I just thought I would pop in to share what I have been reading today online. I started listening to Desert Island Discs this morning and who was the guest? None other than Ben Saunders www.bensaunders.com/... ...-the-cold/ that great Polar Explorer. I quickly called up his website and followed links to Ted Talks, British Exploring Society www.britishexploring.org/ and one or two other sites, which revealed yet another network of explorers in our country namely the cordonrougeclub.com/ Cordon Rouge Club. My point is it lead me to expressing one or two views in relation to what motivates people to explore. What are your views? I decided that there were many objectives besides nature and challenging the self. One such objective was to secure a position in the world and to sustain the self by way of creating personas...I mean the external image is everywhere. Any way, blame the radio show for my thoughts today. They will no doubt be different tomorrow. All the best. Mark.
Curiosity: I like to know stuff. How long would it take to climb that thing? What would the view look like? What's down that dark tunnel? How many marshmallows can I fit in my mouth before I choke on my own vomit?
Bravado: I like to do things that most other people wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't. Hey, I don't apologise for the testosterone that's pumping through my veins. You wanna fight about it? COME AT ME, BRO! *Note: I'm not actually a violent person and I've never been in a fight.
Self-discovery: Is there a less cheesy word for learning about yourself than "self-discovery"? I hope so, but I can't think of it right now. But it's true that you learn a lot about yourself when you're in difficult or stressful situations, out of your comfort zone.
Exercise: One of the most important things in life is to be fit and healthy. Running around the mountains is a good way to do that. Falling from a height, however, isn't. So watch your step!
YouTube: I obsess over how many views my videos get because social media feedback is the epitome of all that is important, and I cry myself to sleep when I receive a negative comment on any of them. Even a thumbs down ruins my whole day. My one aim in life is to be liked by everyone all of the time.*
*That last paragraph may not be true.
I like your thoughts on EXERCISE. I love nothing more than getting a sweat on going up hill or the good cardio sessions it imbues. Being a former athlete I know the benefits and I certainly know the testosterone that permeates the atmosphere. As for CURIOSITY we like to grow, which is only natural, BRAVADO well people can keep it.... I'll walk the other way because I have had fights and the vibration stinks (another story in my own local community) and YOUTUBE well it's awash with competition. I mean purchasing subs, views and likes is epidemic dissolving into dust the reasons we go outdoors for.
HEY....it's in my blood-grandparents twine wearing farmers, dad and Uncle SAS and a family of adventurers leads me to do a lot of it. I suppose the reason I posed the question is because of the apparent self-importance of a lot of people online. You try and express your love for something and yet you have to earn stripes, which I already have done in another life. I think respect for being human should be a standard and not what you have done, who you know and so on. As I say it was on the radio.
And just in case it wasn't clear, I was joking about the YouTube thing :P Although I do like putting little videos onto YouTube (obviously). None of them are ever going to get many views but it's about reaching a minority of relevant people rather than a majority of irrelevant people. If I cared about getting lots of views then I'd start a "prank" channel and harass people on the street. Or I'd learn how to do make-up tutorials. I don't see either happening any time soon.
And people with a sense of adventure have always been the ones who paved the way for humanity. Sure, some (actually lots) have died on the way, but asking "Can it be done? I'm going to find out!" has always been the driving force behind human advancement. I don't claim to be a pioneer of any sort but it's good to have that embedded desire to push things a bit.
3 months after my Op I climbed my first mountain, and haven't looked back.
There is a certain peace on a mountain, that I've never found anywhere else. You can't drive to that spot, you can only find it with your arms and legs.
As for bravado? Yes I am proud of my accomplishments, and showing people videos and photos of me doing things that they'd never even try.
Exercise? I need to do it more. Far more.
A friend asked me after I was wild camping at -4c 'Why on Earth do you do it?'. The only answer I could give him was 'If you have to ask, you'll never understand why'. It's a cliché, but so true.
And things like sleeping out in sub-zero temperatures... it's a funny one, isn't it. On the surface it seems to make no sense to most people but they haven't realised how good it can feel to be outside of your usual comfort zone and think "I can do this!" Plus like you said, the peace and quiet you can get up a mountain by yourself is pretty unique (though you have to choose your mountains. For example, you won't find much of either at the top of Snowdon on a summer's day).
Your spinal injury sounds like it sucked big time but I'm glad you're able to get out and about and still climb. Actually that's another reason to do as much as you can whenever you get the chance. Tomorrow you might be crippled or dead! Huzzah!
Best summiting of Snowdon I've had is when I slept up on Crib Goch and then set off from there to Snowdon at 6am. It was a beautiful sunny blue sky day and there wasn't a single other person to be seen. That has got to be super rare. I had about 20 minutes up there before the next person arrived and even then, after 5 minutes of chatting he left and I was there by myself for another 20 minutes, eating my sandwiches, looking over the lakes thinking "Ooooh hell yeah".
www.outsideonline.co... ...ing-season
Here's the story of that photo.
It's a busy place these days, with 547 people reaching the Summit of Everest in 2012, and 234 on a single day. Not quite the peace and tranquillity I would have hoped for, had I made the trip.
Here's the story of that photo.
It's a busy place these days, with 547 people reaching the Summit of Everest in 2012, and 234 on a single day. Not quite the peace and tranquillity I would have hoped for, had I made the trip.