A Woman’s Place Is On Top
The opening line of Arlene Blum’s book Annapurna: A Woman’s Place reads “You never conquer a mountain. You stand on the summit a few moments, then the wind blows your footprints away.” It’s a wonderful statement because it does not encompass gender or ability. There is nothing to be conquered, only moments to be experienced; it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman. This book shares the experiences of a group of women set out to push the limits that society, at that time, had placed upon women. High altitude mountaineering, still in it’s relative infancy, was having it’s limits pushed by some of the greatest climbers that history had ever seen, all of whom were men. Arlene Blum tried to be part of this exclusive group, at times successful and sometimes being defeated by traditional mindsets; she persevered to attain her dream and hold onto the hope that women could make their mark in this elite club. nothing to be conquered, only moments to be experienced After reading many books written by men it is so refreshing to read a mountaineering adventure from a woman’s perspective. I have read a lot of excellent mountaineering books written by men such as Ed Viesturs, Chris Bonnington, Jim Wickwire, David Roberts, Jon Krakauer, Reinhold Messner and found them very inspiring and well written. However, as a woman I always felt the tales told from the perspective of a man always lent towards the logistic side of the climbs, the technical aspect and the testosterone driven need for success. An estrogen driven adventure is very different indeed. It lends more towards the feelings and the sensitivity felt towards other peoples feelings. So many times throughout the book I could relate to the emotions being expressed, despite not being able to share the exact experience. Told from a woman’s perspective made it very relatable rather than just enjoying the book for it’s narrative quality and adventure. Arlene Blum told it from a very real perspective. I didn’t feel like moments in the book were ever skimmed over or not fully explored even though there were negative moments and feelings of absolute despair. There seemed to be a constant internal struggle within each of the women to deal with the fact that each of them was a woman climber. A constant struggle with wondering if they were fast enough, strong enough and good enough to be part of such a momentous and incredibly difficult challenge. feelings of absolute despair At one moment in the book,Joan who was in charge of calculating the rationing of the food was having difficulty doing the calculations, Arlene says “ …arithmetic is...
I a go to Great Bear: The French Connection
On Family day weekend, 2013, myself and a surly bunch of fellow backcountry recreationists spent a cold, somewhat windy night atop a mountain we had no intentions to be anywhere near. This somewhat serendipitous weekend occurred thanks in large part to my French friend, Mr. Adrien T. (drumroll please) What follows will be less an account of the events from that weekend and more the experiences I had and have gladly had in Adrien’s company. Mountains have the capacity to make people a little crazy in my opinion. If you’ve got even a slightly obsessive or addictive personality then you are going to find a way to feed it in the Mountains. You have the peakbaggers who just have to “collect ‘em all”, the adrenaline junkies, the First Ascentists, those who count every foot of elevation they’ve ever climbed, those who constantly need to push their physical and mental limits (I’d count myself among these) and then you have your Completists, to name a few. I’d define Adrien as a bit of a Completist. He sees beauty in order, organization and structure. How this translates to the Mountains is lists. Lists of peaks, lakes, trails, routes. There is a cornucopia of guidebooks out there on most subjects mountain related. Some use them as a reference, while others see them as a challenge. The challenge to visit all of the respective locales in these books and tick them all off. He’s certainly not alone. I’ve met many people who do this. When I have informed fellow hikers on the trails that I am using a certain book as a reference I’ve been oft posed the question: “how many have you done?”. I have no clue, but I do see the appeal of keeping track, if only to see how I have personally been progressing in my ability and experience. Adrien is working on a few lists at the moment and most trips that he plans tend to be chosen in such a way as to tick off at least one of the places they reference. Which is why it came as some surprise last weekend when he made us aware of a trip he wanted to do that wasn’t in any guidebook that I know of. He wanted to visit a peak accessed from the Coquihalla Hwy named Mount Henning. Adrien organizes like a mutha hubba, I mean he usually has it dialed in up to 11 when it comes to working out distances, weather, gear lists… etc. So when he said he wanted to do a few mellow peaks to do some testing of his new AT Ski setup I agreed. Saturday morning arrived, and in my typically Irish fashion, I was running...
