Steve1215 wrote:--
WHEREAS I believe that Ms Hill, with her determination and ultra-athleticism and mental toughness, could somewhat easily duplicate the feats of Mr Ed, if she wanted to...Yes!
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I strongly disagree. Perhaps Ms. Hill could climb all 14 8,000m peaks, unguided, without supplemental oxygen, or perhaps she'd die in short order (which I think is considerably more probable). There's no way to say with any certainty and in either case, it would be far from "somewhat easily" accomplished. Mental toughness, ultra-athleticism and determination are precisely the qualities that get people killed every year in the big mountains, especially the determination part. But the skills that keep you alive in the mountains are not learned by leading a 5.12b on some crag in Yosemite. If you want to shit on being guided to the top of Everest, be my guest, I'm right there with you. Most of the skills needed to safely ascend and descend big mountains will be provided for you by the experienced guide, and yes, in that case it may be as simple as putting one foot in front of the other with "determination, ultra-athleticism and mental toughness". But I take exception to the notion that climbing a mountain in the wilderness (
unguided)is simply a longer, but easier version of climbing a rock pitch. You're comparing apples and oranges and apparently for no other reason than to offend.