not without peril

[rocket21]

For those of you who enjoyed the book, Nicholas Howe writes a week column for the Conway Daily Sun (www.mountwashingtonvalley.com). His columns range for hiking to skiing to the Olympics (his personal experiences) and are rather interested. I haven't found a consistent day in which they're published, but they appear on the Editorial page with his photo.

 

[--M.]

Hey, thanks for the local flavor, rocket21!

I read this book a few years ago and it still sticks with me, especially (I've found) when I'm on one of the routes in question. This year, that meant Madison Hut and Macdonald Barr.

Oddly, it doesn't strike me as morbid or down to think of these people and incidents while I'm out there: Howe has given their experiences relevance as cautionary tales, and I appreciate them as teachers and coaches. I tried to imagine being that close to the hut in those conditions, and was grateful when I got back to camp that night.

Thanks, Neil!

 

[woodstrider]

Not without...

Listen guys

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread and this website in general.

I have read the entries and found insight and information in each one.

There is a need for those of us who enjoy the experience of mountains to be in contact with each other, 'cause let's face it.. talk to someone with little or no experience and they just write us off as thrill and death seekers who haven't the judgement that God gave a grasshopper. When, indeed, they can't be more wrong. For we make many many decisions concerning our choosen sport and we base those decisions on experience and knowledge and ok, I'll admitt it, sometimes on that "old feeling" (remember the guy who got out of line in the book "Into Thin Air", who decided not to try for the summit that day..?).

Websites like this are vital and an open door to communication. So, thanks.

Climb On!!!

 

[WinterWarlock]

'cause let's face it.. talk to someone with little or no experience and they just write us off as thrill and death seekers who haven't the judgment that God gave a grasshopper. When, indeed, they can't be more wrong.

I recently found a great quote from Lisa Morgan on that subject that would be a good response to those naysayers...

"The bizarre trend in mountaineers is not the risk they take, but the large degree to which they value life. They are not crazy because they don't dare, they're crazy because they do. These people tend to enjoy life to the fullest, laugh the hardest, travel the most, and work the least."

or more to the point, from Jochen Hemmleb, who was on the '99 Expedition to find Mallory and Irvine:

"I don't think climbers climb to risk death; I think they climb to prove to themselves that they are not already dead"

 

[Tony]

?

So Neil, what caused you to resurrect this 3-year-old thread?

Just curious,
Tony

 

[Neil]

So Neil, what caused you to resurrect this 3-year-old thread?

Just curious,
Tony

Because I am a member of the dead thread society.

Actually, I just finished reading the book and decided to google Jeremy Haas. The name rang a bell and I knew it had nothing to do with the Whites.

When I entered "Jeremy Haas" Derek the number one hit was this thread.

The book and thread are everlastingly pertinent so I posted.

Btw, I've done my share of hiking, winter camping in very cold weather, bushwhacks, big scrambles in the Rockies and so on but I've never come face to face with anything like the conditions described in the book. I have a great deal more respect for hiking in the Presis now than before the reading.

The most amazing tale was that of Dr. Ball. The guy was a true survivor, never lost it.

 

[Snowflea]

Dr. Ball

Special equipment required: Umbrella

As for resurrection of the thread, personally I enjoyed rereading RGF1's posts...