It’s so easy to get caught up in the stream of society and
have its currents obscure your values. However, when I head into the mountains,
the realization of the extent of my insignificance sweeps aside the veil to
reveal what is really important to me. Summiting peaks is a way to simplify,
the problems and solutions are clear. It’s a way to unite your awareness to
your frame that is usually so dissociated. It’s a way to test yourself, your
endurance, to push your body to the limits with the power of your mind. It’s a
purely personal achievement, people have been there before and will do so
again, but you did it with your own two feet (and occasionally hands and knees
when it gets rough). I love the feeling of being totally self-reliant, none of
the technology and comfort that numbs us present, only the confidence that I
can survive with the just the gear in my pack. The risk that we assume as we
trek the spines of giants is what makes it worth it, what makes it fun, what
makes you return (i.e. skiing a straightline-into-cliffdrop, running out the
rope on a PG13 climb in Moab, sending a steep line near a cliff biking). For
me, leaving the mountains at the end of an adventure is the hardest part. I’d
much rather squirrel away into the wilderness than return to face the city
mentality of materials, money, gossip, politics… The summit of a mountain is
where I feel whole, strong, and confident, the rugged beauty surrounding and
nothing but me and some badass mountain goats for miles around.
