According to a recent review conducted by a panel of experts in charge of global weather and climate extremes within the WMO Commission for Climatology (CCl) the record of wind gusts not related to tornados registered to date is 408 km/h during Tropical Cyclone Olivia on 10 April 1996 at Barrow Island, Australia.

The previous record was of 372 km/h, registered in April 1934 across the summit of Mount Washington, USA.

The panel came to its conclusion after an extensive review and evaluation of instrumental, phenomenological and statistical data.

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are different terms for the same weather phenomenon which is accompanied by torrential rain and maximum sustained wind speeds exceeding119 kilometers per hour. A hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds exceeding 249 km/h is referred to as Category 5

www.wmo.int

http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/infonotes/info_58_en.html

http://wmo.asu.edu/

WMO fact sheet

Mount Washington - World Record Wind

During a wild April storm in 1934, a wind gust of 231 miles per hour (372 kilometers per hour) pushed across the summit of Mount Washington. This wind speed still stands as the all-time surface wind speed record. Below are excerpts from then-observer Alex McKenzie's book “The Way It Was” which accounts in detail the experience of documenting and living to tell the tale of a 231 mph wind.

Tuesday, April 10, 1934

The sun rose on April 10, 1934, ushering in a typical April day atop Mount Washington. Normally, the rest of New England welcomes the warmth of spring during a typical April, but winter keeps hold on the high peaks of New Hampshire's Presidential Range well into May in most years.

The staff at the fledgling Mount Washington Observatory, including Salvatore Pagliuca, Alex McKenzie and Wendell Stephenson managed to make it through their second full winter on the mountain. However, they were anxiously awaiting the coming of spring, with its more moderate temperatures and wind. Before the week was out, those men would not only get another severe taste of winter, they would be a part of one of the most intense storms in recorded history.

April 10 was the tight-knit summit crew's first day without Robert Stone, one of their coworkers, who was injured in a skiing accident. He was taken down the mountain on a toboggan on April 9 to seek further medical attention on his severely bruised hip. Down a man, they would have to get by on their own for a while, with some help from their guests, Arthur Griffin and George Leslie.

On this April Tuesday, a weak storm system located over the western Great Lakes was slowly approaching New England. In addition, another batch of energy was located off the coast of North Carolina. Even more importantly, a huge ridge of high pressure was in place over eastern Canada and the northern Atlantic. On the summit of Mount Washington, April 10 was uneventful.

"April 10. A perfect day. Cloudless and calm. Hazy. Sun dogs at 5:30 p - a refraction phenomenon of no special importance." - Log Book entry, Sal Pagliuca

Wednesday, April 11, 1934

The large ridge of high pressure continued to build on April 11, causing a major blocking pattern over the ocean. As a result, the energy east of the Carolinas was forced to retrograde to the northwest, combining with the developing system over the Great Lakes.

Pagliuca, Stephenson and McKenzie, along with their guests, awoke to a brilliant sunrise early on April 11. The coal stove in the Auto Road's Stage Office (the Observatory's early home) took the chill off the room.

"Hardly did we realize as we were enjoying a fine view of the Atlantic Ocean that we were to experience during the next 48 hours one of the worst storms ever recorded in the history of any observatory." - Log Book entry, Sal Pagliuca

The relatively clear skies gave way to clouds, increasing rapidly by afternoon. Fog obscured the summit by evening and rime ice formed up to one foot thick. The Observatory felines all huddled near the coal stove in the late afternoon, the warmest spot in the tiny building. Cats were at home around the Observatory in 1934, as they are today. Oompha and her five kittens; along with Ammonuisance, visiting from the AMC's Lakes of the Clouds hut; Elmer, the timid one; and Manx, a tailless cat like Tikky from the first winter atop Mount Washington, all kept the summit crew company.

With high pressure building more and more to the north and east, and the low pressure becoming stronger to the west, an abnormally tight pressure gradient was forming to the north and east of the storm system. Pressure gradient is the change in pressure over some distance (either horizontally or vertically) with respect to a point in space. A tight pressure gradient results in air rushing quickly from high to low pressure.

"The meteorological notes for today do not say much. They only show a falling pressure, normal temperature, generally in 'rough frost forming' clouds, and rapidly increasing wind. Yes, rapidly increasing to values never dreamed before." - Log Book entry, Sal Pagliuca

At this point, winds on the summit were building stronger, reaching a max of 136 mph. Although well above hurricane-strength, there was no need to have the staff maintain a wide-awake, round-the-clock watch. Stephenson volunteered to take the overnight shift, since Pagliuca enjoyed taking the morning measurements and McKenzie was responsible for hours of radio tests throughout the day.

Thursday, April 12, 1934

"There was no doubt this morning that a super-hurricane, Mt. Washington style, was in full development." -- Log Book entry, Sal Pagliuca

After taking a short nap, Stephenson awoke to find that it was 4:00 am. Although groggy, he knew that the wind sounded louder and stronger, so he checked the recorder. He needed to convert the recorded reading to the true value according to the instrument's correction curve, and some quick math pointed to an average windspeed of only 105 mph. It was clearly less than he expected. This meant one thing-the instrument was hampered by ice buildup.

Stephenson suited up, grabbed a wooden club and headed for the door. The intense wind created so much pressure that he was knocked to the floor as he opened the door. He struggled as he made his way to the ladder. The wind was at his back, and actually helped him maintain solid footing on the ladder. With dozens of blows, he cleared the accumulated ice from the anemometer. He dropped the club by accident, and it sailed off into the fog towards the Tip Top House.

Back inside, he flipped on the recorder and began timing the clicks from the telegraph sounder. After three tries, he verified that the wind now topped 150 mph.

The pieces were coming together for a major weather event. On this day, the ridge over the Atlantic and the storm over the eastern Great Lakes had become even stronger. More importantly, the pressure gradient between these two systems was extremely tight on the northeast portion of the low. This was causing very strong and extremely rare southeast winds.

"I dropped all other activities and concentrated on observations. Everyone in the house was "mobilized' as during a war attack and assigned a job. The instruments were watched continuously so that they may give a continuous and accurate record of the various meteorological elements at work. The anemometer was particularly watched. A full tank of gasoline made us feel good." - Log Book entry, Sal Pagliuca

As the day wore on, winds grew stronger and stronger. Frequent values of 220 mph were recorded between Noon and 1:00 pm, with occasional gusts of 229 mph. Then, at 1:21 pm on April 12, 1934, the extreme value of 231 mph out of the southeast was recorded. This would prove to be the highest natural surface wind velocity ever officially recorded by means of an anemometer, anywhere in the world.

"'Will they believe it?' was our first thought. I felt then the full responsibility of that startling measurement. Was my timing correct? Was the method OK? Was the calibration curve right? Was the stopwatch accurate?" - Log Book entry, Sal Pagliuca

Extremely strong winds were recorded later in the afternoon and evening of the 12th and then the storm slowly moved north and entered a weakening phase.

The storm lasted only one day. Some snow was recorded along with severe icing. The anemometer used to record the record wind was a heated anemometer designed special for Mount Washington. It was constructed in Cambridge MA, and tested in the wind tunnel at the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.

After the wind measurement, the anemometer was run through a number of tests by the National Weather Bureau and the historic measurement of 231 mph was confirmed to be a valid reading.

Although challenged by 1997's Typhoon Paka in Guam, Mount Washington's record still stands to this day.

What the World Record Means

On April 12, 1934, the highest surface wind measured anywhere on earth was clocked by the staff of the Mount Washington Observatory. This "World Record Wind" of 231 miles per hour has become the stuff of legend, but what is the meaning of that decades-old record today?

First and foremost, the World Record Wind is a testimony of the real extremes that can rule on Mount Washington. Significant cold, abundant snowfall, dense fog, heavy icing, and exceptional winds are a prominent feature of Mount Washington's environment. Yes, there are colder places, such as Antarctica, and snowier places, such as some peaks in the Cascade Range. However, Mount Washington, a small peak by global standards, really does have weather that can rival some of the most rugged places on earth. There are days each winter when the combination of life-threatening weather factors on Mount Washington is remarkably similar to weather extremes which have been recorded in the polar regions and on peaks three or four times Mount Washington's height. The World Record Wind is one benchmark testifying to the mountain's truly severe weather.

The World Record Wind is also a testimony to the dedication and diligence of the early crews of the Observatory. A part of the challenge of science is to observe and reliably record that which we study. For the Observatory, that means to monitor and to accurately measure the weather. Some measurements are relatively easy to obtain, such as using standard thermometers to record temperatures. For other weather parameters, measurement can be very challenging. To be able to accurately record the winds of Mount Washington, which are typically high and gusty, and to be able to do so during a severe icing event, is no simple matter. It is incredibly difficult and dangerous to climb atop a building in winds greater than 180 miles per hour, all to be sure an anemometer is free from rime. The fact that the 1934 Observatory crew could accurately measure a wind of this magnitude, during a period of very heavy glaze icing, is a tribute to their planning and engineering acumen, as well as to their commitment to establishing and maintaining this remote scientific outpost.

