Aron Ralston Net Worth

What Is Aron Ralston's Net Worth?

Aron Ralston is an American mountaineer, outdoorsman, and motivational speaker who has a net worth of $4 million. Aron Ralston worked as a mechanical engineer at Intel for a number of years before he decided to leave that life behind and move to Colorado to focus on mountain climbing. His goal was to climb the "fourteeners," 59 mountains in Colorado that are all over 14,000 feet high.

In 2005, Aron became the first person to climb all of them solo and in the winter. In 2003, while on a solo climb, he became trapped by a boulder. After five days, Ralston realized that the only way to free himself was to cut off his own arm. He broke the bones of his arm and amputated it using a pocket-knife, then he rappelled down a cliff face and hiked his way out of the canyon.

He published the 2004 book "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" about the ordeal, and it was adapted into the 2010 Oscar-nominated film "127 Hours" starring James Franco. Aron was credited as a writer on the film, which earned him a USC Scripter Award nomination alongside the movie's screenwriters, Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy. Ralston now works primarily as a motivational speaker.

Early Life

Aron Ralston was born Aron Lee Ralston on October 27, 1975, in Marion, Ohio. When he was 12 years old, he moved to Denver, Colorado, with his family. There, Aron studied at Cherry Creek High School and learned to backpack and ski. He earned degrees in French and mechanical engineering from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, and he minored in piano. As a college student, Ralston was a resident assistant, participated in intramural sports, and studied abroad. During the summer, he took a job as a rafting guide. After graduating from college, he spent five years working for Intel as a mechanical engineer in Arizona, Washington, and New Mexico, but he eventually began feeling burned out. By this time, Aron was a skilled mountaineer, and in 2002, he quit his job to climb North America's highest mountain peak, Denali (also known as Mount McKinley). He later relocated to Aspen, Colorado, in pursuit of a life as a mountain climber. There are 59 peaks in Colorado that are over 14,000 feet high, and Ralston made it his mission to climb all of the state's "fourteeners." In 2003, he went skiing on Resolution Peak, Colorado, with his friends Chadwick Spencer and Mark Beverly, and the trio was caught in a Grade 5 avalanche. Though they all survived with no serious injuries, Spencer and Beverly stopped speaking to Ralston after the incident, and he subsequently reevaluated the way he approached risk management.

Canyoneering Accident

On April 26, 2003, Ralston was canyoneering by himself through Utah's Bluejohn Canyon. A Los Angeles Times article described what happened next:

"On the way down, he used rock-climbing equipment to navigate the narrow passages of Blue John Canyon — which in places is just 3 feet wide. After an hour or two, he came to a giant boulder wedged in the canyon, according to [Glenn] Sherrill, the park ranger. Ralston scrambled over the boulder and was lowering himself down when it shifted, pinning his arm. He managed to maneuver his feet so that he was standing upright. But he could not free himself."

Aron's left hand was smashed by the boulder, and his right hand was crushed against the wall of the canyon. He hadn't told anyone where he was hiking that day, and he had no way to call for help. For the next five days, Ralston rationed the small amount of food (two burritos) and water he had brought with him, and he repeatedly tried to get his arm loose, to no avail. He began preparing to amputate his trapped arm at the mid-forearm, but soon realized that his tools were insufficient for cutting through the bones. After he ran out of food and water, Aron had to drink his own urine. He didn't expect to survive another night, so he carved his name, birthdate, and expected date of death into the canyon wall, and he videotaped a goodbye message for his family. When he woke up the next morning, he realized that the trapped arm had started decomposing, and he decided to use torque against that arm to break his ulna and radius bones. After doing this, Ralston used his multi-tool's pliers and a dull two-inch knife to amputate his forearm. The process took an hour, and he made a tourniquet out of tubing from a CamelBak. He then climbed out of the slot canyon, rappelled down a sheer wall measuring 65 feet, and hiked out of the canyon.

After hiking for six miles, Aron encountered Eric, Monique, and Andy Meijer, a family from the Netherlands, and they gave him food and water and alerted the authorities. Ralston had lost 40 pounds during his ordeal, including 25% of his blood volume. He was picked up by a helicopter around four hours after he amputated his arm, and park authorities later retrieved his severed forearm and hand after the boulder was moved by 13 men, a hydraulic jack, and a winch. Aron's arm was cremated, and on his 28th birthday, he returned to the canyon with Tom Brokaw and a camera crew to scatter the ashes.

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After the Accident

Ralston appeared on television programs such as the "Late Show with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Today," and "Good Morning America" after the ordeal, and he was named one of Vanity Fair's "People of 2003" and one of GQ's "Men of the Year." In 2004, he released the book "Between a Rock and a Hard Place," which peaked at #3 on The New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction list and reached #1 in Australia and New Zealand. The book was adapted into the 2010 film "127 Hours." James Franco portrayed Aron in the film, and Danny Boyle directed it. The film earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture of the Year, and won more than 20 awards. Ralston has said that "127 Hours" is "so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama. He continued climbing mountains, and in 2005, he became the first person to climb all 59 of Colorado's "fourteeners" solo in winter. In 2011, Aron competed on the game show "Minute to Win It" and won $125,000 for the charity Wilderness Workshop. That year he also voiced a 911 dispatcher on "The Simpsons" episode "Treehouse of Horror XXII," participated in the reality show "Alone in the Wild," and gave the commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon University's graduation ceremony. Ralston is a motivational speaker, and as of 2009, he was earning around $25,000 for domestic speaking appearances and up to $37,000 for speeches in other countries. In 2007, he spoke at the Swiss Economic Forum about how he "lost his hand, but gained his life back."

Personal Life

In late 2013, Aron and his girlfriend, Vita Shannon, were arrested after they got into an altercation at their home. Charges against Ralston were soon dropped, and after he failed to show up for a court hearing, the charges against Shannon were dropped. The affidavit stated that Aron was "struck twice in the back of the head with fists by (Shannon), after an argument they had regarding the victim's other son." Vita alleged that Aron "shoved her on the shoulder." Ralston and Shannon have a daughter together. He was previously married to Jessica Trusty, and they welcomed a son in 2010.

Real Estate

In 2010, Aaron paid $999,000 for a home in Boulder, Colorado. He appears to still own this home and today it is worth around $2.3 million,

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