The three most important attributes for a mountaineer are
1 - High pain threshold
2 - Bad memory
3 - I forget the third
# of days we were late for our return date registered with the climbing rangers -
# of Pounds lost by Jared in 6 days -
11.5 lbs
# of Crampon Points Broke during the trip -
1 Heel Point, thankfully not that critical on this route
# of Holes in Sleeping Bag -
3 - all small and fixable
# of consecutive days wearing contact lenses (without taking them out at night...) -5 days, would have been all 6 days of the trip, but they froze solid and fell out of my eyes during the blizzard on the summit
# of Blue Bags used and carried off the mountain to Camp Shurman -
4 total, 8 if you count the "double-bagging" method that Dan and I both utilized
# of successful cell phone calls from above 9,000 feet -
4 - gotta love the Motorola RAZR - yeah, they're ubiquitous and somewhat annoying, but the thing works!
# of pieces of gear lost to wind on trip -
For my fellow gear dorks out there, I've posted a thorough gear list and review here for your enjoyment. I'll spare the rest of you.
2 - Bad memory
3 - I forget the third
They also say that we tend to idealize our dramatic experiences, looking back on them thinking something to the effect of - "wow, that wasn't so bad, maybe I'll go do something like that again...", and the more extreme the experience, the more we sugarcoat it in our memories. I have definitely found myself doing this with the Liberty Ridge experience, and the ironic part is, when I was on the climb, freezing, exhausted, and pissed off, I remember thinking - "Bloody Hell, this is really, really crappy, but you know what? I'll probably look back on it and somehow be able to convince myself that it wasn't so bad." Touché, past self predicting actions of future self. I probably will climb some big mountains again. We'll see.
It was extremely surreal getting re-acquainted with society, enjoying the unlimited access to food, water, shelter and warmth. I missed my originally scheduled flight back to Juneau, so I had to reschedule it for Monday night instead of Sunday night, giving me an extra day to hang out in Seattle. I had to return some gear to Dan at his office at REI, and while I was in the store, had the out-of-body experience of overhearing two random REI employees talk about the climb, saying that "Dan, Hooman and some other guy almost died on Mt. Rainier" and went on to discuss the whole incident while I, "some other guy" stood mere inches away, inspecting headlamps and trying not to bust out laughing.
It only took a few days for me to lose the sense of removal from the day-to-day world that I experienced after the climb. It's something I'd like to find again.
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Breakdown by Numbers
# of Feet Ascended -
It was extremely surreal getting re-acquainted with society, enjoying the unlimited access to food, water, shelter and warmth. I missed my originally scheduled flight back to Juneau, so I had to reschedule it for Monday night instead of Sunday night, giving me an extra day to hang out in Seattle. I had to return some gear to Dan at his office at REI, and while I was in the store, had the out-of-body experience of overhearing two random REI employees talk about the climb, saying that "Dan, Hooman and some other guy almost died on Mt. Rainier" and went on to discuss the whole incident while I, "some other guy" stood mere inches away, inspecting headlamps and trying not to bust out laughing.
It only took a few days for me to lose the sense of removal from the day-to-day world that I experienced after the climb. It's something I'd like to find again.
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Breakdown by Numbers
# of Feet Ascended -
9700+ feet
# of days we were late for our return date registered with the climbing rangers -
3 days late - if the cell phone hadn't worked, there probably would have been a search and rescue operation underway by the time we got to Camp Shurman
# of Pounds lost by Jared in 6 days -
11.5 lbs
# of Crampon Points Broke during the trip -
1 Heel Point, thankfully not that critical on this route
# of Holes in Sleeping Bag -
3 - all small and fixable
# of consecutive days wearing contact lenses (without taking them out at night...) -5 days, would have been all 6 days of the trip, but they froze solid and fell out of my eyes during the blizzard on the summit
# of Blue Bags used and carried off the mountain to Camp Shurman -
4 total, 8 if you count the "double-bagging" method that Dan and I both utilized
# of successful cell phone calls from above 9,000 feet -
4 - gotta love the Motorola RAZR - yeah, they're ubiquitous and somewhat annoying, but the thing works!
# of pieces of gear lost to wind on trip -
3 - Dan's sitting pad, Hooman's sleeping bag, and one of my glove liners.
For my fellow gear dorks out there, I've posted a thorough gear list and review here for your enjoyment. I'll spare the rest of you.
"A man does not climb a mountain without bringing some of it away with him and leaving something of himself upon it." — Martin Conway.
