In May of 2001, the author and his wife and father were stranded overnight on Mount Evans during a freak late-spring blizzard. Melissa punched through snow into a creek and ended up spending the night out in the cold, with her feet bare. She suffered severe frostbite on both feet and had to have eight of her toes amputated. This is the never-before published full account of this accident and their rescue from the mountains, as well as numerous other adventures in the mountains including: the author’s successful quest to complete all 54 Colorado 14ers; climbs of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Grand Teton, Denali, and Ecuador’s Antisana and Cotopaxi.
Brad McQueen is an avid hiker and climber and is a partner in the Denver-based CPA firm, EKS&H, where he audits public and private companies in a variety of industries. Brad is also an adjunct professor at the University of Denver where he teaches auditing. He has climbed all of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks along with other mountains in the United States and abroad. He is a member of the American Alpine Club and currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, a leading statewide stewardship organization, and Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, an organization working to protect and preserve Colorado’s highest peaks.