Spring snowpack stability has me hankering after bigger lines, longer tours, more consequential days.
And its important to recognize that as we plan our backcountry excursions.
We set measurable goals to complete.
And thats great, measurable goals are the first step in progression.
But mountains arent meant to be conquered.
Instead, they offer a place to progress, to learn, to fail and grow from it.
And goals are an important part of learning.
The problem comes when those goals affect our judgment of snow stability and overall safety.
Setting specific objectives increases our temptation to cut the margins a little too tight.
A readiness to compromise is essential to safe backcountry travel.
Rapid warming this spring day led to us cutting it a little closer than usual with wet slides.
They fancy themselves as solo conquistadors, lone conquerors of epic summits.
None of us live in a Hemingway novel.
Your dehydrated jaunt in Grand Teton National Park does not qualify as Suffering.
You are not some mysterious, charismatic protagonist in a grand saga.
No misunderstood but brilliant and resilient heroes here.
I used to be there.
Its gratifying, in a masturbatory sort of way, to dramatically let go of everything.
But thats just not how it works.
Your decisions have an impact on others, even if youre not skiing with them.
Your actions have wide-ranging consequences.
A real hero would own them.
And carrying axes and crampons further clouds that judgment.
So never let your goals become so inflexible that they cloud your decision making.
And never paint yourself as a tragic hero in some epic tale of man against nature.
You arent, and its not worth it.
If you really have to go solo, do it knowing that your decisions dont ever just affect yourself.
Make more conservative decisions than you would with a group.
Be prepared to spend a night out.
Youre better than that.
Try acting like it.
