The Hill Author:Ed Hommer, Daniel Paisner In December 1981, a small charter plane carrying four men crashed into the side of Mount McKinley. For five days, during sub-zero temperatures and white-out conditions, the men awaited rescue in the twisted remains of the tiny Cessna airplane. Two did not survive. The Hill is the extraordinary depiction of these events, told by Ed Hommer, the pl... more »anes pilot. But The Hill goes far beyond mere adventure. It is also a memoir of the 20 years it took Hommer to recover from the accident, which occurred when he was only 27. Left without his lower legs, Hommer spiraled into despair and alcoholism, even losing touch with the daughter whose image helped keep him alive during his ordeal. Seventeen years later, Hommer decided to turn his life around. Using state-of-the-art prosthetics, Hommer re-learned to run, cycle, and mountain climb in preparation for his ultimate challenge: climbing the mountain that almost killed him. He emerged victoriousin 1999, on his second attempt, Ed Hommer reached the summit of Mount McKinley. Ed Hommers story is intriguing, complex, and ultimately uplifting. It was the focus of a Dateline NBC episode which aired several times due to popular demand, and interest in his story continues to increase: the Discovery Channel is filming a documentary of Ed Hommers story that is set to air in the summer of 2001, and Dateline NBC plans to film him on his next goalclimbing Mount Everest in September 2001, within weeks of The Hills release.« less
A good book about an Alaskan bush pilot who was taking some people to Mt McKinley and their flight that was tragically interupted. A good book and well worth the read if you like adventure stories.