Aron Ralston

Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker, known for surviving a canyoneering accident in 2003 by cutting off part of his own right arm.

On April 26, 2003, during a solo descent of Bluejohn Canyon in southeastern Utah, he dislodged a boulder, pinning his right wrist to the side of the canyon wall. After five days, he had to break his forearm and amputate it with a dull pocket knife to break free. He then made his way through the rest of the canyon, rappelled down a 65-foot (20 m) drop, and hiked 7 miles (11 km) before being rescued.

The incident is documented in Ralston's autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place, which was later adapted into the film 127 Hours, in which he is portrayed by James Franco.

After the accident, he continued mountaineering and became the first person to ascend all of Colorado's fourteeners solo in winter.

Early life

Aron Ralston was born on October 27, 1975, in Marion, Ohio. At age 12, his family relocated to Denver, Colorado where he attended Cherry Creek High School and learned how to ski and backpack. He attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where he double-majored in mechanical engineering and French and minored in piano. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering and French in 1997. At Carnegie Mellon, he served as a resident assistant, studied abroad, and was an active intramural sports participant. He worked as a rafting guide during the summer.

Ralston worked as a mechanical engineer with Intel in Chandler, Tacoma and Albuquerque for five years, but felt burnt out from working at a large corporation. During his time as an engineer, he built his skills in mountaineering, and in 2002, he quit his job to climb Denali. He moved to Aspen, Colorado with the intention to live his life climbing mountains.