Power and Freedom

Recently my daughter gave me a delicate wooden horse figurine, which she artfully decorated in her own style. The timeliness of this unique gift couldn’t have been more perfect.

Some believe that the horse symbolizes the energies of power and freedom. This tiny object encapsulates much of my current training. Whether taking my ice tools & crampons for a walk or scraping my skis across the shallow snowpack, it is the unrelenting sense of power and freedom that drives me to continually venture into the backcountry …. across mighty ridges …. up to and over the summits of wild majestic places.

There is a primordial significance to this time of year when darkness beckons us to contemplate …. cradle our love, ideas, passions, exuberance for family, travel, friends. It is also time to rest in order to gestate our new beginnings for the coming year. For there is much power and freedom in harboring our creative outlets beneath twinkling lights before these blossom in tandem with our mother earth in springtime.

With these gentle thoughts we bid you all a joyous and happy holiday season. We look forward to sharing our adventures with you in 2008!

Namaste.

Landscape Wonderland

“Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth. He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience; to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder upon it, to dwell upon it.

He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon it.

He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind. He ought to recollect the glare of the moon and the colors of the dawn and dusk.”

~N. Scott Momaday

As we prepare for our upcoming travels, the excitement seems to permeate all our activities. Today we each climbed hard. Alison worked some 5.10 routes. Then she spurred me up a 5.11+. With the right mindset, you can accomplish anything.

Have a great week all!