September is my favorite month for mind surfing.
I can sit back with my eyes half closed and imagine new tours from start to finish.
Im not talking about frame bindings, gloppy climbing skins, or persistent weak layers.
Nope, Im referring to the concept of suffering in the backcountry.
Its lazy, its inaccurate, its self-absorbed, it minimizes real experiences, and Im done using it.
This idea of suffering in the backcountry is rampant at every level of the industry.
And I get it, walking uphill to ski is hard.
Its uncomfortable, its inconvenient, its often painful, and on occasion can feel downright brutal.
But its not suffering, at least not in any real sense.
Im fully in agreement that going uphill in the winter time is very hard.
But the sum total of all of those factors is not suffering, its striving.
Why make that distinction?
Well, in general parlance, suffering describes something that youre subject to.
Humanity suffers from illnesses.
We suffer from the effects of wars, unjust policing, genocide, violence against women, and more.
We do not suffer in the mountains.
Theres an old adage that if youre lucky enough to ski, youre lucky enough.
Its rung true throughout my life, and throughout my friends lives.
That doesnt mean youre suffering.
It means that the hobby youre lucky enough to engage in is hard.
If it were suffering folks wouldn’t invest time and money to do it.
They wouldnt pay guides to take them out in the hills over and over again.
Save that word for contexts where it actually describes people being subjected to hardship under duress without their consent.
We do these things because we love them.
If someone is forcing you to backcountry ski with a gun to your head, thats different.
Otherwise, consider reevaluating your language.
I propose there is, and luckily for us, it also starts with an S striving.
Striving is defined as to make great efforts to achieve or obtain something.
Thats exactly what were doing when we wander around on skis.
Were working hard, going outside of our comfort zones to achieve new heights.
Its an easy swap, its more specific, its more descriptive, and it just plain sounds cooler.
The same goes for sufferfests.
Did you suffer, or did some parts of that experience just suck?
If its the latter, then you just had a good old suck fest.
All Im asking is to evaluate your language.
Is suffering the most accurate and descriptive way to talk about your challenges in the backcountry?
But we can do better.
We can be more articulate.
And skiing will be better if we try.
