I have already read Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, and plan to read Climbing High by Lene Gammelgaard, After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy, by Lou Kasischke, The Climb, by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt, and The Death Zone, by Matt Dickinson.
I was a climber in my younger years and although I did not have the resources for pursuing their type of aspirations, I have accumulated a nice collection of books regarding the experiences of other more talented and adventurous mountaineers. I have lived vicariously through their experiences and find this type of bravery pushes the limits in the intense search for adventure. I both envy and salute their accomplishments.
Deep within Left for Dead, I found an interesting couple of paragraphs. What I do find is that it identifies a place in all of us that may occur at some point, and it goes like this...
"If you've never felt very good about yourself, you never really expect to, and therefore you don't begrudge your lack of happiness. You're never content, but you manage.
That is not to say you function normally. You are not emotionally whole, and you cannot bring much value to your personal relationships. But you can keep putting one foot in front of the other, day in and day out just as you must do when you climb mountains. There's even a certain grim satisfaction in succeeding in this way by sheer dint of will and intelligence."
I have to
say that I've had periods in my own past when I've felt this way. In a
way, it's reassuring to know that I was not alone in my discomfort. We
are not unique when it comes to questioning our own mind. Everyone
experiences it and for each of us, we discover ways to carve new paths
to happiness.
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