My Life of High Adventure by Grant H. Pearson with Philip Newill.

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962. 16 pages of plates. I recall sleeping soundly in a tent on Mount McKinley some years ago and being awakened by a loud cry, "Crevasse! Crevasse!” Grant Pearson, wrapped in a bedroll next to me, was talking in his sleep.

In My Life of High Adventure Grant Pearson is talking more calmly though sometimes the descriptions are clearly those of his collaborator, Philip Newill. The book, however, has flavor and it pictures Pearson clearly as park ranger for many years in Mount McKinley National Park, later superintendent there, and currently representative in Juneau for the 18th Alaska district (a region larger than the whole state of New York). The story mirrors the growth and development of Mount McKinley National Park as well as Pearson. There are stories of midwinter patrols by dog team, of the prospectors and miners who lived on the edge of the Park, and of bears, moose, caribou and wolves.

To the mountaineer the most interesting section describes Pearson’s experiences as a member of the Lindley-Liek party that in 1932 made the second ascent of McKinley, climbing both the south and north peaks. On this expedition Grant slid 1000 feet off the mountain on one occasion and dropped 40 feet into a crevasse (unroped) on another. Climbers will find the appendix a useful reference for it lists all parties to climb McKinley from the early attempts through 1961. Better proofreading would help the book, but Grant Pearson’s personality comes through loud and clear—a lot clearer than when he talks in his sleep.

Robert H. Bates