Book Review

June / July, 2010

Danger and Drollery

By Patti Thorn

Halfway to Heaven: My White-Knuckled-and Knuckleheaded-Quest for the Rocky Mountain High
By Mark Obmascik (Free Press, 288 pages, $26, hardcover)

The long winter has finally faded. And if you're like me, you're thinking of exercise as the amount of exertion it takes to ease into a lounge chair. If you're not like me? Well, perhaps you're thinking, "Hey, wouldn't it be fun to jaunt to the top of a 14,000-foot mountain?"

Suffice to say, I will never understand that mindset. But I'm still glad I read Halfway to Heaven. It's written by a man any couch potato could love—even if he did decide to do the unthinkable and climb 42 of Colorado's 54 Fourteeners in one summer.

He wasn't an obvious candidate for the task. "I was fat, 44, and in the market for a vasectomy," begins author Mark Obmascik. "…. The sad truth: the only part of my body with any serious cardio training was flapping my jaw."

Still, his son managed to talk him into trekking up Pikes Peak one day. And soon, he was thinking of a plan only a book agent could love: he would climb every Fourteener he hadn't already tackled (he'd done 12), all between Memorial and Labor days. One summer. One crazy idea. One problem. Before committing, he had to get the permission of his wife, who would be a widow raising three children alone if his idea went awry.

Not surprisingly, Mrs. Obmascik wasn't keen on the plan. But she agreed on one condition: that he climb with a partner at all times. Since Obmascik didn't have many climbing friends, he resorted to rounding up strangers for what he winkingly calls "man-dates."

Obmascik's tale is peppered with amusing stories of these "dates," as well as anecdotes about others he stumbled across, including one man who fell and died of his injuries during an overly ambitious climb. That story serves as a reminder that, despite the book's light-hearted tone, Obmascik's challenge was serious business.

The mix of danger and drollery will intrigue armchair adventurers. And serious mountaineers are bound to enjoy the story for its fresh view of the sport from someone who celebrated his achievement like any red-blooded recovering couch potato—by devouring a doughnut and some pepperoni pizza.

A man after my own heart.

Patti Thorn is the former Books Editor of the Rocky Mountain News. She is currently an independent editor of full-length manuscripts and an advisor for high school students writing college application essays. You can reach her at patti.thorn@gmail.com.