Читать книгу Edge of the Map. The Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff онлайн

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Aside from the river, perhaps the most noteworthy natural feature in the community is High Cliff State Park. Ten miles from Appleton, High Cliff sits on the shores of Lake Winnebago, a vast body of water in the middle of northeastern Wisconsin. Dotted with limestone cliffs perfect for bouldering, the park became Chris’s destination of choice on trips home to visit her family. Strapping on a heavy backpack to add to the demand on her body, she’d run the ten miles there and back, training for summits of 8,000-meter peaks on the other side of the world.

Proximity to Canada gives Wisconsin natives a distinctive accent. Nasal, sharply articulated phrases are a novelty to those outside the Midwest. Drinking fountains are “bubblers.” Stoplights are “stop-andgo-lights.” Deep-fried cheese curds are as common as french fries and are paired with Friday night fish fries and bottles of locally brewed beer. Chris’s Wisconsin accent never left her, a tribute to the fact that she’d lived in Appleton all seventeen of her formative years. Long after she’d moved away, her love for Wisconsin Danish kringle and the Green Bay Packers remained, as did her strikingly friendly disposition that caused her to drum up conversations on all manner of trails and rocks. Engaging others in pleasant chatter marked Chris as a Midwest girl, while Wisconsin’s frigid winter months left their mark for future climbs by preparing her to endure subzero temperatures.