Below Another Sky by Rick Ridgeway
Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure in Search of a Lost Father is nominally the story of Asia Wright’s trek to her father’s grave in Tibet. But really it’s all about Rick Ridgeway. He’s kind of a pompous eogtist. He passes a lot of judgement on Asia’s occasional moments of fear or foolishness. Well, guess what? She’s a twenty year old completely out of her element on an emotional journey with a mere acquaintance. I’d never have held up as well as she did and if she felt the condenscension coming off of him as strongly as I did, I feel bad for her, that she couldn’t have done this with someone more sympathetic and less all-knowing and superior.
That said, Rick Ridgeway has certainly led an interesting life and done a lot of adventurous things that are way beyond my capabilities. The book is interesting for those stories, not so much for Asia’s trek which is pretty low drama and, because we’re hearing from him not her, low emotion as well. I’d love to read her take on all this.