According to Backpacker Magazine, the next project for Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle is a film called 127 Hours, which will detail the ordeal of Aron Ralson, the hiker who had his arm trapped beneath a boulder a few years back, and was ultimately forced to cut it off using a pocket knife.
Boyle, who won critical acclaim with last year’s Slumdog Millionaire, is already in production on the film, and it is scheduled for release sometime late next year. There are no actors attached to the project yet, but Backpacker says that Ryan Gosling is rumored to be interested in the role.
Ralson was hiking in Blue John Canyon in Utah back in 2003 when he was scrambling up one of the hills, and a boulder became dislodged, crushing his arm, and pinning him against the canyon wall. He was there for five days, waiting for help, but when eh was out of water, and no rescue came, he took matters into his own hands, performing an amputation of his own arm.
The story captured national attention at the time, and Ralston has remained a bit of a celebrity in outside circles. He is a frequent quest lecturer, and continues to hike, climb, and explore the outdoors. His story seems like a natural one for the big screen and it should be handled well by Boyle. Can’t wait to see it.
- Gear Review: The Xero Scrambler Mid is an Ultralight Hiking Shoe for Spring - March 1, 2023
- Gear Review: Yeti Roadie 48 Wheeled Cooler - August 18, 2022
- Kristin Harila Continues Pursuit of 8000-Meter Speed Record - August 16, 2022
I have heard his story and seen him talk about it on 60 minutes. What he did is just unbelievable.
It's one thing to be in the right frame of mind to understand what needs to be done but quite another thing to cut your arm off with a pocket knife.
It's amazing he survived I think a lesser man would not have.
I am in the camp of "devil's advocate" when it comes to this story.
I've read a couple articles about this guy, and I don't find anything admirable about him. Quite the opposite! I find him to be: reckless, irresponsible, and foolish!
Why on earth did he even go out hiking/climbing, and not even inform a friend/family member where he was going, what time he expected to be back, etc.? These are basic, elementary details that they hammer into your head in Boy Scouts, Outward Bound courses, mountaineering schools, etc.
I remember reading a story about him, where he told how he read Jon Krakauer's book on the '96 Everest incident, and one time he was out hiking alone on a mountain, and the weather turned bad, and it started storming/snowing. Ralston said he thought that this was "Cool!", and he felt just like the folks in the Krakauer book!
That pretty much sums it up right there: he was looking for adventure, and he got what he was looking for.
What's that saying, "An adventure is a poorly planned outing", something like that.
He's no hero in my book!
I agree with a lot of what you're saying Wade. Definitely not someone I would call a hero either, and he made several reckless, albeit common, mistakes.
The only thing that intrigues me about the story, and it's probably the thing I'd least like to see, is his ability to actually cut his own arm off. I know desperate times require desperate measures, but that still requires some serious will power.
I read his book. I found his story to be so relate able. I wouldn't necessarily go and hike on boulders like he did, but I relate to making huge judgment errors, and having to re-examine my life. He details much of how he was being foolish for quite a long time in his book. Admitting that is much of my admiration for him. He did cut his own arm off and had to hike back to his car to get help, repelling with a severed limb even! His chronicle of the ordeal was riveting. What makes a hero anyhow? Overcoming like this is a classic heroic story. Sur eit was his own choices getting him there, but it was also his own choices getting him out in the midst of this insurmountable crisis that makes an amazing story.