outside

exposed, august 30, 2005. mark ascending mount smuts. kananaskis, alberta.

adrenaline. some people love it, others fear it; i do both. when you are eight thousand feet up a mountain and can see the entire way to the valley floor straight below, when you are trusting in the solidity of the rock onto which you are holding and trusting in your ability to create enough friction in order to hold yourself there, adrenaline is present in your bloodstream in relative abundance. keeping it from interfering with cognition or with the execution of a task at hand is both a natural and learned skill, but one entirely imperative to bring along to a mountain. mountains challenge one to a test of physical skill, but often impose a serious test of mental strength as well. a mountain can dissolve the mind and thereby destroy the body even without presenting a serious test of physical skill. one thing to leave behind when approaching a mountain is pride; continuing on beyond one's limits of ability and safety can easily spell disaster.

there is always some element of risk when entering the outdoors, and if you venture near mountains you do so on their terms. but it is also entirely possible to fully enjoy the experience of wilderness without adrenaline. in either case, getting out is therapy. we don't need to relax more, we need the purgative and restorative effects of escaping our sterilized confinements. being out there, we are exposed to what we are missing, what we are wasting, what we are destroying. get out there. see it before it's gone. see it and know we can't contribute to its departure. we'll miss it when it's gone. staying inside is the real disaster.