"Farther Criteria For Success..."

"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...".     P. Ament