The Adventure Gap by James Edward Mills

Author:James Edward Mills
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781594858697
Publisher: Mountaineers Books
Published: 2014-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

PROFILE

SOPHIA DANENBERG

HAVING LEARNED A HARD LESSON from his experience at 11,000 feet, Tyrhee will likely think twice before chasing a runaway sled down an icy snowfield again. There are many things that only time in the mountains can teach a new climber. In Robby, Shobe, Adina, and Aaron, Tyrhee has a solid corps of mentors to literally show him the ropes on a major expedition. It’s also through their example that he might realize all that a life of adventure has to offer.

Tyrhee and other young people of color can certainly be inspired and encouraged by the achievements of climbers from all walks of life. But there’s something to be said for the value of heroes with whom they share a similar background and heritage, people who have experienced many of the same challenges, endured the same hardships, and celebrated the same triumphs. If you are young and black, black role models make a difference.

SOPHIA DANENBERG, AN ACCOMPLISHED CLIMBER and avid supporter of Expedition Denali, is just such a role model. A professional woman of high aspirations, she has created a lifestyle for herself that makes it possible for her to make mountaineering a priority. Her job as an international policy analyst at Boeing calls for a lot of travel, a perk that enables her to climb an almost dizzying number of mountains all over the world. Through years of experience—she has successfully reached the rocky summits of Rainier, Ama Dablam, Tasman, Grand Teton, Baker, and Denali—she has learned to have confidence in her abilities, tempered by a humility that only time in the mountains can teach.

Although she is just over five feet tall and slightly built, Sophia’s small stature belies her physical strength. Her straight onyx-colored hair reveals her mother’s Japanese heritage, and her African-American father lent her complexion a warm milk chocolate brown. Raised in a family of modest privilege and high expectations, Sophia has charged through life with the talent and discipline to rise to the top of her profession while still enjoying a variety of personal passions, which include a love of international travel and a taste for adventure.

Ever keen to add to her already accomplished mountaineering resume, Sophia had planned on a trip to Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest mountain, in 2006. It would have been the latest in a long career spent ticking off one lofty summit after another in the manner so common to alpinists. On the trip she hoped to climb with Tashi Tenzing, the grandson of Tenzing Norgay, who in 1953 with Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first to summit Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak.

But while arranging her travel plans, the conversation took a surprising turn. By the end of the call, Sophia had decided to climb not Cho Oyu but Everest instead.

“The tour company director thought I could climb with their unguided program since I had done nearly all my climbing up to that point unguided and had climbed Ama Dablam the previous season in a similar fashion,” Sophia told me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.