"Another Spirit Within The Experience..."

There are many spirits to be found within our adventure experiences.....

P. Ament offers another perspective on certain 'spirit' created out there, and I think, on the nature of giving back and passing forward... He wrote: "The spirit of the experience is what hangs in delicate balance... Success... might not be judged by whether someone reaches the summit. It should be judged by whether or not the time spent on the mountain upgraded the mountains beauty - rather than degraded it. A mountain's beauty is 'upgraded' by virtue of the spirit that is infused into its slopes by those who pass near it... The word is replenish, to give back. If we hope to draw into our spirits the beauty... we must return to it whatever is, or should be, some of the beauty that hangs from the edges of our souls. The inner feelings and ideas of those who visit the area are what is left there... Sometimes those attitudes and spirits are every bit as much garbage as piles of discarded oxygen bottles... The criteria for success should be measured by whether the experience has been one of integrity, pristine awareness, and love for one another and the mountains...".

I so strongly agree that who we are in these environs and what we do there in our wild lands all either contribute to that natural place... or not... Can we really 'be' out there and have it just remain a neutral experience where our presence is not assumed to have some impact?

I'm not sure...

Just being aware of this opportunity, means we are now more respectful of such a musing as Aments'...

We pass forward so much more when our adventure efforts do not impact anything other than ourselves, and possibly those whom we adventure with...

Passing forward here can also mean we preserve for others the opportunity to enjoy the same profound and powerful adventure experiences that we ourselves have so enjoyed.....

DSD

Images by: Top - Wiltsie; Middle - Moyes; Bottom - 'Climbing' Magazine Cover of Ament.