So much attention is paid to the climbs (yes I know that’s the idea) but it took Alan years of hard work to pull this campaign together. It didn’t help that he had to pitch it to once company after another in the midst of a severe economic downturn. It looked pretty bleak at times, almost all of the time actually, but Alan tackled the challenge like a true mountaineer – unwaveringly putting one foot in front of the other until he reached his goal. Ida would have been very proud.
I just wrapped up a complete month in the gym. I’m very happy with that but I’m even happier that my foot is healing well. I’m at 100% in the gym and pain isn’t an issue. I don’t know how well I’d do on a ten or twenty mile hike but I plan to add some of those into the training mix in January or February.
The routine right now is pretty basic – 45 minutes on the treadmill and about 18 ten rep sets of weights per night. I’m doing that 5 nights per week with Friday and Saturday being rest days. The epic stair climbs probably won’t be back in the mix for another 2 months or so. I want to make sure my foot is completely healed before putting that much stress on it.
The diet is also going extremely well. It’s also pretty basic – chicken, fish, turkey, and veggies make up the bulk of my diet. I don’t bother with low fat or fat free alternatives with the exception of fat free Greek yogurt which I eat almost daily. I’m probably averaging 1500 calories a day, often a little less, rarely a little more. On Saturday I can cheat a little at dinner but for the most part I haven’t. I’m down about 25 pounds and I’ve added some muscle so this is working well.
Via Alan Arnette comes Daniel Dunn’s account of a SAR operation on Quandary Peak is an excellent read. I don’t know how he managed to capture the essence of climbing in such a short piece but he did:
This particular edge is all funky, rocks going everywhere, it’s off-angle and not clean at all. There is no jumping off involved, it’s more of a belly slide/crawl maneuver, but then I feel my weight being totally on the rope, and I’m hanging. And from here, for me at least, I’m almost on auto pilot. I’m so focused, so involved in the moment, that nothing else matters. I don’t think about the elevation, the drizzle that has started back up, the work that I didn’t do today, the lack of a girlfriend, or any of the other crap in my life. I think about the rock in front of me, keeping my left hand up, and my feet out straight. There is nothing else right now. Ultimate focus.
Colin Dinsmore (red jacket) and Shawn Gorea, set up anchor to lower the missing hikers off a ledge. They are on a pinnacle where the exposure on three sides ranges from 100 to 200 feet, which would most likely result in death should they fall. And then I’m on flat ground, that’s it. About 60 seconds and 200 feet straight down. I call up on the radio, “Off belay”, look up and give the thumbs up. I’m good. Wow! that was incredible, and exactly why I love being high in the mountains. It’s this whole Zen Buddhism thing, being totally committed to the moment, being right here, right now. It’s awesome.
Climbing is, or can be, what a Zen Master friend of mine once referred to as “single minded practice”. Which reminds me of the koan she gave me before one of my climbs:
Who Walks? Never give up until you get the answer….then follow that.
That’s a valid question at any elevation but altitude, physical effort, and a little exposure can sure bring it into focus quickly.
