RunOut #45: The Life of Christine Boskoff

In 2006, the news of Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff’s disappearance in Western China pierced through the climbing-media bubble and became a national news event that was broadcast nightly on stations around the country. There was almost a month of coverage about their disappearance until, at last, Fowler’s body was found and it was presumed that both had died in an avalanche.

Charlie Fowler was a climbing legend, who first made a name for himself by soloing the DNB on Middle Cathedral Rock in Yosemite in 1977. He then went on to do the first free solo of the Diamond of Long’s Peak in Colorado. But his grander contributions to the sport spanned the Utah desert-tower scene, as well as in the big mountains of Europe, Patagonia, and the Himalaya.

Chris Boskoff was more of as an 8,000-meter climber and far less of a household name than her partner Charlie—at least in core climbing circles. As is often the case when a team of climbers die in the big mountains, it seems as if more attention gets paid to the most famous and accomplished climber of the team. No judgement there; just an observation.

In this imbalance, however, lies an opportunity for journalists to tell stories that might otherwise go untold. And that’s precisely what has happened with our guest today, Johanna Garton. Johanna has just released a new book called Edge of the Map: The Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff. What’s interesting about this book is not only the timing of its release, almost 14 years after Chris and Charlie’s deaths, but also that Johanna is not a climber. And when perceptive, articulate, and talented people like Johanna peer into our niche world with their outsider perspective, there’s inevitably wisdom that we on the inside will find useful.

This is Andrew Bisharat, and I’m here with my co-host Chris Kalous. And unpacking this outsider wisdom as well as telling stories about an unsung hero’s life is the nature of our conversation today with Johanna. Again, Johanna’s book is Edge of the Map: The Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff, which is available wherever books are sold as well as in eBook and audio book formats as well.

So without further ado, our conversation with Johanna Garton.