The story of the World Record Wind is also an inspiration to Observatory staff today. In 1934, not even two years after the Observatory was established, the Observatory staff was given a remarkable test and passed with flying colors. They anticipated a great challenge and rose to the occasion. Their good work serves as an example to us today and must spur us on to do things as noteworthy. As proud as we are of the achievements of the Observatory staff of the 1930's, we cannot rest on their laurels; we must earn our own.

There will likely come a day when another weather station reliably records a wind of greater than 231 miles per hour. When that day comes, Observatory staff, perhaps better than anyone, will understand the value of the achievement. But that next world record wind cannot diminish the significance of the 1934 World Record Wind, in what it will still say about the mountain and those who have worked there.

http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/recordwind.php

Mount Washington’s World Record Wind Speed Toppled

Summary

On Friday, January 22, 2010, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report stating that a new world record wind speed was recorded on April 10, 1996 in Barrow Island, Australia during Typhoon Olivia. According to the report, the new record stands at 253 mph, far surpassing the Observatory’s record of 231 mph recorded on April 12, 1934. The new record was discovered by a special WMO evaluation panel during a comprehensive review of global weather and climate extremes.

Stance

Like many Mount Washington Observatory fans, we were surprised to learn this news. While we certainly respect the work of the WMO evaluation panel and acknowledge its findings, it is natural to treat such news with a certain level of skepticism. We have received the supporting documentation and are eager to learn more about the group’s findings.

Mount Washington’s 231 mph wind gust remains the fastest surface wind ever observed in the Western and Northern Hemispheres and the fastest wind ever observed at a manned surface station. Mount Washington’s bitter cold, freezing fog, heavy snow and legendary wind have contributed to its reputation as being one of the planet’s most extreme places, the “Home of the World’s Worst Weather”.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Why did it take 14 years to recognize this record?

Our understanding is that the record was noted by the Barrow Island station when it occurred, but not publicized until the WMO Evaluation Panel stumbled upon it while conducting a review of world records.

2) The new record occurred at an unmanned station. Do they really know it happened?

Yes. The WMO Evaluation Panel has conducted significant research into the circumstances surrounding this event, and while it is rare for winds of this speed to be verified since instruments typically fail, the instrument used at Barrow Island was confirmed to be in good working order.

3) The new record occurred during a typhoon. Does that really count?

Yes.

Kelly Cordes – Bad Breaks

Well, damn. I’ve never wanted to take myself too seriously, and enjoy laughing about the Sketchy Kelly days – as I did in my last post. Besides, perspective is good, and so it’s all the more ironic that my disintegrated leg and perhaps disintegrated climbing future happened in Hyalite, but didn’t even happen while climbing. While climbing, I was everything but Sketchy Kelly – I climbed well, placed lots of pro, even protected the easy exit ice, even backed-up our anchor.

Perhaps the worst thing about fracturing my tibia & fibula – with a “Pilon Fracture” and the tibia end “heavily comminuted” – pulverized, turned to powder – wasn’t just the pain, which definitely hurt, but the psychological impact of seeing my right foot and lower leg flopping from side-to-side. Surreal. Logistically, the problem is that it’s close to the ankle joint, which greatly increases the complexity of the repair and the long-term recovery prospect. I’m looking at a huge recovery. I’ll write more about the details as time passes – I’ll be having considerably more free time, which I’ll put to good use watching TV, writing, and, most importantly, drinking margaritas (hey, at least that part’s good, right? There we go, always looking for that silver lining…).

There’s a fair bit going through my mind and I’m a little loopy, a little rougher than even normal, so pardon the sketchy writing. For now, I know a few things:

-I’m grateful to have been with my good friend Steve Halvorson, who’s a longtime climbing partner, an ER doc, and teaches wilderness medicine and rescue courses. He did an incredible job splinting my grotesque, bones-grinding-together lower leg and getting me out. He could not have done any better, and his splinting and care surely help my long-term prognosis. It took four sans-painkiller hours of him pulling me, pushing me, lifting me, me pushing up, me doing sit-ups, and just keeping it all in perspective, but he got me out. Side note, along the lines of “Hey, anybody here order a pizza?” fairytales: Near the bottom of the canyon, close to the trail but with some hard, steep terrain to go, we heard voices. Steve ran out – 13 people from a Montana Wilderness School of the Bible outing, doing a snow camping and winter climbing course. I shit you not. My thanks to them, including Adam and Brooke, who were running the deal, and were professional, patient, and endured my filthy language without flinching.

Irony number 800 – upon seeing my friend Pete Tapley in the parking lot that morning – Pete was my partner in the Black Magic post from all those years ago – we joked how I’m smart to climb with a doc. Indeed. And just beforehand, in Cody, I climbed for three incredible days with Justin Woods, who’s a paramedic and also does wilderness med and rescue work. And so it would seem that I’ve been getting smarter… Go figure. Will post some about our three great days in Cody, climbing amazing ice in spectacular landscapes, and enjoying the wonderful hospitality of The-Cody-Man, Aaron Mulkey. In short, the thing that made me most psyched about Cody wasn’t just that we did some hard and scary climbs, but that I climbed so well, completely in control, and made them as safe as they could possibly be. Whereas I might’ve been able to do those climbs years ago, I couldn’t have done them with that level of control. Feeling in-control of yourself and of your outcome is a wonderful, empowering thing.

-Was so psyched. Not only on how good I’d been feeling, but on so many things in life finally coming together after a rugged 2009. Had two Alaska trips planned, and one Pakistan trip, for 2010 (had just learned of scoring grant money for the latter). But I’m still so fortunate. Everyone deals with things in life. Most of the time, it’s good, but sometimes it’s challenging. Challenge gives opportunity. While I’d be OK without some of these opportunities, what can you do? The randomness and unknowns of life add to its beauty.

-I don’t know, what’s irony? Just a funny way of looking at things. It’s not as if one causes the other. Shit happens.

-I’m grateful for having so many deadbeat, unemployed friends who are offering and able to drive my gimp ass around. Jenna is nearly out of days-off from teaching, after all of her med appointments this year, and dealing with my stuff is the last thing I want to add to her plate. I’ve got two appointments with excellent surgeons on Monday (in Bozeman they did a minor surgery to attach the external fixator – a gnarly cage-like thing to stabilize my bones; but it was too swollen to do the major surgery there, need to wait for the swelling to subside a little). We need to get this fixed soon, before the bone fragments auto-fuse.

-After the break, while sitting in the snow, looking across the gorgeous canyon, trying to breathe and to keep my pain and head together, I was grateful. I could see the slopes leading to climbs where I’d cut my teeth as a young Montana climber, places where I’d formed great friendships, places where friends were climbing and loving life at that very moment, climbs like Winter Dance that, still, 10+ years later, rank among my best days ever. To gaze across the blanketed white wilderness and appreciate all that I have, and all that I have had until then, even as life can change so quickly. I was also grateful to still be here, grateful for my friends both with me and since passed, grateful for everything.

-So, despite some confusion and uncertainty ahead, for sure I know that rehab, with hopes for an eventual full-recovery, will be a battle. Life changes, we all know this, and I know this more than ever after this past year. But I’m starting to get ready, down in my gut, getting ready for the fight.~ by Kelly Cordes on February 5, 2010.

http://kellycordes.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/bad-breaks/

French Spiderman Alain Robert to climb Burj Khalifa

French Spiderman Alain Robert has now set his sights on another landmark - he now plans to scale Burj Khalifa [828 m], the tallest building of the world in Dubai.

Robert, who first climbed his eight-floor apartment at 12 years of age after forgetting his keys, has since scaled more than 100 giant building across the globe with bare hands and shoes.

His victories include the Petronas Twin Towers, Taiwan's Taipei 101, the Eiffel Tower in France, the Empire State building in New York and the Sears Tower in Chicago.

And now this amazing climber has made up his mind to climb Burj Khalifa, which was unveiled on January 4.

"I will do many other climbs in between ... I know the people of Dubai, they are interested (in seeing him scale the Burj Khalifa), but I do not know when they will allow me to make that attempt," the New Straits Times Online quoted Robert as telling Bernama,

"...also the problem in Dubai is the hot weather (of) up to 40 degree Celcius, it doesn't seem that I'll be able to do it ... then, I'll have to do it in another year, maybe in between January and April 2011," he added.

Structural Elements — Elevators, Spire, and More

It is an understatement to say that Burj Khalifa represents the state-of-the-art in building design. From initial concept through completion, a combination of several important technological innovations and innovation structural design methods have resulted in a superstructure that is both efficient and robust.

Foundation

The superstructure is supported by a large reinforced concrete mat, which is in turn supported by bored reinforced concrete piles. The design was based on extensive geotechnical and seismic studies. The mat is 3.7 meters thick, and was constructed in four separate pours totaling 12,500 cubic meters of concrete. The 1.5 meter diameter x 43 meter long piles represent the largest and longest piles conventionally available in the region. A high density, low permeability concrete was used in the foundations, as well as a cathodic protection system under the mat, to minimize any detrimental effects form corrosive chemicals in local ground water.

http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/the-tower/structure.aspx - top

Podium

The podium provides a base anchoring the tower to the ground, allowing on grade access from three different sides to three different levels of the building. Fully glazed entry pavilions constructed with a suspended cable-net structure provide separate entries for the Corporate Suites at B1 and Concourse Levels, the Burj Khalifa residences at Ground Level and the Armani Hotel at Level 1.

