edge of the map the mountain life of christine boskoff

Having heard bits and pieces of Chris’s story for over a decade as my mother researched, I knew it had all the elements to capture and touch readers. It became clear to both of us, I think, that I was meant to finish her work.

At that point, I was likewise captivated by Chris’s story. The research and preparation to write the manuscript was her life and her passion until she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and her health began to fail. Very quickly, Mom knew that she wanted to write a book based on Chris’s life. She became friends with Chris’s mother, as they lived just a few miles from each other in our hometown. My mother began a ten-year deep dive into Chris’s story and life. We were three years apart and had never met in high school, but we were from the same city in Wisconsin. “Because Johanna…you went to high school with her.”

Though my mother was a journalist, she had no previous interest in mountain climbing and so I finally asked why, having no background in the sport herself, she was so taken with following the search to find Chris. She’d summited more 8000-meter peaks than any other American woman, and was therefore the counterpart to Ed Viesturs, who was by then a recognized name and semi-celebrity. I was astounded that I hadn’t heard of her. Chris was an accomplished climber, having broken all sorts of barriers as a woman in a sport dominated by men. This was of course Chris and Charlie’s disappearance, and though I didn’t know either of them, nor had I heard about their disappearance, my mother sounded part-captivated, part-frantic as she told me their story. She described the search and rescue operation that she’d read about in her local newspaper. My son had been adopted from China and at Christmas that year, my mother called to ask if I’d heard about two Colorado mountaineers who’d gone missing near the area of China where Will had been born. In 2006 I was living in Denver, mothering a toddler with another on the way. What was the inspiration behind the book? How did you hear about Boskoff? Why did you think her story needed to be told?

Edge of the map the mountain life of christine boskoff