyon. As he eliminated his escape options one by one through the days, Aron faced the full horror of his predicament: By the time any possible search and rescue effort would begin, hed most probably have died of dehydration, if a flash flood didnt drown him before that. What does one do in the face of almost certain death? Using the video camera from his pack, Aron began recording his grateful good-byes to his family and friends all over the country, thinking back over a life filled with adventure, and documenting a last will and testament with the hope that someone would find it. (For their part, his family and friends had instigated a major search for Aron, the amazing details of which are also documented here for the first time.) The knowledge of their love kept Aron Ralston alive, until a divine inspiration on Thursday morning solved the riddle of the boulder. Aron then committed the most extreme act imaginable to save himself. Between a Rock and a Hard Place -- a brilliantly written, funny, honest, inspiring, and downright astonishing report from the line where death meets life -- will surely take its place in the annals of classic adventure stories.