Exterior Cladding

The exterior cladding is comprised of reflective glazing with aluminum and textured stainless steel spandrel panels and stainless steel vertical tubular fins. Close to 26,000 glass panels, each individually hand-cut, were used in the exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa. Over 300 cladding specialists from China were brought in for the cladding work on the tower. The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's extreme summer heat, and to further ensure its integrity, a World War II airplane engine was used for dynamic wind and water testing. The curtain wall of Burj Khalifa is equivalent to 17 football (soccer) fields or 25 American football fields.

Structural System

In addition to its aesthetic and functional advantages, the spiraling “Y” shaped plan was utilized to shape the structural core of Burj Khalifa. This design helps to reduce the wind forces on the tower, as well as to keep the structure simple and foster constructability. The structural system can be described as a “buttressed core”, and consists of high performance concrete wall construction. Each of the wings buttress the others via a six-sided central core, or hexagonal hub. This central core provides the torsional resistance of the structure, similar to a closed pipe or axle. Corridor walls extend from the central core to near the end of each wing, terminating in thickened hammer head walls. These corridor walls and hammerhead walls behave similar to the webs and flanges of a beam to resist the wind shears and moments. Perimeter columns and flat plate floor construction complete the system. At mechanical floors, outrigger walls are provided to link the perimeter columns to the interior wall system, allowing the perimeter columns to participate in the lateral load resistance of the structure; hence, all of the vertical concrete is utilized to support both gravity and lateral loads. The result is a tower that is extremely stiff laterally and torsionally. It is also a very efficient structure in that the gravity load resisting system has been utilized so as to maximize its use in resisting lateral loads.

As the building spirals in height, the wings set back to provide many different floor plates. The setbacks are organized with the tower’s grid, such that the building stepping is accomplished by aligning columns above with walls below to provide a smooth load path. As such, the tower does not contain any structural transfers. These setbacks also have the advantage of providing a different width to the tower for each differing floor plate. This stepping and shaping of the tower has the effect of “confusing the wind”: wind vortices never get organized over the height of the building because at each new tier the wind encounters a different building shape.

Spire

The crowning touch of Burj Khalifa is its telescopic spire comprised of more than 4,000 tons of structural steel. The spire was constructed from inside the building and jacked to its full height of over 200 metres (700 feet) using a hydraulic pump. In addition to securing Burj Khalifa's place as the world's tallest structure, the spire is integral to the overall design, creating a sense of completion for the landmark. The spire also houses communications equipment.

Mechanical Floors

Seven double-storey height mechanical floors house the equipment that bring Burj Khalifa to life. Distributed around every 30 storeys, the mechanical floors house the electrical sub-stations, water tanks and pumps, air-handling units etc, that are essential for the operation of the tower and the comfort of its occupants.

Window Washing Bays

Access for the tower's exterior for both window washing and façade maintenance is provided by 18 permanently installed track and fixed telescopic, cradle equipped, building maintenance units. The track mounted units are stored in garages, within the structure, and are not visible when not in use. The manned cradles are capable of accessing the entire facade from tower top down to level seven. The building maintenance units jib arms, when fully extended will have a maximum reach of 36 meters with an overall length of approximately 45 meters. When fully retracted, to parked position, the jib arm length will measure approximately 15 meters. Under normal conditions, with all building maintenance units in operation, it will take three to four months to clean the entire exterior facade.

Broadcast and Communications Floors

The top four floors have been reserved for communications and broadcasting. These floors occupy the levels just below the spire.

Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing

To achieve the greatest efficiencies, the mechanical, electrical and plumbing services for Burj Khalifa were developed in coordination during the design phase with cooperation of the architect, structural engineer and other consultant.

The tower's water system supplies an average of 946,000 litres (250,000 gallons) of water daily
At peak cooling, Burj Khalifa will require about 10,000 tons of cooling, equal to the cooling capacity provided by about 10,000 tons of melting ice
Dubai's hot, humid climate combined with the building's cooling requirements creates a significant amount of condensation. This water is collected and drained in a separate piping system to a holding tank in the basement car park
The condensate collection system provides about 15 million gallons of supplement water per year, equal to about 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools
The tower's peak electrical demand is 36mW, equal to about 360,000 100 Watt bulbs operating simultaneously

Fire Safety

Fire safety and speed of evacuation were prime factors in the design of Burj Khalifa. Concrete surrounds all stairwells and the building service and fireman's elevator will have a capacity of 5,500 kg and will be the world's tallest service elevator. Since people can't reasonably be expected to walk down 160 floors, there are pressurized, air-conditioned refuge areas located approximately every 25 floors.

http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/the-tower/structure.aspx - top

Elevators & Lifts

Burj Khalifa will be home to 57 elevators and 8 escalators The building service/fireman's elevator will have a capacity of 5,500 kg and will be the world's tallest service elevator.

Burj Khalifa will be the first mega-high rise in which certain elevators will be programmed to permit controlled evacuation for certain fire or security events. Burj Khalifa's Observatory elevators are double deck cabs with a capacity for 12-14 people per cab. Traveling at 10 metres per second, they will have the world's longest travel distance from lowest to highest stop.

Feb. 6 2010

Ambulances were sent to the tower on Feb. 6 2010 to treat 12 people who had been stranded in a stalled elevator and “dozens” of others who had been trapped on the observation platform, according to Fahad Al Zarouni, deputy director of operations at Dubai’s Center for Ambulance Services. None were hospitalized.

Two days after the incident, developer Emaar Properties PJSC said in a statement that the observation deck had been shut for maintenance due to “technical issues” involving power supply. The “At the Top” platform is the only part of Burj Khalifa in use so far, following its official opening on Jan. 4. Emaar, 31 percent owned by Dubai’s government, didn’t mention the stalled elevator or stranded visitors in its statement.

People on the observation deck heard what sounded like a small explosion and saw dust that looked like smoke seeping through the elevator doors. Rescue crews had to pry open the doors of the elevator after it became stuck for about 45 minutes between floors and everyone was eventually taken down uninjured in a freight elevator.

Articles

A Stage Model of Why Climbers Climb

And How It Frames the Discussions of Recent Climbing Controversies”

Mike Levenhagen, Ph.D.

Management Department, Leavey School of Business

Santa Clara University , California

Abstract

“A Stage Model of Why Climbers Climb

And How It Frames the Discussions of Recent Climbing Controversies”

This paper proposes a stage model of why more serious climbers climb. It categorizes findings from literature on why climbers climb into two explanations:

(i) for achievement and or flow, and (ii) to build character. A content analysis of forty-two published writings of serious climbers is conducted. Support is found for the first two reasons, and a third reason for climbing emerges: spiritual self-realization. A stage model of climbing purposes is developed: (i) climbers first climb for extrinsic achievement and or flow; (ii) climbers climb to prove their worth to self and others (character). Third, climbers come to realize a greater spiritual Self. The stage model is used to frame six climbing controversies.

INTRODUCTION

Stories of serious climbing of almost any kind (alpine, rock, ice) make climbing seem a little ridiculous or crazy (Mitchell, 1983). Serious climbers punish themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychically with cold, heat, pain, hunger, and exhaustion; they risk life and limb; and sometimes they and their teammates pay the ultimate price for thrilling and terrifying experiences in the mountains.

Understanding why men and women undergo these difficulties can serve a couple of purposes. First, more people could come to understand what serious climbing is about and understand why climbers seem to be acting a little crazy or ridiculous. Second, understanding the reasons for climbing could help to frame the issues around recent controversies in the climbing world (e.g., notorious expeditions on Everest, defilements on sacrosanct natural monuments or mountain areas, aesthetics and ethics regarding how people should climb, etc.).

This paper proposes a stage model of why more serious climbers climb. It categorizes various perspectives on why climbers climb into two basic explanations. Serious climbers climb (i) for achievement and / or flow, and (ii) to build personal character (proof of self worth). A content analysis is undertaken of how climbers themselves write about their reasons and experiences in climbing, and support is found for the first two reasons, and a third reason for climbing emerges: spiritual self-realization. A stage model of climbing purposes is proposed in this paper, and the model is used to develop a framework for the discussions of recent climbing controversies.

CLIMBING PURPOSE #1: ACHIEVEMENT OR FLOW 4

Climbers’ Personalities. There is a long list of anthropometric and psychological studies regarding risk-taking and personality (Feher, Meyers, & Skelly, 1998). Researchers using personality traits have attempted to explain serious climbing behaviors by focusing on the extent to which climbers seek stress, thrills, or sensation (Zuckerman, 1979) and climbers’ willingness to (i) assume risks, (ii) experience fear and anxiety, and (iii) appraise accurately various kinds of risks (Feher et. al., 1998). A wide range of traits and sub-scales have been measured in climbers (e.g., aggressiveness, impulsiveness, imagination, forthrightness, self-sufficiency, tough-mindedness, shrewdness, low ergic tension, intelligence, and reserve—Breivik, 1996), only to conclude that risk is not really a true goal or motivation for climbers. Traits have provided little explanation of underlying causes of climbing behaviors. Instead, risk appears to be a condition that climbers use to achieve their goals (Delle Fave, Bassi, & Massimini, 2003).

