Informal Poll: Why Go High?

[mochilero]

I went to the top of Mt. Sneffels (Colorado, 14,050 feet) in September, and a friend asked me why I like high places. I LOVE high places, but I was at a loss to explain why. There is something great about being above timberline, and it isn't just the views. I think it has something to do with being isolated or separated from the rest of the world too. Anyone else here love to get high in the mountains? Why?

Steve

www.TheUltralightBackpackingSite.com

 

[dmc]

Cause it's a vastly different environment than I live in...
And it usually involves some sort of adventure getting there...

And it's just cool....

 

[tirolerpeter]

Going High

I go high because it makes me "high." The views from the tops of those beautiful mountains is truly exhilarating.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Being on the summit is very spritual. When I read the comments in the summit cannister they mention God alot.

 

[ctenidae]

As Sir Edmund Hillary said, "Because it's there."

 

[Brettski]

Hey, I don't do that anymore....

Seriously, standing on the top of Modonna (fill in a Mountain) or the top of the blackcomb glacier, I ddn't feel a difference...sure it's a mile vert, but you can't see it...I guess you can chalk up to less lift rides...

 

[TenPeaks]

I like being on top of mountains for many reasons, but I think the best reason is summed up in this quote I found.

"You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: what is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees, one descends, one sees no longer... but one has seen. There is a way of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up: when one can no longer see, one can at least still know. We live and love by what we have seen." - Rene Daumal -

 

[ctenidae]

Wow, haven't run across that quote in a long time. One of my old favorites, though. It was included in the NC Outward Bound School's quote book about 12 or 13 years ago.

 

[tirolerpeter]

High"

Nice quote there TenPeaks. Altitude has a way of changing our perspective. It makes us realize just how small we are. I was on flight across the Pacific Ocean about 35 years ago, and after chatting with the Pilot out on a break he invited me up to the cockpit (This was long before terrorist hijackings). As I sat in his seat in the darkened environment I got the most extraordinary view of the stars (we were cruising at about 40,000 feet) that I have ever experienced. I also could look down and see the moonlight reflecting off the sea. I never felt so "small" in my life. While I tend to be on mountain peaks in the daytime, the scale of things always evokes similar feelings.