A Place Among Giants

Twenty two years of love, triumph, and tragedy on North America's tallest mountain. Lisa Roderick had already forged an unlikely path, from growing up on a farm in Connecticut to driving the Alaska Highway to start a new life in the 49th state. What happened next—a series of events leading her to spend more time in the Alaska Range than possibly any living human—is even more remarkable. In Alaska, she fell in love with the land, the mountains, and a mountain climber, and soon became swept up in a series of climbing adventures that culminated in her managing the basecamp on Denali, North America's tallest mountain. A tragic plane crash would galvanize Lisa's commitment to protecting Denali's aviators, and she would spend the next 22 seasons living on a massive Alaskan glacier in one of the world's harshest mountain climates. Lisa faithfully executed her duties, providing weather observations for pilots, coordinating flights, and keeping order in the camp, while facing constant worries for the safety of her glacier pilot brother, Paul, and her mountain climber husband, Mark, as they each navigated the myriad hazards of the Alaska Range. Lisa's story is not just about mountains, flying, or climbing. It is a portrait of more than two decades on Denali and the climbers, pilots, and park service rescuers with whom she shared her adventures during her historic and remarkable tenure.