Climbers Are Strongly Goal-Directed Other researchers have argued from a more behavioral point of view. Serious climbers have strong, deep-seated needs for arousal, autonomy, self-determination, and individualism (Ewert, 1994, 1989, 1987; Mitchell, 1983, 1988; Lyng, 1990; Fredrick & Ryan, 1995). Although the strengths of people’s needs are varied individually (McClelland & Burham, 1995; McClelland, Atkinson, & Lowell, 1953), powerful aspirations can lead people to achieve consequential and serious extrinsic goals (e.g., difficult summits and routes).

Climbers Want To Be “In the Zone”—Intrinsic Motivations Humanistic psychologists have argued that goals do not have to be extrinsic (such as power or achievement) in order to be important and motivating (Maslow, 1987). Goals can be both intrinsically motivating as well as extrinsically motivating. People can enjoy their behaviors for themselves, irrespective of extrinsic rewards (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Deci & Ryan, 1985). “Flow,” an optimal subjective experience, occurs when action and consciousness merge, where the degree of challenge and the skills that a person takes to a challenge are perfectly matched. Flow is found in a narrowing of attention on clearly defined goals, in an intense concentration (being “lost” in an activity), in a loss of a personal and individualized self, in a transcendent state of mind, with a loss of a sense of time, and with a strong sense of well-being. On either side of a flow experience (mismatches between skills and challenge) are boredom or anxiety (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; 1990; Mitchell, 1988). In a flow state, personal growth and more complex behaviors increase (Massimini & Delle Fave, 2000).

Mediation of Goals by Skill and Experience - The reasons why serious climbers climb could be mediated by time, skill, and experience (Lyng, 1990). Ewert’s (1994) findings indicate that: (i) novice climbers are oriented to physical aspects of climbing and the image of climbing; (ii) intermediate climbers to decision making and exhilaration in climbing; and (iii) experienced climbers to exhilaration, self-expression, and self-testing in climbing. The findings are consistent with intrinsic-motivation theories, and they hint at a progression of climbing purposes among serious climbers.

CLIMBING PURPOSE #2: DEFINING CHARACTER

Traditional economics and decision theory are powerful and pervasive explanative frameworks in today’s modern world. They make the assumption that people create “good” when they serve themselves, primarily by maximizing their own pleasures and utilities. Pleasure-seeking behaviors make people happy. Unfortunately, these theories cannot explain much about climbing behaviors. Pain, suffering, hunger, exhaustion, and even dismemberment and death—outcomes found all too often in mountaineering—are dubious non-consumptive “goods.”

Modern behavioral economists now argue that activities like mountaineering are rationally utilitarian in that they answer important needs that people have to signal value (i) of self to self and (ii) self to others. Value or utility is created for “buyers of climbing” by providing them with (iii) the means by which to create significant goals and complete them, (iv) opportunities for the development of mastery, virtuosity, and excellence, and (v) opportunities to discover meaning in life (Lowenstein, 1999). These ideas of self-worth, mastery, and meaning point to character as one’s inner nature, moral fiber, or self-control that demands respect (Hewitt, 1989).

Defining or Finding Character Some sociologists argue that people work hard to provide others with impressions that are consonant with their “face” (Goffman, 1959; see Appendice I.) People conduct themselves with an eye towards making some kind of claim about who they are and what is going on so that they appear normal and sane to others, even in the most mundane situations (Chriss, 1993, 1995). Extraordinary circumstances are means of developing character. To fully define the self and establish worth, a person must perform voluntary actions that are not available in everyday life. The difference between holding down a job and pulling a job off is that while the former can be considered “killed moments,” the latter is more consequential and problematic. When an act holds real risks and the completion of it cannot be normally assured, then the act can be said to be “fateful” (Goffman, 1967b). Indeed, brushing with the possibility of the most serious of consequences can strengthen the self and probe the meaning of existence 7 (Simmel, 1959). Virtue is made from necessity, and self-respecting men or women cannot be afraid to put themselves on the line. Some encounters in life need to be confrontations. Maybe there is little left in everyday life for fatefulness, and maybe people look to become alive by fateful actions (Goffman, 1967b).

There are two kinds of skills and capabilities associated with fateful activities. The (i) primary skills are the technical skills of an activity (stored in memories and experiences), often created by training in inconsequential circumstances (toproping, gym climbing, sport climbing?) and other forms of practice. However, the (ii) secondary set of capabilities is more important, because the secondary set enables the primary, technical set to be exercised unencumbered. When consciousness of the risks of fateful action invades the mind of the individual, his or her decency can weaken, and naked self-interest can flood the consciousness and block the ability to perform the primary, technical activities. When an individual maintains full control of himself when the chips are down, it indicates moral strength and integrity (Goffman, 1967b).

The secondary set of capabilities is comprised of four elements. (1) Raw courage is needed, because courage precedes the danger. (2) Will and determination (“gameness”) are also needed. An actor must put total effort into a fateful action no matter what the demands are (e.g., fatigue, pain, set-backs). (3) Integrity is also needed, for actors under stress must resist the temptation to depart from moral standards even when an activity cannot be fully witnessed. Proper form must be maintained even when the forms are full of substance and not trivial. (4) Composure is also needed. Composure includes: (a) the ability to execute physical tasks that rely especially upon the control of small muscles to produce smooth, concerted, and managed movements; (b) 8 emotional self-control to mobilize memory and knowledge of the primary, technical skills under pressure; (c) the ability to contemplate an abrupt change in fate without falling apart; and (d) dignity of bodily decorum in the face of all costs, difficulties, and imperative urges (Goffman, 1967b). Discomposure can disqualify a person for duties and threaten his or her status in a jointly created world (Berger & Luckmann, 1967; Hochschild, 1983), especially among beginners (Donnelly & Young; 1988).

When the chips are down and individuals risk and take an opportunity to display an admirable style of conduct, the self is subject to re-creation in recreation. The appeal of fateful actions for people, then, is that it provides the opportunity to show grace under pressure. Serious action is a means of obtaining some of the moral benefits of heroic conduct in modern times. Chance-laden activities with the most serious consequences can lead to honorable and heroic lives, where people can realize their moral fantasies and where their moral sensibilities can be best tested and proved (Goffman, 1967b).

DATA AND METHODS

A content analysis was undertaken of the 2005 issue of the American Alpine Journal, from two of John Long’s compilations of other climbers’ writings (The High Lonesome and Tales from the Steep), two recent books by climbers (Simpson’s The Beckoning Silence, and Twight’s Kiss or Kill), and Peter Kaan’s recollection of his first, bold ascent of The Left Side of the Hour Glass in Yosemite Valley in 1972. Quotations were extracted that support one or more of the explanations indicated above—and an additional explanation emerged from the climbers’ reports about their experiences (spiritual self-realization).

Any community’s participant’s report about his or her behaviors, intentions, and meaning can (i) talk about many things at once, (ii) present contradictions or inconsistencies sometimes even within the same breadth, and (iii) struggle to make articulations of things they may barely perceive or clearly understand themselves. Furthermore, people will construct inventive and plausible explanations for their actions retrospectively that may not reflect what actually occurred (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). Hence, it is helpful for researchers to familiarize themselves with the everyday labels that participants use before attempting to make sense of what they say (Geertz, 1973, 1983; Spradley, 1979). Doing so should enable researchers to capture how participants actually view issues without too much insinuation of a researcher’s own bias into participants' reports (Bougon, 1983; Ericsson & Simon, 1984; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The researcher of this present investigation has been an intermediate, traditional climber for 7 years. As a further check on the validity of this research, drafts of this article were distributed to climbers on national climbing forum (www.supertopo.com).

FINDINGS

Almost all of the writings in these publications focus on the technical and most immediate aspects of climbing experiences and routes. Explicit insights about why the climbers climbed appear as punctuations amid technical descriptions, when they appear at all. Not all climbers in these few reports explicitly note why they climbed or the meaning of it.

Support is found for the purposes of achievement and flow, and for character-building. The climbers’ insights, descriptions, and musings suggest a third reason why they climb seriously: spiritual self-realization. Together, these three broad reasons form the basis for a stage-model this paper will propose later.

Climbing for Flow and Achievement A few climbers explicitly note their desire for, or experience of, flow.

I wanted to hold the moment as long as possible . . . le petit mort, the little death. The post-coital depression, the fleeting saddening loss when it is over (Simpson, pp. 116-117).

. . . perhaps it all boils down to sensation (Simpson, p. 128).

[Geoffrey Young describing Mallory] ‘There are natures whose best expression is movement. Mallory could make no movement that was not in itself beautiful . . . climbing is the supreme opportunity for perfect motion’ (Simpson, p. 135).

I was stripped of all my powers but still my training saw me through . . . .I was never more impeccable in my life. . . . (Haan, p. 8)

The rock and climber weaving together, as John Gill, Castaneda, and Merleau-Ponty have all written. This bond, chiasm and truth was physically experienced, rather than theorized . . . perhaps yield[ing] no other answers but itself . . . . such joy! (Kaan, p. 9).

