This was an interesting reading. The author has obviously lived life to the max, including Mount Everest wow. He has also met some interesting celebrities too. There are certainly no dull moments in this book. It was so interesting. Then I found out the book was longer until the final draft as maybe a second book, which sounds like fun. If you want to learn more about living a life of high risk, then definitely give this book a go.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this amazing adventure.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/life-lived-wild-by-rick-ridgeway-patagonia-4-stars and my new blog https://ladyreading365.blogspot.com/2023/06/life-lived-wild-by-rick-ridgeway.html under my name ladyreading365

Life Lived Wild is aptly subtitled Adventures at the Edge of the Map; this book is a collection of stories by Rick Ridgeway, a mountaineer and adventurer.

I enjoyed this one the more I read -- I particularly appreciated his growth from wanting to spend time exploring the wild to wanting to protect it (while still adventuring). Transitions from chapter to chapter also felt more connected in the latter half of the book, whether by virtue of the content or gained familiarity with those in Rick's circle. I liked learning about not only Rick, but his friends Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia founder) and Doug Tompkins (co-founder of the North Face) too.

There were a lot of great anecdotes and stories, even for someone who's been backpacking a grand total of once in her life. Note that the photos throughout mostly are in full color (if you read via Kindle, it's worth opening via browser to see them in color). I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but I'd strongly recommend it to anyone who enjoys adventure stories.

Rick notes at the end that the book originally had 50 stories before a friend encouraged him to edit it down. He's since published several of the cut stories to his website for anyone interested in them.

p.s. It drove me nuts that the book ended with him putting binders in a garbage bin and watching papers -- that could be recycled! -- fly into the dumpster. After pages about people having less negative impact on wildlife and doing more to protect the planet? So just prepare yourself for that.

I’ve started and stopped this book maybe four times. I love stories about mountaineering, especially when told from the climber’s perspective, but this book felt all over the place and I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to finish it.

When I started reading this I didn’t realise quite how much of an epic story I was getting into. Rick Ridgeway and his friends the do-boys have many wild and wonderful adventures and go onto do some pretty amazing achievements in conservation, I should also add that his friends include the founders of Patagonia, North Face, Espirit and one of the CEOs of Disney, I loved reading about how all of their lives intertwined and their efforts and achievements.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fantastic book! No, seriously. This is the best, most well-written, fascinating book I've read in a really long time. Who is Rick Ridgeway? I wouldn't blame you for having no idea. I read a lot of adventure/survival stories, follow people like Alex Honnold, Colin O'Brady and Jimmy Chin on social media, and am fascinated by real-life tales of adventure and daring. Yet the name Rick Ridgeway was not ringing any bells. But you crack open this book and OH BOY...you tumble right in.

This man has done EVERYTHING. He has lived a life of adventure, scaling every mountain you could possibly name (and some you can't), kayaking in the frigid waters of the Arctic, tracking the pronghorn migration on foot with a mentee, throwing everything he has into preserving these wild spaces for future adventures. Yet he has also lived a life full of love. His beloved Jennifer and their children and grandchildren, his fellow Do Boys, climbing mountains with Tom Brokaw, and meeting new people and forming relationships along the way.

All in all, an absolutely incredible book written by a man with an incredible, accessible story. I loved it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I found it hard to get into this story, initially. It felt like the author did a lot of name dropping, describing the guys he hangs out with by their careers, the company they founded, etc. It had a “perhaps you’ve heard of him?” vibe that knocked me out of the storytelling. I found it jarring. Once he stopped introducing people (because they became recurring characters), I was able to focus on the stories, which were great.

In addition, I carried some jealousy for how easy it seemed for the author to pursue his career, find his wife, and go on all these cool adventures. I was envious of his privilege that by virtue of being a young white dude living in California at a certain time period, he had met all the right people who had carried him along until he’d gained notoriety. My first takeaway from this memoir is that it really sends home that old adage: it’s all about who you know.

