Why Do You Climb? (in your words)

Article

Images (1)

Comments (41)

Why Do You Climb? (in your words)

Page Type: Article

Activities: Hiking, Mountaineering, Trad Climbing, Sport Climbing, Toprope, Bouldering, Ice Climbing, Aid Climbing, Big Wall, Mixed, Scrambling, Via Ferrata, Canyoneering

Page By: FlatheadNative

Created/Edited: Dec 15, 2009 / Jan 5, 2010

Object ID: 582699

Hits: 8388

Page Score: 92.32% - 38 Votes

Vote: Log in to vote

Why Do You Climb?

Inconserva Photo

This article is to be written by you the reader.

Mountains can challenge us physically, mentally and emotionally the way few other experiences in life do.

Whether the day is spent climbing on a local route or crag or extended days are spent achieving the mountain summit of a lifetime there is something that drives us to rise above our limitations and conquer the challenge.

Why do you climb?

Take a few moments to share your reasons in the comments section.

This is not an opportunity for a Master’s Thesis on the merits of climbing.

It is a chance to share just a few lines about:

Who has inspired you to become a climber?

or

What event lead you to become a climber?

or

Where you were when you decided that you had a passion to climb?

or

Why you have been inspired to gain elevation when most people prefer level ground?.

Images

Comments

[ Post a Comment ]

Viewing: 1-20 of 41

« PREV 1 2 3 NEXT »

Sarah Simon

So many reasons why, where to begin?

Hasn't voted

* To burn off work-related stress.
* To feel one with my natural surroundings.
* To relish the phyisical and mental challenge of getting to the top.
* To enjoy the company of like-minded individuals.
* To feed my goal-oriented personality.
* Because today, I am physically capable of summitting peaks; one car crash or disease later and that capability could be diminished or eliminated.
* Because nothing refreshes me like a long day in the mountains.
* I LOVE returning to work Monday fully exhausted from a weekend in the high country.
* To me, there is nothing so beautiful as mountainous terrain.
* To smile, laugh and cry.
* A bad day in the mountains beats a good day at work.
* What a cure for insomnia!

Ok, I'll stop for now.

Sarah

Posted Dec 15, 2009 10:26 pm

Dean

It's just part of me

Hasn't voted

I've always been attracted to mountains, from the time I can remember. For me, I feel renewal in the mountains, and I can never get enough. Fortunately I have an understanding wife who realizes that this passion burns in me and is helping to keep me young. I'm also a driven person and love to visit and then check peaks off my list, whether or not it is meaningful to anyone else. In fact, most everyone else my age is either playing golf or taking handfuls of medications. No thanks.

Posted Dec 16, 2009 5:48 am

FlatheadNative

I climb..

Hasn't voted

because I must.

Climbing allows me to refresh and renew my spirit and gain a better perspective on what is really important in life. It gives me a reason to train in the off season and maintain health. Climbing also allows me to build friendships with my climbing partners and build memories that I will carry with me when I can no longer climb.

Posted Dec 16, 2009 10:27 am

JimWallace

Climbing

Hasn't voted

I suppose I climb because I'm drawn to the mountains.Sice I was a child I was always interested in the mystique with mountains and wilderness.As there are many highs and lows in life,I feel the great gush of victory upon reaching the summit.Much like that of winning a race or performing on stage or even sex for that matter.

Posted Dec 17, 2009 7:33 pm

Mark Doiron

Very Similar ...

Hasn't voted

Very similar to this ...

Why We Do It

We probably should attach them to each other.

-mark d.

Posted Dec 30, 2009 7:34 am

DTressler

The reason why...

Hasn't voted

I believe George Mallory is credited with the best response:
"If you have to ask the reason why...you won't understand the answer"

Posted Dec 30, 2009 12:17 pm

BigRob

Therapy

Voted 10/10

At first, I was running away from other things. Now, it's how I refuel my spirit. It's also an addiction. Climbing is my only drug. My favorite quote about why comes from Mark Twight: "I do it because I can, I climb because it hurts, that pain gives me perspective....." from Kiss or Kill.

Posted Dec 30, 2009 4:34 pm

Marcsoltan

I climb because...

Voted 10/10

mountains give me life.

Posted Dec 30, 2009 5:59 pm

Nigel Lewis

A few words......

Hasn't voted

From my profile page....

I'm occasionally asked,"Why do you climb?" as if to do so is a strange thing. My answer is always, "Why DON'T you climb?" Some of the best days of my life have been spent in beautiful, far flung places. It has usually been an achievement to get there, both physical and mental, and the trust and friendship built with a person who doesn't just come along for the ride, but often literally ties their life to yours, even if only for a few hours. Why wouldn't you???

N

Posted Dec 30, 2009 7:44 pm

Beanusless	Why I climb
Hasn't voted	The first mountain I climbed was about 12,000 feet, and it was when I was eleven years old. But the thing that really got me into it was when I read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. Climbing is one of the only ways to find peace in this crazy world.
	Posted Dec 30, 2009 11:51 pm

ClimberMan420

I was born to climb

Hasn't voted

I climb because I was born to climb. An enchanting force draws me to the peaks. The valley winds brings fresh mountain energy in to my urban life. Their beauty enriches me and all others who live below them. Up in the alpine, the thick fogs brings me unexpected clarity and when I pierce through that layer of clouds, alone and far from anyone, innerpeace stirs within me. Everyone has a diferent path in life but mine climbs through and among the mountains and deep into the nature that thrives in the valleys below them

Posted Dec 31, 2009 1:54 am

girishaneja

Why I Climb

Voted 10/10

I want to climb. As if the Mountains and I have an intimate relationship. More intimate than I can ever dream of having with a person.
I cannot imagine a more perfect day, the sun plays hide and seek behind the clouds, there is a gentle breeze in air and I’m alone on a Climb. This is as close as I will get to paradise, I’m sure.
To me all the worldly problems disappear when I come to the Mountains. It feels like home. It feels as if life is seeping back into my body ravaged from all the bullshit in life and work. It feels Right.

