Summit Journal Chat

Hi Gang! Just dropped in and was caught by the discussion of difficulty - real or vicarious. To my way of thinking - here's the crux. There isn't one - but there are many, though some are more common than others. A minor case study of this comes from one's own reflection on any two or more experiences of the same route, or event, or challenge. Inevitably, all of the experiences that we may have logged are not the same in our perception of quality. I have often marvelled at how something can be so easy in one instance, yet nearly impossible in the next. Mind over matter or matter over mind? Perhaps it's the Gods being more or less indifferent. With few exceptions, most cruces are subject to the vagaries of circumstances, most of which are beyond our control. When we fail to recognize that, mind over matter steps in and we warp beyond our typical selves, in a vain attempt to conform all those vagaries to our view of reality. Were it not this way, I doubt that we would have events such as the Olympics to ponder - or wars for that matter.

And so we go off to conquer mountains, claiming the top as our singular prize - if we should make it. But climbers know it's not about the top. It's about the route and there are precious few of them that will roll over and play dead. Yates and Simpson did a fine job of revealing that to us, but only because they survived to tell it. Mountain climbing is a guerilla war that depends more on stealth than a noisy march to make it up the hill.