{"id":1379,"date":"2009-10-31T14:19:25","date_gmt":"2009-10-31T21:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2011-12-03T18:26:53","modified_gmt":"2011-12-04T00:26:53","slug":"why-i-climb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/31\/why-i-climb\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Climb"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Why do you climb? An age-old question first publicly asked in the 1920s of George Mallory during his attempts on Everest. His incredibly complex or dismissive answer was &#8220;Because it is there.&#8221; Similar to mine and no less understood by strangers,     acquaintances,   friends and some of my family.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/31\/why-i-climb\/rainier_2004_147\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1382\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/rainier_2004_147-150x112.jpg\" alt=\"Sunrise Climber on Mt. Rainier\" title=\"Sunrise Climber on Mt. Rainier\" width=\"150\" height=\"112\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1382\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>To see the sun rise before it does. To understand fellow climbers in an accelerated environment. An alternative to the day-to-day world. To see if you can do it. To spend time with yourself and see if you are really whom you think you are. To discover your limits.<\/p>\n<p>Climbing captures the allure and mystery of life for me. First there is the peacefulness of being high on a mountain as the sun peaks around the Earth. Then there is the camaraderie of friends being roped together as they work up a mountain not as individuals but as a team. Finally, there is the challenge of taking a step on a steep slope knowing that a mistake could be deadly but the next step will be rewarding.<\/p>\n<p>After six weeks of climbing up and down the Khumbu Icefall, Western Cwm and Lhotse Face, I leaned heavily on my right knee. My headlamp showed pure white snow at my foot &#8211; a sharp contrast to my bright yellow boots. I felt another wave coming over me. I gagged once again and struggled for breath. Even with my oxygen bottle turned on, I was having serious difficulties at 27,200&#8242; on Mt. Everest. After a quiet discussion with myself, I turned around to return to the South Col and Camp 4. My 2002 summit of Everest would have to wait.<\/p>\n<p>A test of my body or of my mind?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/stories\/whyiclimb.php\">continue reading &#8220;Why I Climb&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do you climb? An age-old question first publicly asked in the 1920s of George Mallory during his attempts on Everest. His [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[123],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-1379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings","tag-mountaineering"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why I Climb - The Blog on alanarnette.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"alanarnette.com is a site covering big mountain climbing including Everest, K2, and the 7 summits. 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