Once I made my peace with the author, his time period, and his lot in life, I could settle back and enjoy the stories because, despite all my grumping, he is a good storyteller. Mountaineering has never been high on my to-do list (though I love reading about it). When Rick’s first big adventure takes him to Everest, I was on the edge of my seat, prepared for disaster to strike. When it didn’t and his K2 adventure went relatively okay, I got lulled into a false sense of security for their attempted ascent of Minya Konka.

While his focus starts off in mountaineering and writing, the author makes the transition to film and expands his repertoire, jumping on a boat that sails to South America, traveling across Borneo, and working in Antarctica. Ultimately, he becomes a part of the Seven Summits expedition, which is now something of a mountaineer’s bucket list.

Along the way, the author becomes more aware of the risk to his life, which coincides with the growth of his family, and he makes small adjustments to his way of adventuring. As he and his friends age, they shift in their priorities as well, from making their mark on unexplored regions of the world (in their estimation), to preserving little explored regions of the world for future generations. I enjoyed this growth especially, though, at times, their privilege would still shine through (like when he joins a kid on his trek along a pronghorn migration route in the American West and has his friends drop him off some fancy food to supplement the kid’s meager rations of PB on tortillas and Ramen).

The author’s primary focus is on sharing his world with the reader, focusing more on the vistas and logistical challenges over the personal dramas that arise when people are forced into small group situations (most of the time). His character also shines through, like when he guides the daughter of his dead friend to see the man’s final resting place in the Himalaya, and when he treks overland with rickshaws weighing 250 pounds so that they have food and gear to document the breeding grounds of an endangered animal in Tibet.

After I finished the book and looked up more about the author, I realized that this particular memoir is more like a greatest hits album. He gives brief, engaging, retellings of some fascinating trips he undertook for National Geographic, or for fun with his friends (sometimes both). I would recommend it to people who love dangerous adventures and conservation work.

This was such an inspirational book! Wow! Rick as done so much in his life and it gave me serious wanderlust. I did think the it was a little too involved at some parts. The average person doesn't know hiking/mountaineering vocabulary, which made the book harder to follow. Overall, inspirational, but not totally readable.

This was so good. I went into it expecting a book about climbing, but it was so much more than that. The descriptions of all the different adventures the author took made you feel as if you were really there. It made me want to go out and have another adventure of my own immediately. But besides all the great adventures, he talked about grief, about losing people close to him so unexpectedly, about how those people may be gone but they never really go away. He also talked a lot about the different conservation projects various members of the Do Boys were involved in, and I think that was my favorite part. I love the wild - seeing it and being part of it, and I hate when it gets destroyed, taken away for yet another meaningless building or road, or chopped up for more wood, or drilled for more oil. I would love to be able to do something to help save and conserve what we have, and this book really gave me the inspiration to try and do something. I may not be as rich or influential as the people in this book, but I think we can all do something to help.

With this my first taste of author Rick Ridgeway and his explorations and adventures in mountains worldwide, I couldn't help but be impressed with his approach to life and death, and his fearlessness to try new experiences. Excellent writing and content.

I asked to review this book prior to purchasing it as a present for my daughter who is a climber, hiker, and adventuror. It's an amazing compendium of tales of Rick Ridgeway's life and his various expeditions. I wound up purchasing the actual book for a Christmas present for her.

I enjoyed this book for its coverage of wild places that I have also visited. The author covers them in depth.

This was an excellent tale of adventure! I loved the dynamics between people and the environment and the search for adventure!

This is a perfect 🎄Christmas gift for your nature lover/reader.

