Obsession or goals?

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John Duffield

 
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by John Duffield » Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:47 pm

At the age of 19, Steve House was a porter on Nanga Parbat. For the next 15years, he was obsessed with it, until he climbed the previously unclimbed Rupal Face. After that, his life had lost its focus. He seemingly drifts now, in and out of other peoples obsessions.

An objective like that, would seem to require an obsession to "git r done". Otherwise, it's just not going to happen.

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cp0915

 
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by cp0915 » Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:55 pm

rpc wrote:Hi Borut - no, there was one older climber who wanted to touch the summit (he's done the research on the climbing history of this thing...guess he too is obsessed with it :) ) so he jugged our fixed ropes


Trip Report?

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Bob Sihler
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by Bob Sihler » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:08 pm

In general, I'm not too interested in roping up to climb mountains-- too lazy to carry and use the gear, prefer to go light and do what my abilities and guts allow-- but this one is an exception.

Pilot Peak, Wyoming
Image

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John Duffield

 
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by John Duffield » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:41 pm

rpc wrote:Image

4 years of thinking & obsessing about this chosspile. I'd read & reread the FA article from 1941 (had it memorized pretty much)..always getting that warm feeling in the pit of my stomach...I'd look at it while driving by below on the freeway. Study photos of it. Buy gear for it (not trivial to find a single supplier that will sell you 50+ thin/short knifeblades). I could smell the adventure & the moss. I'd wake up one day & think "what's the big fucking deal?"...but then the next day I'd recall the fatalities & be scared shitless.

Why? I dunno.

Mainly I wanted to see what the fuss was about - I mean, 62 years & <20 ascents while being within spitting distance of Portland & I84. It was the best adventures I've had climbing. Did not disappoint - loved it (esp. when it was done). Nothing has done it for me since.


Did I miss something? What is that? I'm getting chills looking at it. Nice clean solid rock makes me feel safe. This loose wet stuff with moss and dirt loaded cracks scares the crap out of me. Get on something and it just starts to slide. Grab at something and it comes away in your hand.

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rhyang

 
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by rhyang » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:01 pm

My obsession is with physical recovery .. getting back as much function as I had before I broke my neck and damaged my spinal cord. I do physical therapy exercises every day, and will probably have to do certain exercises for many years .. don't know.

I know full recovery probably won't happen, but part of the challenge is adapting and working around things that don't work as well as they did before.

I count my lucky stars that I can still walk, hike and climb and that working hard at recovery has yielded results.

Two years ago -

Image

Today -

Image

My next goals are leading 5.8 trad and getting back my lead head for ice climbing.

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by The Chief » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:09 pm

Hey Rob...

You will be able to get your "lead head for Ice" right over here this season..trust me.

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by ksolem » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:14 pm

Rob- seeing those two pictures together like that is nothing less than awesome!

Good job.

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cp0915

 
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by cp0915 » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:20 pm

ksolem wrote:Rob- seeing those two pictures together like that is nothing less than awesome!

Good job.


Indeed. That's awesome, Rob. I'm very happy for you.

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MarthaP

 
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by MarthaP » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:24 pm

Goals tend to be looser than obsessions. I have goals to ski the longboard races at Graegle, finish summitting CO's 14ers, ski a trans-Sierra route over Kearsarge Pass (and scramble the Kearsarge Pinnacles), get a bunch more articles and a couple more books published, build the studio Lolli sketched for me, and get to Europe within the year. And that's just for starters.

My obsession? Recently moved from Daniel Day-Lewis to Viggo Mortensen. :lol:

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rpc

 
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by rpc » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:29 pm

John Duffield wrote:What is that?


St. Peters Dome in Columbia Gorge, OR...."say what??" ...exactly :lol:

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/401215/St-Peters-Dome.html

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by rhyang » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:43 pm

Thanks guys ! Kris, I hope you are doing well these days and looking forward to hanging out with you and the crew some more ..

Rick, a little bird told me that the ice in LVC might be fatter than years past .. :)

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by Grampahawk » Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:47 pm

I though I just had a goal. It is Aconcongua. But I now find that I am obsessed. In addition to hiking in the White Mountains frequently, I usually do 2 trips a year to do something big. This year money was tight so I after I came back fro CO in July I didn't plan another trip. I'm going crazy with the fact that I won't have a big winter trip planned. So I guess I'm obsessed with being cold, tired, hungry, and being able to look down at the world. I MEAN it. I literally can't stop thinking about climbing. BTW- I hate those "back-saver" shovels too.

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John Duffield

 
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by John Duffield » Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:22 pm

Grampahawk wrote:I though I just had a goal. It is Aconcongua. But I now find that I am obsessed. In addition to hiking in the White Mountains frequently, I usually do 2 trips a year to do something big. This year money was tight so I after I came back fro CO in July I didn't plan another trip. I'm going crazy with the fact that I won't have a big winter trip planned. So I guess I'm obsessed with being cold, tired, hungry, and being able to look down at the world. I MEAN it. I literally can't stop thinking about climbing. BTW- I hate those "back-saver" shovels too.


Given my number of FTSs (Failure to Summit) of late, I'm wondering if I need to be obsessed in order to actually summit and am not. I love being in the mountains, but little things, like getting lost, or getting concerned about death or injury at some point seem to intervene. I had a wonderful time on Aconcagua, but wasn't obsessed and when I got frostbitten and one eye started to freeze at 30 below w 50 mph winds, turned back at 6520 M.

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MarthaP

 
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by MarthaP » Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:12 pm

John Duffield wrote:
Grampahawk wrote:I though I just had a goal. It is Aconcongua. But I now find that I am obsessed. In addition to hiking in the White Mountains frequently, I usually do 2 trips a year to do something big. This year money was tight so I after I came back fro CO in July I didn't plan another trip. I'm going crazy with the fact that I won't have a big winter trip planned. So I guess I'm obsessed with being cold, tired, hungry, and being able to look down at the world. I MEAN it. I literally can't stop thinking about climbing. BTW- I hate those "back-saver" shovels too.


Given my number of FTSs (Failure to Summit) of late, I'm wondering if I need to be obsessed in order to actually summit and am not. I love being in the mountains, but little things, like getting lost, or getting concerned about death or injury at some point seem to intervene. I had a wonderful time on Aconcagua, but wasn't obsessed and when I got frostbitten and one eye started to freeze at 30 below w 50 mph winds, turned back at 6520 M.


Perhaps, John, you need to join the Anti-Spray thread over in the Ethics forum. We're all quite proud of our under-achievement! :wink:

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MarthaP

 
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by MarthaP » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:46 pm

Been thinking also, once I get done with everything else, of taking Guy Waterman's approach to the 14ers - climb each of them from the four points of direction. That'd mean over 200 summits, some including some pretty gnarly technical climbing. Could be fun.... :roll:

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