Genre: Memoir (2009)
Descriptive Words: Addiction, Crystal Meth, Snowboarding, Lost on Mountain for 8 Days, Legs Amputated, Healing, Hope
About: Eric Le Marque, a former Olympian and pro hockey player becomes addicted to crystal meth after his playing days are over. While snowboarding on Mammoth Mountain and high on crystal meth, he gets lost and isn't found for eight days. Due to severe frostbite, both legs are amputated at the knee.
The story covers mostly his time lost on the mountain and his physical recovery, as well as a chapter or two at the end about his emotional/drug recovery and meeting his wife Hope.
Rating and thoughts: 5/5
I loved the story and pictures, which included some from the actual rescue and hospital stay. The ghostwriter, Davin Seay, did a GREAT job of getting inside Le Marque's head and relating details and emotions. Very talented writer. I'd like to read more of his work.
"For the rest of that day, I never left the shelter I had dug. The sun rose, clouds rolled overhead, and the hours unwound as morning turned to midday and moved steadily on into the afternoon. It all passed me by. I may not have been dead yet, but it was hard to tell the difference. I had passed into a state of sleep so heavy and profound that nothing - not cold, not hunger, not thirst - could wake me. If I stirred during that long silent interlude, I don't remember it. If I had dreams, they drifted by unseen. If I realized that where I lay might well become my grave, I didn't care. For all I knew, I was already petrified, my blood frozen and my flesh turned to stone. There was no difference now between me and the environment against which I had fought so long and hard. The mountain had prevailed and I had become a part of it."
Source: Bought
