Friends of Aron: Pissed!

If you had any clue at all about Aron Ralston, you would know that you are the dope for writing such a rude article [Motley Krüse, June]. Aron is a nature lover. Whoever told you he quit his job because of a movie is full of it. He quit his job because he was tired of the corporate world. He wanted to make a career of being a guide. He studied hard, he climbed hard, and luckily he lived to tell about it. If you knew anything about climbing, you would know that what he did, with the exception of not leaving an itinerary, was the norm. By the way, he did have a rope. This climb was kindergarten stuff to him. Fate stepped in, and, as they say, shit happens. Aron is one of the brightest and most responsible people I know, and I really resent the crap you wrote about him.
Sandy Sciota
Rio Rancho, NM

Your article was worth no more than drunken smack talk coming from a table with four empty pitchers at the C.C. Club on a Friday night. You compared Aron to Evel Knievel and the guys from Jackass. Tell me how hiking a trail in the mountains is like jumping the Snake River Canyon on a dirt bike, or standing in an outhouse that is being turned upside down? How do you know he is a thrill seeker? Your ideas on insurance premiums are also a bit inflated. If you had actually done any research at all, you would have found it’s the people who don’t get enough physical activity that have all the health problems. Heart disease and diabetes are at alarming rates because of this. It is inactivity that causes people to be overweight and unhealthy, and to drive up health insurance premiums. I’m a climber, hiker, and cyclist. In my entire life of 35 years, I’ve been to the doctor about seven times for things outside of regular checkups. In the last seven years, I’ve been there twice. Tell me how I am driving up your insurance premiums. How many times have you been to the doctor in the last seven years? Here are the facts: Aron could have left an itinerary. Aron is an experienced hiker and climber on familiar terrain. Aron was pinned down by an 800-pound boulder when he was hiking on a designated trail and found himself in the unfortunate position of having to make a decision that you and I simply cannot comprehend.
Shawn Jeppesen
Robbinsdale