Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada—mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
“Eric Blehm offers an insightful perspective on how Craig Kelly became the effortless icon that we all revered as well as sobering details of how his heroic journey tragically ended. The Darkest White is a must read, not just for fans of snowboarding, but for anyone looking for inspiration from an unlikely hero.”—Tony HawkFrom Eric Blehm, the bestselling author of The Last Season and Fearless, comes an extraordinary new book in the vein of Into the Wild, the story of the legendary snowboarder Craig Kelly and his death in the 2003 Durrand Glacier Avalanche—a devastating and controversial tragedy that claimed the lives of seven people.On January 20, 2003, a thunderous crack rang out and a 100-foot-wide tide of snow barreled down the Northern Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. More than a dozen skiers and snowboarders were thrust down the mountain, buried beneath several tons of rock-hard snow and ice in the Durrand Glacier Avalanche. A heroic search and rescue ensued. Among those buried was Craig Kelly—“the Michael Jordan of snowboarding”—a man who had propelled the sport into the mainstream before walking away from competitions, to rekindle his passion in the untamed alpine wilds of North AmericaThe Darkest White is the story of Craig Kelly’s life, a heartbreaking but extraordinary and inspiring odyssey of a latchkey kid whose athletic prowess and innovations would revolutionize winter sports, take him around the globe, and push him into ever more extreme environments that would ultimately take his life. It is also a definitive, immersive account of snowboarding and the cultural movement that exploded around it, growing the sport from minor Gen X cult hobby to Olympic centerpiece and a billion-dollar business full of feuds and rivalries. Finally, The Darkest White is a mesmerizing, cautionary portrait of the mountains, of the allure and the glory they offer, and of the avalanches they unleash with unforgiving fury."The most unremittingly exciting book of nonfiction I have come across in recent years. I found myself reading late into recent nights wholly transfixed by every paragraph, every word."—Simon Winchester, The New York Times Book Review
Die bewegende Geschichte des Navy SEAL Team Six Chief Adam Brown
Die Navy SEALs sind die Elitetruppe der US-Streitkräfte. Sie durchlaufen die härteste Ausbildung der Welt und werden nur in den gefährlichsten Missionen eingesetzt. Das Seal Team Six ist die Einheit, die Osama bin Laden tötete. Navy Seal Adam Brown starb im März 2010 im Kampf, während eines Einsatzes in Afghanistan. Furchtlos erzählt die Geschichte eines Mannes, der keine Angst kannte, immer alles riskierte und von seinem Glauben und der Liebe zu seiner Frau, zu seiner Familie und zu seinem Land getragen wurde. Trotz schlimmster Befürchtungen zieht er mit in einen Krieg und meldet sich für die gefährlichsten Aufgaben immer als Erster freiwillig, bis ihn seine letzte Heldentat das Leben kostet. Er hinterließ einen bewegenden Brief an seine Kinder, in dem er schrieb, dass ihm der Glaube an Gott jegliche Furcht vor dem Tod genommen und er seinen Frieden gefunden hat. In diesem einzigartigen Buch schildert Eric Blehm mit dem Insiderwissen eines echten Kenners die Geschichte von Navy Seal Adam Brown, eines heldenhaften Soldaten, der bis zu seinem Ende keine Furcht kannte.