He always says that the whole way down the mountain, the only thing that made him put one foot in front of the other was the feeling that his friend's deaths would be in vain if he did not live. The first of these traits is his well-developed sense of duty. His resolve in spite of the odds is what really brought him home safely. Even someone as skilled as Colby may have given himself up for dead, evidence that it was not just sheer ability that saved his life. Characteristic to all heroes is that, even with their abilities, they still force themselves to push limits. Strong motivation was key to his successful survival. That is not the way Colby's story ends because of his great determination. He managed to live because of several important character traits that he displays.Īt any point in the journey, it would have been easy for him to just lie down and die, for the mountain never takes long to claim souls from exposure and dehydration. While this demonstrates his extraordinary physical courage, there was much more to his astonishing self-rescue than just strength. Only a person of character like Colby Coombs could find it in himself to overcome so much in the face of this seemingly insurmountable physical and mental difficulty. The fortitude that Colby Coombs displayed in this entire situation is amazing. He had to wait still longer for evacuation, until the obscuring clouds finally disappeared from the glacier and a rescue helicopter flew him to the hospital.
In the morning, when he went to the manager, she could not believe he was able to walk. Upon arrival, he decided not to wake up the base camp manager because he felt that his plight was less important than her sleep. With these terrible injuries, he forced himself down the mountain's serpentine routes for six days, in a courageous endeavor to live.Īrriving on the glacier, he dug up the team's cache, and found that he could not bear to leave his friends' skis behind, so he pulled them all of the way up the glacier to the Denali base camp. The next few days were ones that could have only been spent feeling overwhelming pain, exhaustion and stress, unable to even take off his boots, as they were all that held his broken bones together. All he could do was try to secure their bodies, salvage equipment, and move down to the glacier below. He planned to continue the descent with them as soon as morning came, but it was not to be. Sustaining terrible fractures to his legs, back, and neck, Colby spent a miserable night on a narrow ledge, still roped to his two comrades, both invisible in the stormy night. Descending to 13,200 feet, an avalanche deluged the steep and narrow ridge they were precariously climbing down. On day four, they reached the summit, and began the descent in good spirits. Progressing up the mountain, they scaled high seracs of ice and camped overlooking the smaller mountains and glaciers below. Foraker, a 17,000-foot mountain in the Alaska Range. Colby is a hero to me because of the way he treats people and his outlook on life, not to mention is expert climbing abilities.Ĭolby’s story in Alaska begins on Jwhen he and two friends were climbing the unconquered "Pink Panther" route on Mt. As I have seen his determination, humility, sense of duty and patience through his interactions with others, I hold him in high esteem. His stature as a hero derives from his outstanding traits and actions. Over the years, I have developed a deep respect and admiration for this man, and it is easy to shed him in the light of a hero. As the owner of a mountaineering guiding company/school in Talkeetna, Alaska, he gave me my first job and my first taste of big time technical mountaineering however that is not the real reason for why he is my hero.
0 kommentar(er)
