"Because it's there."

The words of great climber George Leigh Mallory, asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Mt Everest. perhaps the most famous quote ever on climbing, and certainly the one that gets the most play among non-climbers.

In this thread, I will attempt to answer your questions about the craft of moving on technically challenging terrain in the mountains. Rock, Ice, Snow, Altitude...what do you want to know?

I started rock climbing a little over ten years ago, actually the week of the Oklahoma City bombing, by taking four days of lessons with other litsters and great friends atmas and HungryJoe. I started ice climbing maybe a year or two later, and I've been hiking all my life; I've climbed some technical snow and some high stuff. I certainly don't know it all, but I like it, and I like to talk about it.

Ask away.

Mark Twain said that "Golf is a good walk spoiled." Why is this not just as bad?
 
sharpened toenails.
Now THAT'S badass.
Mark Twain said that "Golf is a good walk spoiled." Why is this not just as bad?

It's every bit as bad, except for the heinous poisoning of everything that goes on at golf courses. If you read through the thread, I'm very clear that mountaineering and climbing are inherently selfish acts. Specifically to your question, though, a good walk in the mountains is not spoiled like a walk on the artificially smooth, clear green of a golf course is.
 
Now THAT'S badass.


It's every bit as bad, except for the heinous poisoning of everything that goes on at golf courses. If you read through the thread, I'm very clear that mountaineering and climbing are inherently selfish acts. Specifically to your question, though, a good walk in the mountains is not spoiled like a walk on the artificially smooth, clear green of a golf course is.

LOL I hear ya.
 
I've posted this many times, but I have an old one iron that I carry around with me. Every now and then I stop somewhere and whack a ball or two off into the distance.

THAT'S golf!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/IMG_6057.jpg

Fuck golf! Why would you want to spoil such a beautiful view and moment, by thinking of golf. I envy you having seen that in person. Just think when your time on earth is ticking through its last minute, you can close your eyes and review some of the most beautiful scenes on earth.
 
17 years ago today, atmas, HungryJoe and I were sitting in a diner in North Conway, NH, eating breakfast and watching the news of the Murrow Building bombing. We were taking a day off--it was raining--from climbing school, having been out for two days and anticipating the next two.
 
"When you are in the backcountry, it is just you and the world. It is not you, the world, and your iPhone beeping to tell you that you have an email."

Tuning out
 
Climber falls 150 feet, rescued on Moose's Tooth

A Japanese climber fell 150 feet and spent several hours on Moose's Tooth in Denali National Park early Saturday before being rescued by the Alaska Air National Guard.

The climber, a man who was not immediately identified, had reached the summit of the 10,300-foot peak and was on his way down when one of his anchors came out of the rock, according to a report by the Air Guard. The ascent portion of the climb is called "Shaken Not Stirred," the Air Guard said.

Rest of story
 
If you happen to come to my town this summer

Summer museum exhibits focus on Denali.

"May 1 will bring the start of general climbing season on Mount McKinley and the switch to summer hours at the Anchorage Museum.

Yes, there's a connection.

McKinley -- its history, gear and presence in art -- is the subject of several displays at the museum this summer.

On any given visit to the museum one is surrounded by multiple images of the now-calm volcano that Alaskans prefer to call Denali. The massive Sydney Laurence portrait of the mountain is something like the centerpiece of the museum, but two other Laurence McKinleys stare back at it from an adjacent gallery.

More McKinleys are found in the "Romantic North" exhibit of landscapes by some of Alaska's "old masters." There's one by Ted Lambert and one by Jules Dahlager.

Classic photographs of the mountain are included among the 40 or so pictures in "Bradford Washburn: Glories of the Greatland," which opened on Friday.

"Ascent 20,320: Science on the Slopes of McKinley" documents studies undertaken on the slopes over the past 100 years, what was learned and -- just as fascinating -- what it took to equip and supply such expeditions.

Then there's "The High One: Reaching the Top," something like the curio cabinet of Denali climbs. In addition to photos and moving images, there's a sculpture of the mountain tracing the major routes. Visitors can hoist a wood-frame canvas backpack from 60 years ago and compare its weight with a modern alpine pack. "

etc........

see linkage to full article.....
 
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