Achievement, too, is an obvious reason why many serious climbers climb. Indeed, one cannot find a climbing periodical today that does not emphasize speed, grade, and difficulty in climbing experiences.

[I was] training and storing survival responses ‘to stay alive’ (Beyer, p. 21).

I was immensely proud, yes. I had pulled it off, a great personal victory, a dream come true (Hesse, p. 127).

However, achievement is not overwhelmingly written about in these climbers’ writings nearly as much as would have been expected. Nonetheless, the difficulties of routes or hard climbing experiences are always noted in these writings as a matter of course, and the recognitions should be taken as indicative of an orientation to extrinsic achievements.

Climbing as Character Definition

A large number of quotes extracted from the writings focus on character-building and the secondary capabilities that Goffman (1976b) describes.

[Relating a quote by Vern Teyas] ‘I love being in the mountains,’ he said. ‘From them I get feelings of self-sufficiency, confidence, and self-worth (Davidson, p. 91).

. . . I began to question . . . then my mind seized, locked up with the thought of losing it and falling off into the void (Hesse, p. 127). 12 Ice climbing is so much a head game . . . . (Simpson, p. 20).

This was where you defined yourself, balanced tenuously between life and death. (Simpson, p. 17).

It’s not about being a ‘hard’ climber, not a challenge to prove how good we were, but a pure and simple test of ourselves (Simpson, 115).

You are what you do . . . (Twight, p. 39).

. . . self-validation through dangerous practices. . . . I had to prove myself over and over again . . in my quest for power (Twight, p. 157).

They make the summit, not the style, the yardstick of success (Twight, p. 192) [in a criticism about the pollution of mountaineering that comes from posers who replace skill and courage with cash and equipment].

I tried to remain optimistic and not to picture myself rocketing off the lieback while I would try to enter the slippery offwidth cleanly and statically (Haan, p.6).

. . . to retreat now was also a major undertaking—it meant my complete demoralization and the trivialization of all eight years of my hard climbing and my search and yearning for true integrity (Haan, p. 7). 13 It is your will [rather than technical skills] that is most tested when climbing in Scotland (Richardson, p. 123).

Climbing for Self-Realization

The great majority of climbers’ insights, reflections, and recollections in the writings—when they occurred—look to be about self-realization, about spiritual growth and expansion of the self, and about the meaning of life itself.

[Q: Did close calls—running out of food, being in avalanches, ever lead you to reconsider alpine climbing?] ‘No, it just makes me appreciate the small things in life again--things that we usually take for granted (Loomis [interviewing Kitty Calhoun], p. 109).

There on the mountain I had lived for a few days the life of the visionary, the mystic, prey to a spiritual exaltation undreamed of before. . . . The intensity of experience I had lived was above and beyond anything I had known (Ghirardini, p. 5).

Most extreme climbers are looking for an ascent to show them one more thing about life or themselves (Long, p. 46).

The Sentinel put it to me . . . ‘What do you want?’ . . . I had no answer to that question. . . . What was my purpose? (Wilford, p. 63).

Now that I have come back from death, I have embarked on a long and arduous process of regeneration that will require the dedication of my entire life . . . of what use are extreme faces? It is within that we find the most insurmountable barriers. We shall not find the seventh grade beyond the sixth, but in ourselves (Ghirardini, pp. 8-9).

I’m thrilled to be here because all I can do is my best and if that’s not enough I’ll still have gone through so many layers of myself that I’ll remember it forever (Croft, p. 112).

. . . it was so much more. I hadn’t conquered the mountain, far from it. I had engaged it, mentally and physically, in a profound way. I was leaving this place with a gift far greater than the vain glorious pride and I knew that it would be a long time before I would truly descend from the heights to which the mountain had taken me (Hesse, p. 127).

I used to be afraid that I would die young but after living for a while I got scared that I wouldn’t (Twight, p. 156).

[After a long list of physical complaints and psychological misgivings about the route, ‘Son of Heart’] El Cap is a quest, a quest for yourself, a quest for happiness (Karl, p. 117).

‘Son of Heart’ was for me a trip into an unexplored country, the land of my own psyche. I had never thought I could muster so much faith in myself after so much anxiety and despondency . . . . surely this enterprise shed some light on the darkness in myself, solving part of the riddle of who I am ( Karl, pp. 129-130).

The whole notion of ‘deep play’—the gambling theory of extreme risk taking when the gambler stands to lose far more than he could ever possibly win—may well be an apt description of some levels of climbing, but playing the game in reality now seemed a conceited and ridiculous enterprise (Simpson, p. 27).

[C. Anker’s tribute to A. Lowe’s death in Climbing Magazine] ‘What drives us to climb? The exploration of the unknown has led humanity to where we are today . . . to progress spiritually and intellectually. . . . For Alex, this is what climbing was about, the exploration of the soul, the trust and learning gained from attempting something difficult and improbable’ (Simpson, pp. 68-69).

[A. Lowe] ‘I appreciate why I come to the mountains; not to conquer them but to immerse myself in their incomprehensible immensity—so much bigger than we are; to better comprehend humility and patience balanced in harmony, with the desire to push hard . . . and to share it in the long run with my friends . . . and with my own sons’ (Simpson, p. 69).

[Brian Eno about Mark Twight] When we undeniably see that we create our own misery, we stop. The force generated by this insight changes anyone. Even Mark. His internal struggles for personal freedom, outwardly manifested through his climbing, eventually transformed Dr. Doom into Dr. Om (Twight, p. 9).

I don’t care about what I climb, only how it affects me (Twight, p. 30).

I know it sounds melodramatic and trashy, but from climbing I’ve learned about how to love—to love completely with one hundred percent of myself, to give everything to another person. To be willing to unselfishly die for or—harder still—live for another (Twight, p. 52).

Deprivation [a route on Mt. Hunter, Alaska] taught me about the existence of this mystic path in the mountains . . . . How can I be tired while climbing on the mountain when I have become the mountain? I have searched within myself through both passive and active meditation, for the tools to open this ‘door’ whenever I will it. I still search (Twight, p. 147).

For me, the point is not to climb the peak but to climb new ground both internally and externally (Twight, p. 162).

Climbing is the means I have chosen to define and understand myself (Twight, p. 201).

But within [me]—just below the surface—still worked away a strange young agony, terrible longing and sense of belongingness that had been subtly mounting for years and not stop. And I could recognize this obsessive dilemma in many of my other climbing colleagues (Haan, p. 1).

For decades, progress in the climbing art was not towards safety . . . but into ever more transcendent flights of self-risk and existential knowledge with less and less equipment, more and more awareness and in explicable power (Haan, p. 2).

After my ascent, and typical of other climbers before me, the accomplishment and rite of passage were partly why I could bow out of the central camp scene and its infinite loop of harder and harder climbing . . . . Perhaps thus enlightened, I turned to new thoughts and still deeper ways of looking at my life, as I grew older (Haan, p. 3).

I saw that I would not be able to solve the riddle of my youth: who was I really and what was this world? And so now I would be lost (Haan, p. 6).

I began to feel that I might reach even further into myself just then and climb deeper than the danger itself, far deeper than I had ever done before, and out of some kind of ultimate love. . . . And I continued to hear the call . . . .at last centered and willing to leave the ordinary world in search of the answers and extreme beauty of this place .(Haan, p. 7).

I still felt immaculately void, a plain vessel washed by a force, huge and beyond me, and my heart lay open but strong. The world seemed a miraculous and mysterious place and I found myself now peaceful, a deep and small part of it. . . . I was set free so long ago [at this first ascent] to go ahead, have a bigger life, to start to take in a broader messier world, to try to be effective in that wildly hopeless place that seemed all so complex, troubled and wrong and to which I had no sense of belonging . . . I had been there, to what I thought was maybe, the other side or at least had found one big answer within. . . . my fulfillment was to have seen that yes in this world, there was something more inside it all, past mundanity, which if somehow reached, took on in or took one back . . . . (Haan, p. 9).

Climbers’ responses from the climbers’ forum about this research indicate that [summary of Supertopo responses here].

DISCUSSION

A Stage Model Of Climbing Purposes

A stage model can be constructed that links these three different explanations together for why climbers climb. First, serious climbers climb for reasons of achievement (numbers, summits, grades) and for the attainment of flow. Next, climbers climb to build or define character. They do so to prove their worth to self and others in more and more difficult, high-stress situations. The deeper the pressure, the more their character is revealed. The last stage is a stage of deep spiritual self-realization.

The three stages of climbing development build on each other. Climbers learn the technical skills of climbing in the first stage and focus on their achievements, or learn to enjoy climbing in “the zone.” In the second stage, they hone their discipline and their mettle of “the head game” in high-stress climbing situations. In the first two stages of development, climbers’ egos are enhanced and built-up by honing technical competencies and increased motivations for further achievements and flow.

I was strong. I could have done anything. I seethed with desire. Believing in my self-importance, I stroked and blessed my ego. Ambition was so precious. I worshipped it and stole for it. I rationalized every evil thing I ever did by weighing it against my ambition. I wanted to be a god without the boredom of sainthood (Twight, p. 23).

