International Man of Mystery...

My photo
I grew up in the Boston area and lived there until my junior year in high school when I attended the Mountain School, a semester program run by Milton Academy in Vershire, VT. I then attended Colby College in Waterville, ME. During my time at Colby I studied anthropology, spent a semester in Northeast India, and became fluent in Nepali. Before I became a guide I earned my black belt in kenpo karate and taught karate for 6 years. I began guiding in college on the rocky coast of ME with Acadia Mountain Guides and on ice at the International Mountain Climbing School in NH. After graduating I took to the highway and drove from ME to WA for the big mountains and glaciers. I spend my winters in lovely Ouray, CO guiding in the famous ice park. I am currently working towards becoming a certified guide through the American Mountain Guides Association. I live, work and play in the hills and on the rocks. On the rocks both literally and, well, with ice.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Journey


It may sound trite but mountaineering is about the journey. Don't get me wrong, summiting is fun but the dramatic views are often on the way there. We try to get as many people to the top of mountains like Rainier as we can but sometimes, as one of my colleagues likes to say "it isn't your day."

A climber needs to have a certain amount of reserve energy to get themselves down to the parking lot or to draw on incase of an emergency. For this reason many people decide to turn around before the top. Those people often have just as incredible an experience in the mountains such as watching the sunrise from the top of the Disappointment Clever as those who make it to the top.

The summit is great but it is about the journey.

No comments:

Post a Comment