Why do we do any extreme sports? Why do we push ourselves? If you look at this post and at the video in the middle on Ellen MacArthur, you'll see a person pushed beyond endurance and yet meeting the challenge. It has to be good for the character.
Is it the inner child in yourself, the sense of wonderment? I'm not sure. Is the inner child closely aligned with the eternal quest to push onwards and upwards?
The adventurer and risk taker, The Talking Bear, speculates on whether it is there or not:
Do we really lose this inner child that is, or was, inside each and every one of us at some point in time? Do we chase our inner child away because of some embracing act or rude statement by another? I do not know the answers to any of these questions. I do know, however, that I have spent a lot of time trying to find my inner child and embrace that wonderful ability to imagine and explore that world of 'what if".
Whatever, there does seem a sort of spirituality to nature, to the forest, to the mountain, to achievement.
Danger? Oh yes - almost any sport can be dangerous, even abseiling or rappelling as the Americans like to call it:
The BMC’s Equipment Failure Investigations include abseil ropes cut through, failed anchors, detached karabiners, and abseil devices that ‘mysteriously’ did not control the speed of descent.
Add to this clothing and long hair tangled in the abseil device; trips, flips and swings; the end of a rope being reached unexpectedly; plus the odd jammed rope, sharp edge and falling rock or piece of a equipment, and you have a much clearer understanding of the hazards of abseiling and why it claims lives. As with all methods of descending abseiling is dangerous; but it is particularly unforgiving of any mistakes or failures.
For most experienced climbers abseiling is an activity to be avoided unless it is the only way of getting off a climb or down a mountain - for the unwary it can be a fast introduction to discover the quickest way to reach the ground.
In the catamaran anecdote I told in the post on the Fastnet [link above], one broken trapeze wire and that was me gone. I imagine the fallbacks and failsafes in rappelling are doubled up but still - what's the chance? On the other hand, not to take risks is not the way to go because one loses one's edge and fails to meet inconvenient barriers in the correct spirit.
Not to venture seems, to me, to be a one way, downhill trip to one's death inside.
Good post, James.
ReplyDeleteThoughts that I'm well familiar with, as you well know. There are moments when I wonder what drove me up the rock, or underwater. There are extreme sports that were offered for me to try and I said no thanks, others I tried and didn't care for. I suppose even risk takers have their limits sometimes. We recently heard of a free-climber dying, John Bakker (sp) He was one of the big 'heroes' and actually lived old for his sport. Was it right that he went to such extremes, and has now left a child fatherless? (probably that is what has slowed me down, and TB as well, btw).
I will be back to comment further, but alas, I'm away to work. :)
I will leave you with this, my friend:
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
-Helen Keller
Don't know why I could go down that hill on a bobsled or even by skiing but to abseil would terrify me.
ReplyDeleteI don't do extreme sports, but some of the campaigning I do is pushing the boundaries...
ReplyDeleteTo each his/her own, I suppose. Skiing downhill was fun, but I actually prefer Nordic. No thanks to the bobsled, though childhood sledding was fun. Don't worry James, I won't force you into any ropes or rappelling.... ;)
ReplyDeleteCherry,
I can just imagine! and no thanks to that arena, either! :)
Sir, My quote in the book the "Danger Habit", by Mike Barrett is a decent sample of my thoughts. It goes like this:
ReplyDelete"The pursuit of the summits in life is where life is lived for me. The journey, between safety and the moment of definition, is where life is discovered. I feel that we push through our moments of deep breaths, agonizing sweat, unbearable pain, and willed endurance in search of our true character.
We ask ourselves, will my charater be good enough when it counts the most? This true life story ( the disater on Everest in 2006) is about the defining moment for men,and how their choices defined another's. History is full of these moments. In fact this story is played out on the frozen canvas that killed so many in 96(referring to the events recounted in Jon Krakaure's book " Into Thin Air"). David curled up and froze to death near the summit. A high price to pay in search for internal value.
I guess for me it's all about who I take on the journey with me - my buddies, my wife, my God. They challenge me so that I may grow. I grow so that I may lead. I lead so that I may challenge myself. I challenge so that others may help me find myself."
I pose two questions:
1. If children live their dreams, what do adults live?
2. At the end, when we are pulling our last breath, what will our answer be to this question? Did I live, or merely just exist?
The heart of a child knows the impossible is always possible. Somewhere along the way we forget that and simple do what others tell us we can do.
People do not choose to become extraordinary, They choose to do extraordinary things.
Our risk does not have to be a mountain top, but we all wish to risk.
TB form SBH
A warm welcome, Talking Bear and the quote was interesting. You do realize I'm going to steal that and use it [attributed] in a new post, don't you? :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, how did the bikes run and which was yours? What did you think of Puget Sound?
Sir, you may use the quote as you wish, as it has already been used.
ReplyDeleteThe bikes ran great, mine was the "small" Kawi "KLR 650" black in the pictures. I loved the sound and everything around it. It made for a romantic back drop on yet another "honeymoon".