More Twight
February 9, 2008 | Filed Under Exercise, Climbing, Heroes | Leave a Comment
“I spent twelve weeks on crutches after knee surgery. During recovery I surrounded myself with wanna-bes, pretend-to-bes, has-beens and never-will-bes. I met people who wasted their talent or were afraid of it. They taught me why I hadn’t become a good climber. Like them, I was afraid to succeed, scared to commit. I didn’t want to be any better than anyone else. Eventually, I sickened of people, myself included, who don’t think enough of themselves to make something of themselves, people who did only what they had to and never what they could have done. I learned from them the infected loneliness that comes at the end of every misspent day. I knew I could do better.”
Extreme
November 21, 2007 | Filed Under Heroes | 5 Comments
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.
Many happy returns
November 13, 2007 | Filed Under Heroes | Leave a Comment
I never knew I shared a birthday with Norman Mailer. Too late now.
Fug me.
Words to measure yourself by
October 29, 2007 | Filed Under Climbing, Inspiration, Heroes | Leave a Comment
I read an interview with Reinhold Messner today, and these quotes won’t stop going round my mind:
I was the first man to climb the world’s 14 tallest peaks without supplementary oxygen, but I never asked how high I would go, just how I would do it. Climbing is more of an art than a sport. It’s the aesthetics of a mountain that compels me. The line of a route, the style of ascent. It is creative.
I put myself in the position of being at the end of my life looking back. Then I ask myself if what I am doing is important to me. Now that I’m nearing 59, I understand that failing is more important than having success.
If you look at my life, then one thing is clear. I did one activity at a time, with all my willpower, all my money and all my time. Complete commitment.
Reinhold Messner
Why
May 20, 2007 | Filed Under Hiking, Climbing, Inspiration, Heroes | 1 Comment
Mark Twight puts it better than I ever could,
I learned that the summit is of little relevance to me. I value the experience and the changes in my character that each experience imposes… These days I could care less about the grade of a route or whether I succeed or fail. What takes place in my mind is primary.
I believe climbing mountains changed me for the better. But climbing itself has no value, and is only given worth by what each individual is willing to commit to it.
