Throwing Hope
From heartbreak to hope, from shattered dreams to the gold medals, Throwing Hope is the story of one man’s lifelong pursuit to master not just his sport—but himself.
Gordon McArthur’s journey began like many others: a kid searching for purpose in a world that seemed determined to break him. Raised amid chaos, pain, and uncertainty, he learned early what it meant to fight through darkness. What he didn’t know was that those same battles would become the foundation for a life defined by resilience, faith, and the relentless pursuit of what others called impossible.
As a professional climber, Gordon learned that mastery isn’t about winning—it’s about feeling. Through the extremes of ice and mixed climbing, through victories, failures, and the isolation of chasing greatness, he discovered that emotion, not talent, was his greatest strength. His raw passion became both his weapon and his teacher, leading him into moments of pure flow—where fear dissolved and purpose took over.
But success came at a cost. Behind the podiums and sponsorships were years of sacrifice, guilt, and heartbreak. Missed birthdays and anniversaries. Silent nights away from home. The quiet ache of knowing that ambition can both build and break you. Through devastating loss—the death of his brother, close friends, tragic accidents—Gordon’s world was shattered again and again. Yet through each tragedy, he found new strength in connection, in love, and in community.
At its heart, Throwing Hope is a book about perseverance. About what it means to keep moving when everything inside you says stop. It’s about learning to harness emotion instead of being ruled by it. It’s about finding balance between passion and peace, between the dream and the people who make it worth dreaming. To know that hope is always there, if you just turn on the light.
Gordon shares the hard truths of professional sport—the cost, the solitude, the unseen battles—and the redemption that comes from choosing integrity over ambition. Through powerful storytelling, he reminds us that mastery is born from struggle, and that greatness doesn’t live on the podium—it lives in the courage to finish, no matter how long the road or how heavy the climb.
Because in the end, we all carry our own impossibles—our fears, our losses, our unfinished stories. And yet, if we lead with heart, if we believe in what seems unreachable, we discover the same truth Gordon has lived his whole life: That the impossible was never meant to stop us...
It was meant to show us who we are.
REVIEW
I’ve been trying to figure out what to say since I finished Throwing Hope, and every compliment feels inadequate. I read all 371 pages today. I laughed. I cried. I stopped more than once just to sit with what I’d read. Some of the photography took my breath away.
What struck me most wasn’t the championships, the climbing, or the incredible accomplishments. It was the honesty. The courage it took to put some of the most painful parts of your life on paper and invite people into them.
I recognized pieces of the young man I knew all those years ago, but I also got to witness the journey between then and now. That’s what stayed with me.
There were passages that felt less like reading someone else’s story and more like looking into a mirror. Different roads, different battles, but so many of the same themes: grief, resilience, carrying weight, getting back up, raising children, rebuilding, and finding peace after chaos.
When I reached the final page, I wasn’t ready to be finished. My first thought was that I wanted to start over and read it again because there’s so much depth in these pages that I know I only absorbed part of it on the first pass.
One line that keeps echoing in my head is: “Greatness lives in choosing to stay human.” I think that’s what this book is really about.
Thank you for being brave enough to tell the whole story—the victories and the wounds that came with them.
-Dianne Mason
"At its heart, Throwing Hope is a book about perseverance. About what it means to keep moving when everything inside you says stop. It’s about learning to harness emotion instead of being ruled by it. It’s about finding balance between passion and peace, between the dream and the people who make it worth dreaming. To know that hope is always there, if you just turn on the light."