Extreme

November 21, 2007 | Filed Under Heroes 

There’s a great article in this week’s Forbes Asia about Kristen Ulmer, the extreme skier who was voted one of the ten in the world “most likely to die”. She didn’t. But she came close on a few occasions.

Once I was cartwheeling towards a bottomless crevasse and pulled up 10 feet shy in a burst of adrenaline and an internal scream of “Noooo!”.

I don’t consider it a true near-death experience unless you give up. If you go limp and prepare to die, then you are facing death.

Comments

5 Responses to “Extreme”

  1. George Baptista on November 21st, 2007 4:16 pm

    Hello there, I found your blog while doing research on Tsurugi. You have some very impressive photos and stories! I also do some hiking in Japan, but the winter is when I really get excited (I do mostly backcountry boarding). Looking forward to hearing more about your trips here.

  2. cjw on November 22nd, 2007 3:46 am

    Thanks George - Tsurugi was great, looks like the east side of the mountain and down the glaciers could be a lot of fun in the winter. The guys at the hut told me that the route from Jigoku-no-tani up to Mt Bessan and along to Tsurugi would be pretty much impassible when more snow fell. Most people who go up there from Dec onwards go via Hayatsuki-one (like these guys http://www.tam.ne.jp/seil/newpage4.htm).

    I took a look at your site - that Yari trip looked outstanding!

  3. George Baptista on November 22nd, 2007 10:10 am

    The Yari/Hotaka area has some great lines definitely! This year we will try winter-camping and attempt some extended trips around Kamikochi in early April, but usually we are based in Yuzawa and the surrounding area (Tanigawa-dake, Makihatayama, etc). If you read Japanese and are interested in ski-moutaineering or ski-touring, a great resource is the Yamaski-ML.

  4. fernando vilarinho on November 27th, 2007 2:46 am

    Hello!

    take a look (not mine)
    http://pureland.blogspot.com/

    and congrats to your blog

  5. cjw on December 3rd, 2007 12:24 pm

    Hi Fernando - thank you for the kind words and the link!

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