Thoughts on Mark Twight

[Jkrew81]

Hey all
About a month ago, I bought Mark Twight’s Extreme Alpinism and I was fascinated by it. Not only do I agree with many his ideas on layering and such, I like his approach to just being a more efficient hiker/climber. I am now on the search for related material for new ideas and methods for climbing/hiking/mountaineering. Does anyone have any sites that they goto that show anything of this nature?

By the by, has anyone read this book and if so what are your thoughts?

 

[linehant]

>>has anyone read this book and if so what are your thoughts <<

It's a very good book, IMO. Sort of a stream-of-consciousness discourse that makes for some interesting reading. The "snippet of information" approach stimulates one's thinking on matters of alpinism

And there are lots of useful tidbits on a variety of subjects. In many cases, though, Twight merely reiterates the debate that we all go through and doesn't really provide **the** answer; maybe because there isn't **an** answer to some of these questionis/issues. How much / what kinds of protection to carry on an alpine climb is an example; you certainly don't want to carry a full rack, but how much is enough? In many cases, it's a cooperative decision made by the climbing team.

If one has beaucoup $$$$ to spend on gear... it's possible to acquire all of the high-end stuff that Twight recommends. But for mere mortals there is a necessity of balancing recreational expenditures against the family budget; a $500 Bibler isn't within range for every climber - or sensible if it will only be needed once a year or once every couple of years (and using a Bibler at Dolly Copp seems a terrible waste of an expensive piece of gear). We make do with what we have / can afford.

Keep in mind that most of the techniques 'n stuff that Twight discusses will never be employed by VFTT'ers. Or by NEIce'ers, for that matter. These are truly "next level" climbs that Twight is discussing and for which he is prep'ing his readers. But it's still a fun, and useful, read.

 

[Jkrew81]

Agreed

I agree that most of this book does not apply to most of us here including myself, but from reading though that book I found more effective ways to spend my winter in the whites. While for most of us here the most extreme we get is to do a winter presi traverse, we can learn alot from people who push the envelope abit farther. Being the loser I am have taken a closer look at what I need for my winter excursions and have trimmed by pack down to 30lbs including food, tent, sleeping bag etc. While yes I will not be as comfortable as those who carry 60 lbs packs with -40 sleeping bags, it does provide the safety of not killing yourself hauling something that large (been there done that, no thanks). As for the whole $$ thing I do realize my gear budget is slightly different from others in that I am young, unmarried and only have to worry about rent, school loan, food and car. Though I must explain that I would not have, 1/2 of the nice gear that I do have if I had never had ProDeals from REI from when I worked there is college.

PS: thanks for all of you who participated in our Car discussion yesterday, it was very interesting. While yes that discussion does belong in another chat room, I cannot think of anything else right now that is going to have a bigger influence on my hiking than the ever increasing gas prices. Who thought that one day driving to NH would actually be a monetary decision?

 

[DougPaul]

Don't forget that Twight is in a position where he can get new equipment for each climb from manufacturers. Thus he can use the lightest weight gear with far less attention to durability than those of us who must buy our own gear.

He is a very fit and skilled mountaineer who is also willing to go much closer to the edge than most of us.

His techniques are interesting, but IMO need a bit of tempering before they are useful to the ordinary hiker.

Old saying:
There are old mountaineers and bold mountaineers, but very few old and bold mountaineers.

Doug

 

[Mike P.]

15 years ago, IMO if you had put together a Dead Pool for the top mountaineers, Twight probably would have made many lists, while Alex Lowe mat not have made many.

Historically thought of as being kind of out on the fringe, many others have died & Twight has thrived. (IMO thriving in the high end of mountaineering = living) He seems to be gong more by Mark Twight Vs. one of his other aliases, Dr. Doom.

I do respect anyone who (if even for a boot ad) says that carry in/carry out also means your fingers & toes, parts which some seem to write off in high altitude mounatineering. I'll likely have something of Twight's on my reading list for Christmas

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Read many of Twight's earlier essays, in "Climbing" and "Rock and Ice" magazines and the American Alpine Journal, and you will realize why one of his alias's is "Dr. Doom," noted above. But, he certainly knows when to "hold 'em" and when to "fold 'em" (i.e., continue or back off), as he is to extreme alpinism as Ed Viesturs is to Himalayan mountaineering, although Ed is probably more lacking in the lunatic psyche.