Devon O'Neil -- "The Way Out"

“You wanna ski a lap?”

Fifteen-year-old Cole Walters-Schaler couldn't resist. This was why they’d come to the backcountry, after all—three fathers and four teenage children together for a bonding alpine getaway outside Salida, Colorado, in January 2017.

Within minutes, Cole and Brett Beasley, a longtime Forest Service ranger and expert outdoorsman in his mid-forties, had pushed off from their cabin, expecting to be gone for a half hour or so. But an unforgiving blizzard transformed their quick jaunt into a thirty-hour ordeal that would end in tragedy, as the community raced to find them.

The Way Out is the story of those ensuing hours and their aftermath—an almost unbelievable event that shook a tight-knit mountain community and raised difficult questions about life and death, guilt and redemption, and the pursuit of adventure. Why, when we know that the wilderness can K*ll, can’t we stay away? When the unthinkable happens, how does a community forgive the survivors? And how do the survivors forgive themselves?

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• Tickets are $5 (plus a small processing fee).
• A coupon good for $5 off a copy of The Way Out, or a purchase on the day of the event is included with your ticket. You will receive this coupon at the event.
• Please note: our events are held on the second floor. To request a reasonable accommodation or discuss your needs, contact [email protected]

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