Watch Speaker

Bio

Aron Ralston’s extraordinary story of survival after an 800-pound boulder trapped him in a remote Utah canyon captured global headlines in 2003. In his New York Times best seller, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, the Oscar-nominated film, 127 Hours, and on stage, Ralston takes audiences vicariously through those six days without water, means of communication, or hope of escape, to the ecstatic moments when he freed himself by severing his own arm.

Following a miraculous rescue spearheaded by his mom and with the aid of prosthetics he helped design, Aron returned to his outdoor passions, completing elite mountaineering projects which remain unrepeated even to this day. He has interviewed with Tom Brokaw, David Letterman, and Jay Leno, and received standing ovations and industry-leading testimonials from over five hundred groups around the world. Attendees credit Ralston’s story with encouraging them through disease, disability, and loss, even saving their lives from suicide and depression.

Aron’s incredible triumph in the face of insurmountable odds inspires audiences to harness the power of their deepest motivations, relationships, and mindset to transform personal and professional “boulders” into their blessings. Today, Ralston continues to pursue high-altitude adventures, advocates for wilderness protection, and tries to keep up with his two spirited children, Leo and Elisabetta.

Keynote Topics

Keynote : Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Turning Adversity to Advantage

"You know me as the guy who cut his arm off. But this is the story of the guy who was smiling when he cut his arm off," explains Aron Ralston, who faced 6 days of unimaginable adversity with surprising gratitude. An extraordinary example of the human spirit pushed to the extreme, Aron's legendary tale of survival and post-traumatic growth personifies resilience, perseverance, and the power of our minds.
Using evocative detail and bright humor, Ralston captivates and transports audiences into the intense darkness of his entrapment, through to the euphoric release of his amputation. In his adept storytelling, the boulder that crushed his arm becomes a metaphor for the adversity we all experience in our personal and professional lives. Aron urges us to reframe those challenges as the crucibles which clarify what's important to us and what's possible for us. Ralston's thesis is that, while we can't always control what happens to us, we can control how we respond, and he openly shares how that philosophy guided him through his recovery in 2003, as well as his later experiences with depression and divorce, and, more recently, the death of his father.
Aron teaches simple steps for embracing a crisis, rather than resisting it. He reminds us to breathe deeply and connect with our most profound motivations — not just the will to live, but the will to love — in order to find our courage. Ralston emphasizes how compassionate accountability for our mistakes enables us to choose a future of growth, resilience and thereby discover gratitude for the hardship we encounter, as it can both strengthen and soften us. At a time when life's boulders are more intense than ever, Aron Ralston helps us each find the possibility in our problems, the transformation in our traumas, and the blessings in our boulders.

Call or text Neal at (720) 498 -3275 or email neal@infinitespeakers.com to place a calendar hold for Alex or book him now for your next event.