Today's Chat with Sarah features David J Mauro author of The Altitude Journals.
To view the official review, click here.
To view the book on Amazon, click here.
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1. You were the 65th US citizen to complete the seven summits. Which was more difficult, writing a book or climbing mountains? Why?
I would say "writing the book" except that I already had 800 pages of journal entries to work with when I sat down to author the book. So there was plenty of material in the can. It just needed shaping, the development of storylines, and editing.
2. Who has been the biggest influence in your life? Who was the biggest influence on you as an author?
The late motivational speaker and author Lou Tice was very influential in my life. His work in the field of self-limiting ideas was an eye-opener for me. As authors go I am very much influenced by Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan. Brautigan's use of subtext resonates with me.
3. Let's discuss your book The Altitude Journals. Tell us how the title came about?
The title is pretty literal. I journaled each climb in real-time. I was that guy waiting out the storm inside his tent, withdrawn into a 40 below down bag with headlamp, journal and pencil. I also journaled the time in between climbs back home, where my personal struggles often mirrored the physical struggles of the climbs.
4. The tag line is "A Seven year journey from the lowest point in my life to the highest point on earth." What does that mean?
The story begins with the end of my 17-year marriage, shortly after my brother died of alcoholism. I was living in my sister's guest room and could not believe the disaster my life had become. My sister's husband, Ty, saw me swirling down the drain and, looking for a means to interrupt that path, invited me to join his team attempting to climb Denali. I accepted, even though I doubted my chances of success, because I was already at the bottom of the barrel and felt failing couldn't hurt me much. I now realize that a person who feels they have nothing left to lose is a fantastic and dangerous soul. In such moments we are bulletproof in a sense. That decision launched my life on a completely unforeseen trajectory, touching every continent, finding new love, brushing with death, and finally standing atop Mt Everest.
5. The book is in chronological order from one climb to the next with personal anecdotes in between. How did the two affect each other?
I never set out to climb the Seven Summits (the highest summit on each of the seven continents). Rather, I returned from each climb prepared to retire from the sport. But there was always a powerful lesson that came from each climb and a calling, of sorts, to the next mountain. Where one mountain taught me self-tolerance, another held lessons on listening. It was always something I needed to work on in my everyday life, always another stone in the path.
6. Each of your mountain climbs offered an important lesson. Can you share one with us?
After the experience of divorce I shrouded myself in the armor of emotional protection. Even though I met a wonderful woman who spoke her love for me I could not find the courage to respond in kind. I left for Africa to climb Kilimanjaro and at one point found myself in a jeep beside a waterhole where a pride of lions were lazing with full bellies. My guide rattled off the many dangers in that otherwise beautiful scene; a plant bearing juices that can blind a man, a type of thorns with barbs that dig deeper and deeper into the flesh, the lions, the hyenas, a venomous snake making slow time past our vehicle. This must be the most beautiful and dangerous place I have ever been, I thought. Then the notion came to me that this was the essential difference between the natural world and the man-made. In nature, beauty and personal risk come hand in hand. But the man-made world is built to allow beauty without personal risk. That's the mistake I've been making in my relationship, I thought. I've been trying to experience love without personal risk. But love is of the natural world, not the man-made, and the only way to truly know love is to make myself vulnerable and accept the risks that came with that.
7. There are some heavy themes in your story, yet we learn you were also an improv performer, appearing with the celebrity Ryan Stiles of Whose Line Is It Anyway. How did mountain climbing and your troubles impact your routines on stage?
I never, during my low points, considered taking my own life, but many of my on-stage characters did. There was the guy who tried to hang a noose from the ceiling fan that was running. Another character attempted to shoot himself with a bow and arrow. Ryan liked to introduce mountain climbing scenes into the show when I was in the cast. The characters were invariably lost and debating the order of who would eat who first. The last survivor would discover the parking lot a few feet away.
8. Can you share your favorite moment from all your adventures?
There was a camp we built deep inside the jungles of Papua, New Guinea. Our native guides built a fire to dry our soaked clothing that evening, dragging whatever fallen wood they could find into camp. By chance they had come across a cinnamon tree. The smoke from it was rich with fragrance, almost intoxicating in its redolence. Creatures of the night called from the darkness that evening while a cinnamon smolder permeated everything in our possession. Weeks after returning home I would wander out to my garage to sniff the gear I used on that trip. It always transported me back to that magical night.
9. You set out on this journey hoping that summiting mountains would help you believe in yourself again. Did that happen? Does the book help others discover this about themselves as well?
It didn't happen the way I expected. The big lesson I took away from climbing Denali was that a person doesn't come to believe in himself by climbing mountains. You believe in yourself when you deal with your problems. I had more than a few. It was time to face them. In that context I hope the book helps others face their own problems and come to believe in themselves.
10. What's the overarching theme you want readers to take away from the book?
Every big mountain is really just a lot of little mountains. You can only climb them one at a time, and your ability to climb today's mountain depends greatly on whether you found joy in climbing yesterday's mountain. So make joy an essential part of each day and you will be surprised at the heights you find yourself.
A few lighter questions.
11. Do you have a favorite guilty meal?
Chicken-fried steak and eggs with gravy. I made a point of ordering it for breakfast at each town my book tour stopped in. The winner was a Mom & Pop in Salem, Oregon that made chicken-fried steak out of prime rib. Mmmmm. And the gravy; gravy is my spirit animal.
12. Other than mountain climbing, how do you relax?
I love open fires. We build them often on our patio. A pour of scotch, a big cigar and I am the happiest guy around.
13. What one weird or unusual thing do you take with you when you climb?
I always bring a small amount of my late brother's ashes and release them at the summit.
