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The Way Out: A True Story of Survival in the Heart of the Rockies

Publisher: HarperOne

Contributors:

Devon O'Neil (Author)

Contributors: Devon O'Neil (Author)

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BISAC categories: Biography & Autobiography -> Survival ->

BISAC categories: Sports & Recreation -> Extreme Sports ->

BISAC categories: Philosophy -> Nature ->

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Product Description

"On par with Into the Wild... Fast-paced, yet thoughtful and empathetic, all the way to its devastating conclusion, this psychological thriller will haunt me whenever I step off the pavement into the woods. I couldn't stop reading it, and I can't stop thinking about it." -- Bill Gifford, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Outlive

A harrowing, never-before-told story of life and death in the Colorado mountains--thirty hours that changed lives forever and forced a reckoning about the cost of adventure.

"You wanna ski a lap?"

Fifteen-year-old Cole Walters-Schaler couldn't resist. This was why they'd come to the backcountry, after all--three fathers and four teenage children together for a bonding alpine getaway outside Salida, Colorado, in January 2017.

Within minutes, Cole and Brett Beasley, a longtime Forest Service ranger and expert outdoorsman in his mid-forties, had pushed off from their cabin, expecting to be gone for a half hour or so. But an unforgiving blizzard transformed their quick jaunt into a thirty-hour ordeal that would end in tragedy, as the community raced to find them.

The Way Out is the story of those ensuing hours and their aftermath--an almost unbelievable event that shook a tight-knit mountain community and raised difficult questions about life and death, guilt and redemption, and the pursuit of adventure. Why, when we know that the wilderness can kill, can't we stay away? When the unthinkable happens, how does a community forgive the survivors? And how do the survivors forgive themselves?

Drawing on firsthand interviews with those closest to the tragedy, including the key eyewitness, and written with the gripping intensity of classics such as Into Thin Air and Touching the Void, O'Neil recreates that fateful day. The Way Out is a thoughtful investigation of the allure of the mountains and the aftermath of trauma, and an unforgettable look at life at its very edge.

The Way Out includes 12 black-and-white personal photos throughout.

ISBN-10: 0063375540
ISBN-13: 9780063375543
Author: O'Neil, Devon
Publisher: HarperOne

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780063375543

ISBN-10: 0063375540

Publisher: HarperOne

Publish Date: November 11, 2025

On Sale Date: November 11, 2025

Language: English

Pages: 288

Dimensions: 9.26 × 6.32 × 1.19 in

Weight: 1.13 lbs

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