Background
Ralston was born on October 27, 1975, in Marion, Ohio, but he and his family moved to Denver when he was age 11. He is a graduate of Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, Colorado. He received his college degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, finishing with degrees in mechanical engineering and French, with a minor in piano. At Carnegie Mellon, he served as a resident assistant, studied abroad, and was an active intramural sports participant. He left his job as a mechanical engineer with Intel in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2002 in order to pursue a life of climbing mountains. He had the goal of climbing all of Colorado's "fourteeners" — peaks over 14,000 ft high, of which there are between 53 and 59, depending upon the definition parameters — solo and during winter (a feat that had never been recorded). He has subsequently achieved this goal.
In August 2009, Ralston married Jessica Trusty; his first child, Leo, was born in February 2010. The couple divorced in late 2012, continuing to reside in Boulder, Colorado.
Read more about this topic: Aron Ralston
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