Posted Dec 31, 2009 3:27 am

GeenaD	A place where I fall in love with Life
Hasn't voted	I climb... because mountains is a place, climbing is a moment, where I fall in love with LIFE......
	Posted Dec 31, 2009 9:28 pm

benjydaniel

the reasons to climb

Hasn't voted

i climb because it's simple
there are no favorites, no ways to cheat,
only the strong thrive, the unfit are weeded out
it is personal, the only barriers are within yourself
when you climb nothing else matters
what we call life takes a break, pressing matters become obsolete
it is invigorating and feels right and natural
it is spiritual, physical, mental,
climbing is real, nature and struggle is real
it contrasts the manufactured fake existence of modern society
climbing is simple

Posted Jan 1, 2010 4:06 am

flow

i have been hiking a little bit...

Voted 10/10

...before 2004.
from january 2004 to june 2004 i've studied for one semester in the south of finland. it was nice to explore the area (russia, latvia...), but it was very flat.
when i came back to austria the mountains where so much higher and impressive that my attitude to them changed entirely!

Posted Jan 1, 2010 12:45 pm

Ejnar Fjerdingstad

Why does one climb mountains?

Hasn't voted

I one saw a British cartoon, where two young men stood gazing at a fabulous mountain scenery, presumably in the Alps. One asks the other, who apparently is a climber, "Why do you climb mountains?". The second says, "If you have to ask now, you wouldn't understand the answer!"

Otherwise, I presumably climb mountains because my father did. Even before I could read, I would spend my time going through his many mountain books, and looking at photos (Grossglockner, The Dolomites, Matterhorn, Berner Oberland, Mont Blanc, Verte and Dru, La Meije, Elbrus and Ushba, Everest and K2, Chimborazo and Aconcagua, Denali etc.) that for one living in rather flat little Denmark (and unable to travel because of the war) seemed to be from another world. When I got older I read the two only mountain books my father had in Danish, his own mountain diaries, and a book by Mozart Cohn on his climbs in the Alps, and later my father's books in English and German, I was especially fond of Luis Trenker's "Meine Berge" (my mountains) with its wonderful (black and white) photos. I could hardly wait till the war was over, and travel restrictions lifted, still I was 17 when I saw my first mountains. They were infinitely larger and more impressive than I could ever have imagined, and I felt somehow like I had come home.

Posted Jan 2, 2010 5:42 pm


	BigRob	Re: Why does one climb mountains?
	Voted 10/10	Incredible story. I hope my children gain interest in the mountains.
		Posted Jan 4, 2010 12:03 pm

Uncleman	I am an explorer. I am an adventurer.
Hasn't voted	Explorer. Adventurer. These words conjure images from a time past. A time when more of the world was unknown. They conjure images of canvas rucksacks, of woolen knickers, of rugged men. Men who fought Mother Nature at her finest, battling the elements and beasts to overcome. Overcome the obstacles of failure. The obstacles of death. Though not long ago, the world then was different. Today, little of the world is available for firsts. First attempts have been made, first ascents have been accomplished. Firsts have come before us, both successes and failures. But there is still much to explore. The world is still full of rugged outback, and even today firsts are available. Firsts for the individual. Our own limits are yet to be explored. We are still adventurers. We can accomplish firsts for ourselves, and have great tales to tell. Great lives to live. Modest trails to technical peaks, Mother Nature continues to challenge us. Continues to issue a gauntlet of element and beast. Gauntlets of failure. Gauntlets to be overcome. I am Hillary. I am Amundsen. Explorer, adventurer. I stand atop a hill, a peak, a mountain and feel the exhilaration of accomplishment, the reward of effort. I am lost in Tolkien, in Verne, in Doyle. The land surrounds me, it is majestic. I climb to defeat evil, I roam to discover, I explore in search of adventure. The world is still new…to me.
	Posted Jan 2, 2010 6:15 pm

oldsnowy

Why climb?

Hasn't voted

I have a feeling that we all climb for the same reason. It's the mountains that call us to find a special place for our strength, our spirit, and our hopes.

Posted Jan 2, 2010 7:55 pm

dclimb14me

...because it's there.

Hasn't voted

This was, of course, Mallory's answer to the press when asked about his upcoming Everest expedition. It is one of my favorite one liners.

I find the movement of climbing to be rewarding. Simple but with an identified purpose. There is a goal that is tangible and easily measured. It reduces everyday noise to a focused act. The camaraderie is unmatched and the rewards clear. The most simple of necessities are earned. The water is better when you have to melt snow and ice, the food the best you'll ever taste when you make the effort for all to contribute to the meal. We realize the ultimate in teamwork and trust, jokes are funnier and sleep is sound. I can't describe to someone who has never made camp at 12,000 feet on a ledge on Rainer what the view is like at sunset. They certainly can't know what it meant to work hours with two friends to level a platform for the tent and a "couch" to sit on and eat dinner. Non-climbers certainly wouldn't appreciate the moment when a rope-mate breaks out in an 80's pop song midway through a tough pitch. Surprise m&m's from the bottom of a pack and tuna fish. Life's simple pleasures are magnified and trivia melts away.

It's a combined effort and individual spirit that rejuvenates us, recharges us, cleanses us. Climbing puts us in places where we can find our own peace.

Posted Jan 2, 2010 11:25 pm

Viewing: 1-20 of 41

« PREV 1 2 3 NEXT »