ISBN: 0-945397-61-5. Softcover. 174 pages. 6" x 9" x .25" 18 Pencil Drawings, 19 Maps.

From the back cover: Alaska's best known storyteller offers a chilling collection of survival stories from pilots, hikers, hunters, climbers, boaters, and fishermen who confront their mortality - and live to tell about it!

You will be astonished by the close calls of a young man who clings desperately to life on an iceberg in the lower Susitna River... a woman who struggles frantically to escape the cockpit of a small plane sinking beneath the waters of a remote bay in Southeast ....the climbers who fight stubbornly to survive as avalanche after avalanche sweep over them...and the diver who tangles with a giant octopus.

"one savors the triumph and giddiness of survival when survival seems out of the question." - General Aviation News & Flyer

" These harrowing experiences will keep you glued to the pages of this book." - Gannett Newspapers

"the perfect book to take along to fish camp or onto the boat while sitting up at wheel watch." - Bristol Bay (Alaska) Times

"Each adventure has its own suspense, spine-tingling action, and lesson to be learned..." - Capital City Weekly, Juneau, Alaska

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Locator Map
Introduction

Chapter 1 - In the Knik of Time
A pleasant fly-in lunch turns into a desperate fight for life as two Anchorage men crash-land their light plane into the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet, then cling to an iceberg in hopes of rescue.
Chapter 2 - Madness in the Bay
One moment, a husband and wife commercial fishing team is anchored for the night in quiet Lituya Bay, The next, they struggle as a giant earthquake spawned wave bears down on their boat.
Chapter 3 - Death Played Tag
Two climbers undertake an ascent in the mountains above Ruth Glacier that is designed to test their skills. But a brutal series of avalanches makes it a test they must pass or die.
Chapter 4 - The Jaws of Death
Mike Harbaugh's plane, low on fuel and buffeted by wind and snow, flies toward an opening over Merrill Pass. Harbaugh is thinking: "Maybe I can squeeze through."
Chapter 5 - On Giant Seas
The eight foot seas become ten foot, then fifteen, then twenty-five. The two men and one woman in the small open boat can do nothing but hold on and hope against hope to ride it out.
Chapter 6 - Underwater Coffin
It's a great day of duck hunting for Darrel Misner and his friend until they take off for the flight home. Suddenly they're living their worst nightmare of anyone who flies over water.
Chapter 7 - On the Horns of a Bull
Mark Hewkin asks nothing more than to have a good time hunting in the Lake Clark area with his buddies and to bring down a big moose. But the moose has other ideas.
Chapter 8 - The Lure of Devils Canyon
Steve Mahay knows the rolling waters of the upper Susitna River perhaps better than any man yet alive. But can even Mahay beat the odds against powering a jet boat up Devils Canyon?
Chapter 9 - Saved by a Bear
A bear is dead, and in the growing snowstorm on the Alaska Peninsula, two men are in danger of dying. In a strange twist, the men turn to their victim for life itself.
Chapter 10 - Three Fateful Days
Amelia Hundley and Evelyn Arbuckle survive the plane crash in the mountains of Southeast Alaska. Now they must survive a desperate trek in search of safety.
Chapter 11 - Seventy Feet Below
Diving for salvage in the waters of Cape Edgecumbe, Scotty Evans makes the biggest mistake of his life: challenging a large octopus in its own element.
Chapter 12 - Left and Lost
Many miles from camp, and suddenly alone in the southcental Alaskan wilderness, Pat O'Donnell believes he'll be okay if he can just find his way back. If's a big if.
Chapter 13 - The Sand, the Wind, and the Waves
A pleasant day of beachcombing is the plan. But the reality for Clyde Dahle is a sudden battle for survival on a cold, windswept, uninhabited island.
Chapter 14 - Precious Cargo
Trapper James Helveg saves a life - and learns that in the wilds of the Alaska Peninsula, there can be something more valuable even than his rich cache of furs.
Chapter 15 - Twenty-nine Hours
They say you'd be lucky to survive an hour in the frigid waters of Cook Inlet. Hank Elmore, watching his boat slip beneath the waves, is about to test his luck.
Chapter 16 - He Drew Me Out of Deep Waters
Sonie Blackwell boards the floatplane that will fly her out of Thomas Bay to find medical help. As it turns out, she should have stayed on shore.
Chapter 17 - At the River's Mercy
A glacier dam of snow and ice bursts, sending a surge of water into the Copper River. The life of Kevin Smith is forever changed as his raft collides with the river's swollen rapids.
Chapter 18 - Take Too Long and Die
In a freak accident, Jim Aronow is dragged beneath the sea by a plummeting anchor. If he can find his knife, he may be able to cut through the line that holds him in a death grip.