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& abottrell@nptelegraph.com

& Aron Ralston, whose experiences were the inspiration for the movie "127 Hours," spoke at the Town Hall Lecture Series Monday at the Neville Center downtown.

& In 2003, while hiking in Bluejohn Canyon in Utah, a boulder dislodged and fell on Ralston's arm, trapping him. Ralston was pinned for nearly six days, before he amputated his own arm, and was later rescued by a family hiking in the wilderness.

& Now, Ralston uses his experience to inspire others. He said he hopes to continue to touch people who go through loss and grief, with his story.

& "We can make our boulders into blessings," he said.

& What happened to Ralston in the Utah wilderness could have been a tragedy, but he said he chose to make it a positive thing in his life, calling it the best thing that has ever happened to him.

& "We all need to be encouraged from time to time," Ralston said.

& Ralston said everyone goes through adversity, but how that adversity is handled is most important.

& Ralston penned "Between a Rock and a Hard Place," describing the events, which became a New York Times Best Seller, and in 2009 was turned into an Oscar-nominated movie, "127 Hours" starring James Franco as Ralston.

& "The movie, which I felt was very authentic and powerful, was a way to show my story to the general public," Ralston said.

& He said it was just one more way to spread his message.

& "I can use this notoriety to do something beneficial for this planet," he said.

& Ralston said one of the first questions he is always asked is what he thought about for the six days he was pinned beneath the boulder. He said he understands the curiosity, because he was always curious about what people thought of when they were in dire situations.

& "I found out an answer to a curiosity I had," he said. "[I didn't think] about a list of accomplishments, [I thought] about the people I knew."

& Ralston said it was the thought of his loved ones and the people he'd met and had relationships with that allowed him to survive. An avid outdoorsmen, Ralston was prepared for just about any situation, but it was the people he knew that drove him to survive.

& "All of [my preparation] was important. Most important was the connection with my loved ones," Ralston said.

& He said there was a soulfulness to the situation.

& Ralston was born in Ohio and moved to Colorado in 1987, where he began his love affair with the Rocky Mountains and adventuring in the wilderness. He called his passion for the outdoors an obsession, saying that after the accident, it made him feel invincible.

& "This accelerated me," he said. "If this didn't stop me, what can? I found myself pushing much harder."

& Ralston climbed all 53 of Colorado's 14,000-foot high mountains during the winter, the only man to accomplish that feat, skied from the top of Denali in Alaska and has rowed the Grand Canyon.

& He has also visited the highest points in all 50 states, including Panorama Point, the highest point in Nebraska, in Kimball County near the Colorado and Wyoming borders.

& The Boulder, Colo., resident said he's much calmer now that he is married, and has a child. He said that has made him stop to think about where he is and what he is doing when in a dangerous situation, rather than always pushing on, as he had before.

& "Now, it's much more about getting back to my loved ones," he said. "I find myself being much more cautious than I was in the past."