Avoiding the Sudden Stop

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.