Conquerors of the Useless

- Why do climbers climb?

Many people ask the question "why". I am also interested in it because I am trying to find out what makes ME to climb. I have collected some quotes here about the issue.

Because it's the least blemished mirror available to show me how I'm really doing in life. As Moe Antoine said [paraphrased]... it's easy to bullshit your way around most difficulties in life, to tell yourself that you're doing fine. But when you're climbing you can't avoid the truth: you know how you felt, and (more importantly) how you performed under pressure. It's where the rubber meets the road in life.
When I stand on top of a mountain and it is taking all my strength and my courage to get there, then, one second, ONE SECOND, I feel the truth of my life.

- From the film "K2"

I think I also liked Art Davidson's reason given in Minus 148F as well:
He climbs so that he could eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in peace.
The first question which you will ask and which I must try to answer is this, "What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?" and my answer must at once be, "It is no use." There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behavior of the human body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation to some account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it. We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raise food. It's no use.

So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.

But what lies beyond the athletism and fun of climbing?

1. Accomplishment - doing a difficult task which most people either can't do or won't bother to try. Includes learning and polishing a special set of skills. Getting places only these skills enable.

2. Learning what your body can - and can't - do, and how to exploit the former and avoid the latter. (part of your "athleticism")

3. Problem-solving - I *know* there's a way up this rock, I just have to find it. (Or: I *know* he put this stopper into this slot somehow, there *must* be a way to get it out. :-)

4. Confidence in assessing safety and planning acceptable risks.

5. Adrenaline! Enjoying it, and controlling the fear aspects.

Location: Enjoying both the exposure and the surrounding location. For me, the location of a climb is as/more important than the line. A wilderness route is far superior to most roadside crags; I've no interest in gyms. Commune with creation - and leave it as untouched as you found it.
Personally, I climb for a couple reasons, one, it really puts life back into perspective; that is, that many things that you thought were so important, are somehow lost, and no longer of any signifigance. You realize that many of the goals you have are incorrect, and it helps me to reorginize my life. (This is all happening by the way, as I'm looking at my #0 nut 30 feet below me :)...
Doing a climb is like squeezing your life through the narrow part of an egg timer.

for just a while there is _nothing_ as important as where you are at that very moment.

and not only that, but you usually have time to think about the situation you've got yourself into. (unlike for instance skiing where you're either reacting or standing - not much in between)

very little is this pure.

If man could only get to know the mountains better, and let them become a part of him, he would lose much of his aggression. The struggle of man against man produces jealousy, deceit, frustration, bitterness, hate. The struggle of man against the mountains is different. Man then bows before something that is bigger than he. When he does that, he finds serenity and humility, and dignity, too.

- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

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

Learn as if you will live forever
Live as if you will die tomorrow

- Walt Disney

Getting to the top wasn't the point, so what is the point?

I climb because
it's a full-body exercise
it feels satisfying
it develops strength, balance, and mental discipline
it develops better understanding of one's own body and mind
it gets you out to some beautiful parts of the country
I don't seek the thrill of danger. An adrenaline rush impairs climbing ability. But if climbing didn't have the element of danger, it wouldn't develop mental discipline the way that it does.

A lot of climbers have a strong sense of independence and self-reliance, character traits I like.

"What man actually needs is not a tensionless state, but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwile goal, a freely chosen task."

- Viktor E. Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning"

"Monet etsivät elämän sisältöä jännityksestä ja hermojarepivästä kokemuksista. Benji-hypyt, vuorikiipeily, maastopyöräily Alpeilla, laskettelu kivisillä rinteillä ja ylipitkät hiihto- ja juoksukilpailut ovat tästä esimerkkejä. Jatkuva jännitystila synnyttää elimistössä endorfiini-nimistä hormonia, joka saa aikaan miellyttäviä tunteita ja myös riippuvuutta."

- Biologi Matti Leisola