Mountain climbing is a rugged and exciting challenge to a person’s physical conditioning that can provide a sense of reward and fulfillment that is literally unparalleled in any other outdoor sport. This series is dedicated to getting you motivated, geared up, and up the mountain.
The Mystique and Draw of Earthly Elevation
Mountain climbing elevates far more than your physical body as you trek along lengthy trails, and then on to unstable rocky footing, with an impossibly far-looking summit looming in the distance as your goal. But the thrill of overcoming all those challenges to reach the stunning vantage point from a peak is second to none. Let us begin with why such journeys should be undertaken, and then we’ll move into the specifics of how in subsequent articles. Throughout the history of the world, it has been the well-conditioned, hardy souls that have made it to the top of peaks, in their lands, as a testament to the fortitude and tenacity of what it means to be a persistent human with great potential.
Legends of bravery and stories of enlightenment often originate from people’s trips to the summits of mystical-looking mountain ranges all over the globe. This is probably owing to the fact that although towering mountains are arguably the most gorgeous geological features that adorn our planet, they are also the most dangerous places as well. Humans tend to project their own lofty ideals on the dazzling horizon that a mountainous region creates.
Jesus beat the devil on a ridge top overlooking the far reaches of the land, mountain tops figure prominently in accounts of the Buddha, and Chief Plenty Coups had a prescient vision of all the buffalo one day disappearing from the plains right here in Montana, atop Crazy Peak. Along with all the ancient tales of ascending to the heights of our human capacity, there are still plenty of amazing feats and triumphs that take place on mountain tops today as well. Read a great story right on our site entitled Disabled Mountaineering: Reaching Mount Everest Summit as a Double Leg Amputee .
Answer the Call from On High Despite the Challenges
What is the reason for all the mystique and respect the world’s people have always had with mountain climbing? They are multifold, but mostly associated with the strength, endurance, and skill that it takes to traverse great distances, on ever increasing steep slopes, with unpredictable and tempestuous weather always looming as a possibility. Mountains create their own weather patterns that can be a very serious and even deadly force to be reckoned with.
The high winds alone can wear on a person’s psyche. Just like the infamous Sirocco winds of the Mediterranean, known to drive some people crazy, high altitude and wildly-whirring winds are constant reminders of nature’s fury and can have a profound psychological effect on people. The sheer force can make you feel like you will be blown right over the side. When you add precipitation in the form of driving rain, hail, snow, and sleet, it only becomes more demanding of virtually every function of your body and mind. Another outstanding and challenging outdoor sport on this kind of terrain that might interest you is covered in an enlightening series about Mountain Biking. These two activities complement each other and only add to your level of conditioning.
All of this talk about mountaineering will create an appeal to those that feel the call and those that forgot what it means to rise to the occasion, but want to feel it again. This pursuit, combining dogged determination and well honed physical conditioning (especially endurance), isn’t for the faint-hearted. But you might just feel something akin to ecstasy that you never felt anywhere else. The mountains just do that to some of us. I’d say it’s something like coming home to unconditional splendor for the first time, every time. Next, we will cover how to begin. Then deeper into the series, you’ll learn about conditioning, as well as the tools and gear that becomes a necessary part of this outdoor sport.
Sources
Traditional Mountaineering https://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/Reviews.htm
Graydon, Don. Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (7th Edition). Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2003.