Sky Pilot: Why I Climb
Back in August 2011 I reached the summit of a little peak that sits only a handful of kilometers away from where I live. In a lot of ways this peak, outside of the scrambling and mountaineering community in and around the Southern Coast Mountains of BC, is largely unknown by most individuals. It was unknown to me also until one day I was flicking through the pages of my recently bought copy of Matt Gunns “Scrambles in Southwest British Columbia” in mid 2010. The name “Sky Pilot” instantly stood out. It’s a great name for a Mountain in my opinion and instantly gave the peak a mystique that drew me to want to climb it some day. In many ways climbing Mountains for me is an endeavour to get further away from the comfort and ennui of postmodernity at sea level. The closer I get to the sky above me, the less the trappings of modern life apply, the greater the viscerality of experience. To stand atop this Sky Pilot became a singular focus for me. At the time of discovering this Mountain I could barely hike for 3 sustained hours at sea level. I’d never carried an overnight pack on my back and the word “scrambling” was a manner in which I’d prepare eggs on a Saturday morning, not the homonym for a method to progress over rocky terrain. I knew I had a long way to go before I could hope to safely and enjoyably climb this mountain. An entire year went by. I hiked often and began scrambling to the tops of many peaks in the Ranges close to where I live. But, when I’d stand atop those summits, I’d always scan for the familiar shape of Sky Pilot on the horizon and imagine I was there instead. It is an odd compulsion to be consumed with thoughts about a jutting protrusion of rock and ice. I have spent many an hour trying to understand why some mountains can capture my attention so entirely while others, of no lesser height, difficulty or prowess go unnoticed. Certain mountains get imbued with a personality. I think most people that climb mountains regularly anthropomorphise them a little. They sit like foreboding giants with their shoulders curled away from us. We spend time to get to know their moods, when it seems these Ogres might allow us to reach their summit, and then, as we ascend, gain an intimate understanding about the mountain. Some are not ready to let their guard down and we must retreat, while others welcome us to their top freely. I wanted to get to...
MSR Reactor Hanging Kit: Thoughts on stoves in tents
I recently bought the MSR Reactor Hanging Kit for my MSR Reactor Stove System and had an opportunity to test it out. At this point I guess I need to state that MSR recommends that you do not use their Reactor stove or the hanging kit inside the confines of a tent. For legal reasons I understand why they need to do this, it’s the same reason Q-tips needs to warn on their packaging “Do not insert in ear canal” which I’m pretty sure is the actual use of 90% of Q-tips. It is inherently dangerous and hazardous to operate a canister stove inside a tent. Not only could you melt the tent down around you, the stove is also pumping out carbon monoxide which could kill you. You are also making boiling water in an extremely cramped space, which, if knocked over, could severely scald bare skin. In saying all that, if you are smart, and can effectively mitigate those risks there are benefits to hanging a stove inside your tent. For myself I’d be interested in keeping my stove inside my tent when the weather is extremely bad outside, it’s the dead of winter and extremely cold, outside space is limited (camped on a ledge or ridge crest) or all of the above. The benefits of using the stove in this manner, in my opinion, are: Stove runs more efficiently due to less or no wind and by keeping the canister warmer. Less fuel is needed due to the previous benefit. Heat output by the stove is radiating into the tent raising the ambient temperature. Less body heat is being lost by having to operate the stove outside of the tent and outside of your sleeping bag. More appealing to hydrate. We tend to forget the human factor sometimes. I’ve made the bare minimum amount of water before because I wanted to spend more time in my sleeping bag and less time out in the cold. Making water, especially at higher elevations, can be a pain. Usually by the time you have to make water you are already exhausted and just want to lie down and rest. Being able to rest and have your water boiling makes it more appealing to hydrate more. The better hydrated you are the warmer you’ll be, the better you’ll sleep, the more energy you’ll have the next day… etc. If these benefits seem desirable then here is how I recommend mitigating the risks. Light the stove outside of the tent. Canister stoves can flare up when first ignited. You also don’t want to have a few misfires and fill your tent with gas which will combust when...
