The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon

by Kevin Fedarko

Of all the writers who have attempted to explain the obsessions that fire extreme mountaineers, one of the most eloquent is the novelist James Salter. In 1979, Salter published a novel called Solo Faces, which is loosely based on the life of Gary Hemming, a remarkable American climber who, in 1962, put up the first ascent of a route called the American Direct on the Aiguille du Dru, a spire in the French Alps

Of all the writers who have attempted to explain the obsessions that fire extreme mountaineers, one of the most eloquent is the novelist James Salter. In 1979, Salter published a novel called Solo Faces, which is loosely based on the life of Gary Hemming, a remarkable American climber who, in 1962, put up the first ascent of a route called the American Direct on the Aiguille du Dru, a spire in the French Alps