IN RAREFIED AIR

MOUNTAINEER AND GEOLOGIST J IM DAVIDSON’S RECENT BOOK EXPLORES THE DE ADLIEST DAY ON E VEREST AND HIS LIFE AS A CLIMBER

- JULIAN MANNING

On April 25th, 2015, each snow bootladen step Jim Davidson took, put him a few inches closer to his dream of summiting Everest—a goal his then 33 years of mountaineering experience had led up to since his first climb in 1982. The public speaker and geologist, in his early fifties, reached Camp One in good shape. He tucked himself inside a little yellow tent, resting on the western shoulder of Everest at 19,700 feet, and drifted offinto well-deserved slumber. Then came trouble. Engulfed in a hellacious avalanche caused by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, his dream turned into a drawn-out nightmare. He was stranded in a remote region overwhelmed with death, destruction, and uncertainty.

Davidson’s autobiographical book, The Next Everest, revisits this tragedy that shook Nepal to its core. While looking back on the horror, the Colorado-based American also poignantly assesses his life as a climber, the aftermath of his trauma, and other enlightening journeys all over the world.

Can You Take Us Through Your Origin Story as A Mountaineer?

As a child, I was not athletic and was terrible at team sports. I worked for my father’s painting company, painting high buildings, roofs, and electric towers. That taught me to work with a small team in a dangerous setting and got me in better physical shape.

It also gave me the mental fortitude required for dangerous jobs. When I was a teenager, I discovered backpacking through the wilderness, which, in turn, got me into rock climbing and later, ice climbing. By the time I was 20, I was dedicated to mountain climbing. Going to school in Massachusetts and the Rocky Mountains,