In the second stage, climbing purposes shift to a kind of artistry (Slanger, 1997), as climbers undertake a search for personal virtuosity and excellence. As they do so, another shift in consciousness begins to unfold as their individual personalities get in the way of their learning and growth. It is likely that repeated, voluntary, high-stress experiences engender far-reaching new perspectives on life. What were intrinsically rewarding experiences (flow) in the first stage turns to agonies, as climbers run headlong into their own egos. Their personal limitations are not their technical capabilities but the personal habitual patterns and conditions that they have built-up over many years. These agonies are the signs of spiritual development. Inevitably the most serious climbers begin to reject their individualized self in the third stage for a broader and more empathetic consciousness, where deeper connections with the world and its objects are revealed (Loori, 1999). The individualized “little self” begins to die, and a Greater Self begins to emerge that disintegrates the distinctions between “I” and “Thee” (McCaskey, 1988; Wilber, 1995). Ilgner’s (2003) descriptions of “the mental game” in climbing seem to recognize these three stages. He claims that better climbing is a question of personal power and flawlessness (the first two stages), morality, personal integrity, and attention to gaining self-knowledge of Self in the world (the last stage). Zen-like in his prescriptions, Ilgner advises climbers to become witnesses of their own being, center their consciousnesses, act with absolute decisiveness, and rest in the ultimate groundlessness of life to achieve sartorial excellence to truly learn and grow. A true “rock warrior” is motivated by love, learning, and consciousness.

The underlying suggestion posed by all resolutions is one of being in control, which, I realize now, is not at all the case . . . Chaos rules it all (Twight, p. 47).

Routes need not be 5.12, Grade VI, or above 26,000 feet to test and prove one’s mettle or to encourage one to understand what is important in life. Stress is perceptual. With proof of character, climbers can break through into new realms of consciousness and being as much as any world-renown climber setting new records can. What matters in climbing—as it does in any realm of human activity—are true heart, close personal witnessing, honesty, attentiveness to what the world shows, deep moral integrity, and ever-widening expansions of consciousness (Ilgner, 2003).

The Meaning of Self-Realization in Climbing In the last stage of climbing, a climber transitions from the mundane everyday world into a more sublime and heroic world. Death in any guise is conquered by the birth of something new, by a spiritual transformation, by redemption. Indeed, the most creative acts in the world derive from some kind of dying to the everyday world so that one comes back reborn, made great, and filled with creative powers. But first, the individualized self—the ego—must die.

Long (1999): Many sages have said that a creative life requires . . . . [an] arena where men and women have risked all (p. 3).

Ghirardini (1999): I came to find my own mediocrity and that of the world intolerable. I recognized that I . . . was degenerate. . . . I realized that I was not a man in the full sense of the word, . . . and the realization was so bitter that I often wept. . . . If I undertook “the Shroud” [a difficult route], it was precisely for that reason: to submit myself and my life to God’s purpose . . . . and it was, of course, a wholly egotistical act (p. 6).

The journey of a hero is a path that tens of thousands have followed before. Seekers slay themselves when they thought others were to be slain. They travel to the core of their own existence when they thought they had to travel outward. They come to be with all of existence when they thought they needed to be alone. They find a god where abomination was expected. A universal, eternal, and perfected life celebrates its ultimate victory in the kiss of its own annihilation (Kiss or Kill). The love of the fate of death, and living as though one were already dead, are the experiences of tragic art, self-sacrifice, and redemption to something more sublime than one can express (Campbell & Moyers, 1988).

Twight (2001): Words and numbers are meaningless for the artist (p. 30). . . [and] Death plays a huge role in why men climb . . . . I face death rather than avoid it . . . . I cannot turn off my hunger (p. 104-105).

In Twight (2001), as said of their climbing experience on Nanga Parbat by Twight’s climbing partner, Barry Blanchard: [it was like] .having sex with death ( p. 44).

The hero ventures forth from everyday life into a region of supernatural wonder, where extraordinary forces are encountered and a decisive victory is won. But the hero’s journey is invariably a discovery of the Self. In the end, the hero is that which he or she came to find.

The purpose of (any crazy and ridiculous) religion (like climbing) is not to cure the individual but to detach him from the delusions that keeps him from his “at-one-ment.” These agonies of breaking through one’s personal limitations, battling with one’s ego, are the agonies of spiritual growth. All art, literature, myth, philosophy, ascetic disciplines, cults, and callings (even climbing) are instruments to help the individual (“the little self”) past his or her limited horizon into spheres of ever-expanding realizations (to a larger Self). In so far as any person is truly alive, the life of the hero will call him or her, for everyday life is the soul’s sleep and death its awakening. The hero is the awakener of his own soul and ironically the very means of his individual dissolution (Campbell, 1968).

A heroic life is a life of transformation, of sacrifice, of extraordinary goals and virtues, of danger and violence, of risk, of genius and artistry, of self-denial and self-restraint, of charisma and grace, of excellence and virtuosity—everything that everyday life is not. Everyday life is mundane, taken-for-granted, “commodified,” highly institutionalized, fragmented, differentiated, passive, sociable, vulnerable, desirous of attachment and earthly love, and oriented to wealth and property. Whereas a hero attempts to artistically create an ordered and grandly meaningful world by using his or her will to tame the world in pursuit of a higher purpose (God’s will, one’s own glory, survival of a community, etc.) by deliberately and decisively risking life itself, an anti-hero of everyday life rejects the advant-garde, genius, originality, extreme excellence, courage, high narratives and morals in favor of immediate and non-reflective experiences, playful frivolity, and the fragmentation of tongues and beliefs (Featherstone, 1992).

Studious observers of climbing argue that the exaltation and transcendence that serious climbers write about are simply romantic, machismo, or artistic expressions about the grandeur and thrill of the mountains (Lester, 2004; Macfarlane, 2003). They seem to say that the climbers’ expressions cannot be real, any more than God can be real. Serious climbers’ expressions of that sort are only a reflection of broader cultural and social movements. They are a response to fragmented lives and modern living. Such realist positions are truly understandable, for the mythology of heroes—as a science or history—has to be absurd (Campbell, 1968). However, a mythology of heroes can explain and guide people’s development into more spiritually significant lives. Man is, and always has been, the crucial mystery in life (Wilber, 1995), and it is doubtful that the mystery is being plumbed by people who focus on their immediate self-interests in modern everyday life.

Viewing the Controversies in Climbing Through the Stage Model

A stage model can explain how climbers talk about climbing controversies, and it can even explain how the controversies arise in the first place. Here are descriptions of six different controversies in the climbing community.

1. Defilements and Trespassing: Certain climbing areas and routes are out-of-bounds to climbing for social or cultural reasons. This includes defilements of images on the rock or defilements of the rock itself.

2. Aesthetics: With regards to what equipment might be appropriate to use on a route, bottom-up route construction, etc., there are disagreements about to what extent a style of climbing is important and appropriate on climbing routes.

3. Ethics: Following the method of a first ascent, bolting decisions, etc. are all indications of what climbing practices the community of climbers think are ethically right or wrong. (In time, aesthetics tend to become ethics.)

4. Behaviors in “The Death Zone”: Ultra-high altitude climbing situations present extraordinary situations for climbers’ personal decisions and compassion. How should climbers behave with others who are in-need in those environments when the climbers’ very lives depend on whether they decide—and how—to help others?

5. Guiding and Expeditions in Treasured Locations: The plans and organizations of guides and expeditions to lead climbers—who would otherwise be out-of-their league to attempt such a climb on their own—means that guides and guiding organizations may have different and conflicting responsibilities to their clients, to others they might encounter, and to the locations they take their clients. This controversy includes the trashing (leaving debris in) of sacrosanct climbing areas.

6. Gentrification / Commoditization of Climbing: To what extent should efforts and resources be devoted to enable “climbing for everyone” in wilderness settings? On an organized basis (that is institutionally), what is the overall purpose of climbing?

Figure I

Analyzing Climbing Controversies with the Stage Model

Figure I indicates how climbers would frame the various controversies in the climbing community depending upon what climbing purposes they follow. It is doubtful that any

climber’s perspective falls into a single set of climbing purposes down through every controversy than, say, any individual’s consciousness were equally developed along every dimension of knowledge or humanity (Wilber, 1995).

The purpose of the model and analysis is to suggest that climbers’ purposes could likely shift over time through a progressive sequence. The panoply of arguments about any one controversial issue in the climbing world can be made simpler if discussants’ objectives were unearthed and made evident.

Appendix I

Elements of Face1

Poise: the capacity to suppress and conceal any tendency to become shamefaced with others.

Pride: the manifestations of compunctions to ensure an expressive order that is consistent with face. This is a duty to self.

Honor: when the same compunctions serve wider social units and receive support from the units for doing so (a group reinforcement).

Dignity: when a person handles with composure his body, his emotions, and the things he has physical contact with.

Considerateness: the expectation of going to certain lengths to save the feelings and face of others present, willingly and spontaneously. Those who witness another’s humiliation and retain cool countenance are “heartless.”

Shameless: Those who can contribute unfeelingly to their own defacement.

Tact, savoir-faire, diplomacy, social skills: these all reference the capacity to have some knowledge of “face work” and some experience in its use. To do so, one must become aware of the interpretations of others on his (and their own) acts, and the interpretations he was supposed to place on others’ acts (which demands a perceptive actor).