One Year Ago: Slalok Mountain
Last December Leigh and I decided to take advantage of a good weather window and make an attempt of the NF of Slalok in the Joffre Group. This was going to be a day trip and it was going to be a long one! The alarm went off at 3:00am and shook me from sleep. I kept thinking it was too early to head out into the cold dark morning, but if we wanted to summit that day and still make it back home in time for a late dinner we need to get out on the road. Hesitantly we got ourselves up, dressed and ready to go. Stepping outside the moon seemed unusually bright, but the fact that we could see the moon would bode well weather-wise for the remainder of the day, so off we went. To save time we decided to skip eating breakfast at home (or making lunch) and go for the traditional Canadian experience and get a drive-thru Timmy’s. Unfortunately as we soon found out they do not serve breakfast before 5:00am, so we ordered bagels for breakfast and bagel sandwiches for lunch(as they didn’t have rolls ready for sandwiches)….mmm this was going to be a bagel filled day. Heading north up the Duffy in the dark the conversation often turned to how tired we felt, how dark it was, how cold it was; but we kept driving. Once pulling into the Joffre Lakes car park, knowing that the estimated temperature for the day was supposed to dip to -20c, we stepped out in the frigid cold and started to layer up. With numbing fingers we both looked at each other and Leigh said “Are you feeling it?” Deep down I thought about the comfort of my warm bed at home and how if we turned around right then I could be back in bed within 2 hours. But I knew I would regret not attempting the peak more than I would regret not getting back into bed, so putting on a brave face I said “Let’s just check it out, we’ll start feeling better once the sun comes up.” The trail to the upper lake was uneventful, just plodding along trying to follow the trail markers in the dark and continually moving forward in hopes of reaching the warmth of the sun. Upon reaching the upper lake we could see some ski tracks headed across the lake tending towards the shore, rather than straight across. It was still early in the season and wanting to save time but still be smart about it, we decided to makes tracks across the lake as close to the shore...
You will never become anything, and that is your reward
To some that title will be shocking. It wasn’t uttered sarcastically either as the above video illustrates. In my opinion it’s actually a pretty hard task to never become anything in our Society. Every decision we make corrals us into a bracket with a series of parameters that need to be adhered to. Every day we work in a given job we become more and more likely to continue to spend our lives working in that same line of work. Fear of insecurity makes us do it to ourselves. In general we don’t like to feel insecure. However, living right on the cusp of my fears and always feeling a little insecure is where I, personally, have found I grow the most. “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” - Helen Keller This brings me to a thought I’ve been having lately in regards to setting goals for oneself. I’ve tried to put some form to it as every time I bring it up in conversation it is met with much consternation. Expect me to revisit the subject in the future. My thoughts are that Goals are a bad thing. But only a particular type of goal. Let me elaborate. The word “goal” has a pretty broad definition. We’re in a New Year now (gosh is it February already!) and people ask “What are your goals for this year, or, your New Year Resolutions?”. For me I’ve got a series of expectations for myself this year. I’d like to do a sustained technical route on a large mountain. I’d like to lead a multi-pitch rock climb. I’d like to get better at Down Hill MTB. There are a few peaks and hikes that I’d like to visit also. There’s also my endeavor to drop my body weight below 170lbs and run in the Squamish50 23km race as written about here So I have a bunch of goals you could say. But why do I want to achieve them? This is the crucial part. I want to achieve them because I believe I will feel more fulfilled by doing so, that it will help me grow as a person and that reaching these goals will be a source of happiness for me. So, in short, for me Reaching Goals = Fulfillment + Growth + Happiness. One problem with the mentality behind setting some goals for ourselves is that we can potentially imprison ourselves within the parameters of that goal. The further away in...