First, let me say that I hardly ever read memoirs. But the description of this book and my passion for hiking hooked me. So when this nook came up on NetGalley I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Rick’s accounts of his travels and accomplishments make my tiny summits seem insignificant. As an adventures that traveled all over the world, hiked K2 and lived in Tibet, I wanted to be him. What a great life lived. And I think that was the message he kept true to in this book. As she shares his experiences, he shares the conversations from the company he keeps on each trip. Whether at elevation or raising a family back at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” He leaves it to his readers, though, to do the final sort of which is which.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. As a nature lover and avid hiker, I think the most relatable thing in no the story is the strength of nature and it’s power to push you, reset your mind , and create moments that strengthen you for what may come.

Amazing story that will have you wondering why people do it. But as you get to know the people in the book you kind of get it. Wonderful retelling of adventures and a life lived.

Wonderful tales of spectacular adventures, but I felt better editing would have improved this book. It tends to jump all over the place and I found myself flipping back and forth trying to figure out what year events were happening.

"Life Lived Wild" is an amazing collection of the real episodes of exploration and adventure experienced by Rick Ridgeway throughout his life. Ridgeway shares his journeys to far away places like Tibet, Patagonia, Bhutan, Africa, Antarctica, Russia, Nepal, Indonesia, and many others to climb inaccessible mountains, kayak remote waterways, sail, ski, camp, surf, explore, perform scientific observations, create documentaries, photograph, and encourage conservation over a period of 40 years. This book is very readable, enhanced with photographs, and interspersed with danger, death, romance, humor, boundless determination, entertaining anecdotes, and famous people.

This book is very likely to become a classic for people interested in the great outdoors. It is also a broad introduction to other books and experiences the author has written about in more detail. As a person who has enjoyed milder outdoor experiences camping, hiking, caving, and traveling, I recommend this book to fellow enthusiasts.

I would like to thank the author and publisher for providing an electronic review copy of this book. Thanks and Happy Trails!

I was fascinated by Rick Ridgeways life of amazing adventure.He and his friends live a life of challenge and excitement pushing themselves to astonishing daring.I am an armchair adventurer and loved following in their footsteps from the safety of my armchair.I really enjoyed getting to read about Rick Ridgeway and the Dos highly recommend his memoir.#netgalley #lifelivedwild

I am not a hardcore hiker, but I find hiking books and other adventure books to be inspiring to me in terms of how I live my life. The courage portrayed in these books motivates me in all facets of my life - business, family, fitness, and so on! This was a wonderful book that I recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book tells of a man who lived a life that he wanted and challenged his self through out it. This was a interesting read because I will never experience what this man has so reading this book let’s me life a little through him. One thing that sticks out to me that I wanted to share while Rick and a friend were on Chang Tang Rick and his climbing partner experience many butterflies all around then at 23,000 could you imagine being that high on a glacier and having butterflies flutter all around you I found that experience to be beautiful.

A remarkable and memorable book on a life lived wild

"Going out into the wilds of the world at an early age," Doug added, "where nature was basically untouched, we got into our souls a sense of beauty".

I had not heard of Rick Ridgeway before this book fell into my lap. However, I had certainly heard of two of his close friends, with whom he spent countless months adventuring all over the world: Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia) and Doug Tompkins (founder of The North Face and Espirit). Rick and his friends called themselves the Do Boys, as they prefer to go out and do things rather than talking about doing things. In "A life lived wild" Rick, at now seventy-two years old, looks back at his life. It is a life full of adventure. A life mostly spent outside (Rick calculated that he had spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents). A life with many lucky coincidences, a lot of travel and exploration, and a lot of love.

I felt a range of emotions reading this book. Rick made me laugh and cry, he made me feel pure happiness, love, loss and fear. He is an excellent story teller. Even now, so many years after some of these stories happened, he is able to look back and remember things so clearly, with the additional benefit of hindsight. Rick comes across as a very smart, interesting and appreciative man who never forgot how lucky he was to lead this remarkable life. I loved reading about all his adventures. About what he learned on the way from so many different people. About his appreciation of friends and family. I am afraid my words cannot truly portray how beautiful this book is. I highly recommend this book.