Threats to face can be:

• Unintended or unwitting (faux pas, gaffs, boners)

• Meaning to offer insults to others

¹Summarized from Goffman (1967a).

• Only incidental offenses, not out of spite

Threat-saving practices:

• Avoidance

• Various corrective processes

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Tree Well Hazards

The most important prevention step is to remain on groomed runs, resisting the urge to ski or snowboard through the trees during deep powder conditions, no matter how inviting the untracked powder looks. If you choose to ski or snowboard in the ungroomed, deep snow areas with trees, remember:

#1) A Partner:

It is critical to ski or ride with a partner who remains in visual contact at all times.

In many cases, some of the deaths which have occurred due to tree well incidents may have been avoided had:

a) the person been with a partner

b) the partner saw the person fall and

c) the partner was close enough to assist digging the victim out in a timely manner.

It does NO GOOD for your safety if you are under the snow and your partner is waiting for you at the bottom of the lift. If you have any question about what a “timely manner” is to assist someone in a tree well, hold your breath now as you are reading this and the amount of time until you need air is approximately how much time your partner has to help get you out of danger. Other factors such as creating an air pocket or the nature of how you fall into the well may extend this critical timeframe.

#2) Visual Contact:

Means stopping and watching your partner descend at all times, then proceeding downhill while he or she watches you at all times. IF YOU LOSE VISUAL SIGHT OF YOUR PARTNER, YOU COULD LOSE YOUR FRIEND.

#3) Carry the same personal rescue gear as backcountry skiers or snowboarders: a transceiver, shovel, probe,and whistle.

#4) If you are a skier, remove your pole straps before heading down a powder slope. Trapped skiers have difficulty removing the pole straps, which can hamper efforts to escape or clear and air space to breathe.

What If I Go Down?

a) If you are sliding toward a tree well or a deep snow bank, do everything you can to avoid going down: grab branches, hug the tree, or anything to stay above the surface.

b) If you go down, resist the urge to struggle violently. The more you struggle, the more snow will fall into the well from the branches and area around the well and compact around you.

c) Instead of panicking, try first to make a breathing space around your face. Then move your body carefully in a rocking manner to hollow out the snow and give you space and air.

Hopefully, your partner will have seen what happened and will come to your rescue within minutes. If not, experts advise staying calm while waiting for assistance. Survival chances are improved if you maintain your air space. Over time, heat generated by your body, combined with your rocking motions, will compact the snow, and you may be able to work your way out.

Trees & Tree Wells

Trees are an important and integral part of the natural Cascade mountain environment and exist in Northwest ski areas, predominantly in the ungroomed areas. However the incidences of skiers and snowboarders falling into snow wells created by trees has increased in recent years. Prevention of falling into a tree well is all-important because the odds of surviving deep snow immersion are low. For your safety, you should assume all trees have a hazardous tree well.

In an experiment in which 10 volunteers were temporarily placed in a simulated tree well, none could rescue themselves.

Experts who chart skiing injuries have documented a significant risk: suffocation after falling, often headfirst, into deep snow depressions around trees (tree wells) or even on open ground. Most tree well incidents have occurred at ski resorts in the western United States and Canada, though the same risk would be present wherever deep powder conditions are found.

Fortunately, the risk of falling into a tree well is completely avoidable. Unlike avalanches, which are difficult to predict and the danger is often not visible, tree wells exist in deep snow areas and only around trees – in simple terms, a tree well is a hole in the deep snow, which is clearly marked by a tree.

You can avoid falling into a tree well by avoiding skiing or snowboarding near trees in deep snow areas.

What Is A Tree Well?

Hazardous tree wells are generally found in ungroomed areas.

The low-hanging branches of trees may create a sheltered area around the base of the tree, where a well of loose snow with air pockets can form.

It is best to assume that all trees in deep snow have some depth of tree well. Usually there is no easy way to identify if a particular tree has a dangerous tree well by sight, because the branches often block visibility of what hole may exist.

Particularly hazardous trees appear to actually be the smaller trees or trees where the branches are touching the snow. The branches help form a canopy over the hole, inhibiting snow from filling in the hole around the trunk of the tree –thus the snowpack increases outside the branches, creating a deeper hole under the branches.

www.treewelldeepsnowsafety.com

Beyond The Mountain – Book Review

Beyond the Mountain, By Steve House (Patagonia Books, 2009)

Review by Augie Medina

The author recounts his cutting-edge ascents in Canada, Alaska, the Karakoram and the Himalaya between 1988 and 2008. Called the best high altitude climber in the world today by none other than Reinhold Messner, House’s climbs have set the standard (a very high one) for alpine style climbing.

House, Beyond the Mtn You can’t help but get gripped as House describes in vivid detail his technical ascents on K7, the Slovak Direct Route on Denali’s south face and the southeast face of Nanga Parbat(known as the Rupal Face). Especially dicey have been his solo ascents where the margin for error was razor thin to non-existent.

Interestingly, House claims he always feels “empty” after gaining his objective. If so, he pays a heavy price for that emptiness because he is very frank that his climbing was always more important than his marriage (his first wife divorced him). On the other hand, his description of the intense bond he formed on climbs with two of his partner’s verges on homoerotic. His wife simply couldn’t compete with partners with whom he’d stared death in the face.

Somewhere along the line, House acquired superb writing skills because he really knows how to weave a suspenseful narrative. I’m not sure I always appreciated the literary framework he used of moving back and forth in time while describing a single climb. For example, he might start a particular chapter describing the final hours of an ascent, then skip back to an airport scene when he first arrived into the country. I would have preferred an unbroken chronology, but to each his own. The bottom line is, this is a great read.

Tree Well Shelter

Things You'll Need:

· Hand shovel

· Branches

1. Look for a thick, sturdy tree. Spruce trees work well.

2. Use a hand shovel or some other tool suitable for digging (including your hands, if you have good gloves on) to dig a hole in the snow around the tree’s base. Try to make it at least 4 feet deep. The lower branches of the tree should form a sort of canopy, like a roof, when you are finished.

3. If there are fallen or cut branches about, use them to erect a roof by laying them tepee-style against the trunk of the tree or across the existing lower branches.

4. Use other branches to create insulation in your shelter by lining the sides, and perhaps the bottom, with them.

5. Hunker down for the night, curling up to more fully preserve body heat. Your hard work creating the tree well shelter should have warmed you up quite a bit, and you’ll take that warmth with you into your shelter.

Incidents

The Fang, Vail, CO, USA – Jan. 12, 2010

A 34-year-old man from Alma fell about 100 feet Tuesday afternoon while ice-climbing The Fang, an ice formation in East Vail.

Crews from the Vail Fire Department, Eagle County Sheriff's Office, Vail Mountain Rescue and the Eagle County Ambulance District responded to a call at 1:14 p.m. reporting the fall. It took crews about 45 minutes to snowmobile and hike into the area where the victim had fallen, and about another 45 minutes to get him out.

The Fang is part of the popular ice-climbing area known as The Amphitheater, but The Fang formation doesn't form every year.

Doug Krause, of the Ambulance District, said the ice did not crush the man, but “he is hurt.” Denise Triba, spokeswoman for the Vail Valley Medical Center, said the man, who name has not been released, was in serious condition at the Vail Valley Medical Center.

Alan Bosworth, an engineer with the Vail Fire Department, said a portion of The Fang broke loose with the climber on it, sending him plummeting down about 100 feet, the equivalent of a 10-story fall.

The neighboring formation, known as The Designator, is where crews rescued a man last winter who fell about 70 feet and survived, Bosworth said.

The Eagle County Sheriff's Office reported that two friends were climbing with the man. At least one of those climbers rode in the ambulance to the hospital with the victim, while four more ice-climbers were at the rescue scene, visibly shaken. None of the four climbers wanted to make any comment on the incident.

One climber did say that about six climbers were in the area when the accident happened. Eagle County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Bob Silva said two other climbers who were climbing the neighboring ice feature came over to help when the accident happened, one of whom happened to be a certified emergency medical technician.

Scott Smith, owner of the Apex Mountain School, a Vail Valley-based rock and ice-climbing school and guide service, was guiding an ice-climbing trip in East Vail this morning and said the weather wasn't particularly warm or cold.

Warmer temperatures can cause ice to melt, but it wasn't so warm Tuesday that Smith was concerned about ice melting.

Colder temperatures affect the ice in a different way, Smith said.

“When it's colder the ice doesn't displace as much (when you place an ice ax or crampons into it) and it tends to shatter more,” Smith said. “However, it was not unusually cold today.”

Smith said he has not climbed The Fang this winter and guesses not many people, if any, have climbed it this winter before Tuesday. The formation has only recently filled in to the point where someone might consider leading it, meaning they're climbing it from the ground up, Smith said.

“We do not guide The Fang in its current condition,” Smith said. “Getting on a relatively narrow pillar is not appropriate for the level of safety we demand for our clients.”

The Fang, unlike some other formations in the area, forms as a free-standing pillar. Ice that forms thick over a cliff face or section of rock is generally more stable, Smith said, whereas The Fang was thinner.

Ice climbers are a tight-knit community, Smith said, which is why he and his guiding staff were hoping for a full recovery for the injured climber.

“We're very concerned about the person who fell,” Smith said.

Lauren Glendenning

lglendenning@vaildaily.com

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20100112/NEWS/100119922/-1/RSS

Jackson Hole, WY, USA – Mark Wolling – January, 2009

Members of ski patrol were conducting routine avalanche hazard reduction on the Cheyenne Bowl Route at approximately 9,350 feet. Wolling threw and exploded a hand charge from Rendezvous Trail into Cheyenne Bowl with no result.

He and his partner ski cut the area below and stopped above a cliff. Wolling threw two more hand charges. These exploded simultaneously and caused the snow to fracture above where both stood.

Wolling's partner, whom the resort did not name, was able to grab a tree. Wolling was swept over the cliff and down the slope into the bowl.

Ski patrollers conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation and administered an automated external defibrillator while readying for transport to the village clinic. The AED is the mechanism that did not detect a pulse and hence did not administer a shock.

The slope had not been open to the public this season. It had been visited and bombed by ski patrol earlier this winter, however.

At the time of transport to St. John's Medical Center, Wolling was exhibiting vital signs. St. John's Medical Center reported at 12:35 that Wolling would be transported via fixed-wing ambulance to Idaho Falls.

Wolling has been on the patrol since 1989.

Steamboat, CO, USA – Grace McNeil – December 25, 2009

Colorado authorities say a ski instructor found dead at the Steamboat resort suffocated in loose snow at the base of a tree.

Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg released his findings Monday about 23-year-old Grace Lynn McNeil of Cedar, Mich., who died on Christmas Day.

McNeil was an instructor at the Arapahoe Basin ski area and was skiing with friends at Steamboat.

McNeil was wearing a helmet but had no external injuries.

He says she apparently lost control and fell into what's called a tree well, an area of quicksand-like snow at the base of an evergreen tree, and couldn't get out.

Events

Mt. Shasta – Casaval Ridge – March 12 – 14

Meet at Bunny Flat March 12 for dinner, establish a high camp on March 13, and summit on March 14. Climbers hailing from the California Mountaineering Group, the American Alpine Club, the Sierra Club Peak Climbing Section, Rock Rendezvous, and other organizations (conditions permitting). Contact: tombcronin@yahoo.com

Access Fund LCO Summit – March 26 – 28

This conference is one not to be missed. Please review the information and agenda below and let us know if you or any other members of your LCO will be attending.

WHAT: 2010 LCO Spring Summit

WHEN: March 26-28, 2010

WHERE: Blue Diamond Charitable Association, (Just outside of Red Rocks) NV – AKA. Quanset Hut

COST: FREE!!!

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Friday, March 26, 2009

Mid Afternoon – People can set up their tent and go climb. We have reserved group campsites at the 13 mile campground. There is room for 40 folks so please let us know if you would like us to reserve you a spot.

6:00 pm to 10:00 pm: Social hour and dinner at the Quanza Hut. During this time attendees can introduce themselves, tell their stories, and talk about their challenges and goals. We truly hope everyone can attend this meet-and-greet portion of the Summit before we launch into the conference presentations the next day.

Saturday, March 27

8:00 am – 8:30 am: Coffee/Breakfast

8:30 am – 9:00 am: Introduction of conference, present a roadmap of Sat. & Sun.

9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Topic: Proactively working with public agencies (including building relationships with public entities and overview of working with federal and state entities

(2 presentations and 1 panel discussion)

12:00 pm – 12:30 pm: Working Lunch/ Grab Lunch to watch next presentation

12:45 pm – 2:45 pm: Topic: Reactively working with public agencies (including understanding the NEPA process, cultural resource issues, sensitive species issues, climbing management plans, and fixed anchors in Wilderness and non-wilderness areas

(2 presentations)

2:45 pm – 3:00 pm: Wrap-up and Sunday roadmap

3:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Climbing in Red Rocks

7:30 pm Dinner ?

Sunday, March 8

8:00 am – 8:30 am: Coffee/Breakfast

8:30 am – 11:00 am: 2 -3 presentations – continuation of previous topic

11:00am – 12:00 pm Topic: Building a stronger LCO - panel discussion/Q&A

12:00 am – 12:30 pm: Grab Lunch for next presentation

12:30 am – 2:00 pm: Continuation of previous topic (1-2 presentations)

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm: AFLFCC Wrap-up – next steps

2:30 pm Travel home

We have reserved two group camping sites (each group site can hold 20 people max) at Red Rocks and would like to get a head count on who will be camping. Please respond to this email if you would like to camp or if you are staying in a hotel and would like some suggestions. We hope to see you all in March! Oh yeah there will also be plenty of time to climb so don’t forget your gear!

Sincerely, Dean Ronzoni

The Real Deal

Wilderness Medical Associates

Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA) is the leader in wilderness medicine training— preparing over 7000 students annually to respond confidently and competently to medical situations in the backcountry. Course offerings include a two day Wilderness First Aid, a four day Wilderness Advanced First Aid, and the 70 hour Wilderness First Responder (in five, seven or eight day formats). Training is held throughout the US year-round.

For more information on courses, please go to: www.wildmed.com

USA: Telephone: 1-888-WILDMED (toll free) or 207-730-7331 (local)

Canada: Telephone: 1-877-WILDMED (toll free) or 705-455-9797 (local)

Hood Mountain Adventures

Hood Mountain Adventures offers mountaineering, rock climbing, winter skills training, nature hikes and backpacking trips for individuals and groups of all levels of experience, fitness and age. Join one of our scheduled expeditions or we can help you design one of your own.

If you would like to experience rock climbing, we can guide and train first time rock climbers as well as gym climbers on the real thing. But if you are getting back into climbing or want to take it to the next level, we offer great courses in leading, safety and rescue. www.hoodmountainadventures.com

Rewards for Justice Program - $27,000,000 Reward

The Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ), United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden. An additional $2 million is being offered through a program developed and funded by the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE (OR THE FBI)

Islamabad, Pakistan

American Embassy: 011-92-51-208-0000

Kabul, Afghanistan

American Embassy: 301-490-1042

USA Toll-free number: 1-800-US-REWARDS

Email: RFJ@state.gov

Sierra Mountaineering International

The top priority on all of our trips is safety. While mountaineering carries with it inherent dangers, we do everything within our ability to minimize the risk. Another important objective includes reaching the summit(s), or achieving the clients' intended goals on our trips. We always have a lot of fun and great food along the way!

Sierra Mountaineering International is an authorized mountaineering guide service operating in partnership under special use permit with the Inyo National Forest, Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, and other agencies where applicable.

Sierra Mountaineering International, 236 N Main St., Bishop, CA 93514

http://www.sierramountaineering.com/ Telephone: (760) 872-4929, Fax: (760) 872-2489

Summit Climb

Our climbing expeditions maximize many years of accumulated wisdom leading trips to the highest mountains on the planet, a strong record of reaching the top of 8000ers: Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho-Oyu, Shishapangma and many other high altitude summits in all safety, along with an intimate knowledge of the officials who regulate the permit system.

We encourage men and women from around the world, of all ages, to join us as an individual team member or with your own group, whether that is your spouse, partner, friends, sibling, clients, colleagues, etc. Most of our members join as individuals, our team dynamics work well, and we are able to build successful and safe groups of people that enjoy trekking, climbing, and traveling together.

www.summitclimb.com

Climb Up so Kids can Grow Up

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS, Inc. (AFCA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps HIV+/AIDS children and their guardians in Sub-Saharan Africa who have no other access to aid.

AFCA holds a series of events under the umbrella of Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up, inviting people of all ages to get outdoors, and do something they enjoy (hike, climb, ride, run, walk, etc.) while raising funds and awareness for their programs.

The events this year are:

· Climb Up The 50: June 26-July 5, 2010; participants across the United States climb, hike, ride, or run up the highest peak in their state any time during this 10-day event

· Climb Up Kilimanjaro: September 11-24, 2010; a team of 12 will travel to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro

· Climb Up The World: September 18-19, 2010; climb, hike, ride, and/or run wherever you are, inside or out, to fulfill pledges of support for your activity

· Climb Up Charlotte: November 7, 2010; an event hosted by Inner Peaks Climbing Center sharing climbing clinics, yoga, massages, chiropractic assessments, climbing competitions, raffles, food, and more

Registration fees ($25) for the events cover all administrative costs, so 100% of the money raised goes towards the programs of AFCA. Details and registration forms:

http://www.ClimbUpSoKidsCanGrowUp.com

Information about AFCA, their programs: http://www.americanfoundationforchildrenwithaids.org/

Any questions can be directed to Gail Foster, Event Manager, by phone (717-798-8335, M-F, 12:30-4:30, eastern) or e-mail (climb@helpingchildrenwithaids.org).

Journal Information

Published by the “California Mountaineering Group”

Library of Congress: “Journal of Mountaineering”

ISSN: 1948-9110 (print), 1948-9129 (online)

Subscribe (join this group): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JMTN/

Submissions: JMTN-owner@yahoogroups.com

Back Issues: www.journalofmountaineering.com

Disclaimer:

The Journal disclaims all responsibility or liability and does not guarantee, warrant, lend credibility, or endorse any product, service, or information mentioned.