Foreign Policy
National Security
-
Leadership
A Silver Bullet to Solve Sexual Assaults
-
War Dogs
Postcard from Bagram
-
Obama
The Neo-Nixonian Presidency
Posted By Thomas E. Ricks
Thursday, January 12, 2012 - 10:30 AM
Share
That's a photo of vets who climbed Grand Teton on 9/11/11.
By Stacy Bare
Best Defense mountaineering correspondent
"Why do you climb?" The question, in some form, was posed to George Mallory on a trip to New York City in the 1920s, as to why he was interested in climbing Mt. Everest. At the time, Mt. Everest remained the last great geographical unknown and great epic adventure since the poles had been "conquered." His response was flippant: "Because it's there." Myself an aspiring mountaineer, I used to love that response, but I'm not sure if it tells the whole truth.
I routinely find myself day-dreaming about snow and cold. I want to be in the ice floes. Struggling up broken granite and route finding in blustering winds for an opportunity to stand on top of a mountain for a few brief moments before the elements and pesky possibilities like cerebral or pulmonary edema set in. I've done it a few times in the United States with other veterans, and its always a life-changing experience. But do I want these things simply because they are there? Did Mallory really? Or was what drove Mallory and his colleagues at the time the same thing that I think may be driving me, an OIF veteran, and a new generation of adventurers and explorers outdoors and into what is left of our global wilderness?
Do I, like Mallory before me, and no doubt countless generations of warriors before him and after, climb because, like the nameless 24 year old demobilized in March 1919 who applied to be on the first Everest Expedition, "feel stifled" in civilian life and following demobilization? Do we seek adventure to recapture the sense of purpose, mission, and camaraderie we may have found in war?
Let's be honest, there were parts of war that really kicked ass. It was fun. I've never had an adrenalin rush, even in taking a 20 foot dinger off a rock face or hucking myself off wind cornices in winter, like I did on a few days in Baghdad. I love the way a mountain smells in the early morning after a big powder dump, staring down into the silence and open canvas of unblemished runs. But how much better the smell of cordite and silence following a successful combat operation? To be fair, I think my war was also fun in a way that World War I most certainly was not.
Still though, one can hardly doubt the boredom and drollness of life post World War One when veterans returned and the military was drawn down. Speaking to a crowded room following the end of the War and trying to gain interest for the first Everest expedition, Wade Davis, in his excellent book, Into the Silence, about why World War I vets became mountain climbers, explains the scene:
But his eyes were drawn to those in khaki, perhaps thirty or more scattered through the audience, soldiers like him who had endured the slaughter, the coughing of guns, the bones and barbed wire, the white faces of the dead. Only they could possibly know what the vision of Everest had become, at least for him: a sentinel in the sky, a place and destination of hope and redemption, a symbol of continuity in a world gone mad. (P. 87)
How to explain all of that when someone asks why you climb? Or why you fish? Or why you go outside? We've done enough for our country not to have to respond with anything more than, "because it's there." Its there, and it's the best medicine for you and as a warrior class, we've been doing it since World War One, and really, we've been doing it as long as we've been coming home from war.
Life after war is boring. And that's ok, but we can do something about it. We don't all have to go to Everest, but Mallory and his generation painted a clear picture of what we can do to overcome much of the paleness of life outside of uniform. Get outside and just like you would not leave a warrior alone on the battlefield, make sure you don't leave a warrior inside!
Great post! I live in Los Angeles county and in the past year have discovered the joy of hiking the outskirts of LA county. I first discovered these trails from the SoCal hiking blog Modern Hiker, who does a great job describing and photographing the trails. My first hike was a long winding 7 mile trail in Topanga Canyon with only 1200 foot elevation gain. I fell in love with hiking right away when I came upon a group of deer who let me walk up to about 10 feet away and photograph them. I believe a big attraction for veterans and the deep outdoors is the silence. It's eerily quite when you're deep in the woods or on a ridge some where. All you really hear is the wind, your feet crushing dirt or leaves underneath them and the occasional scurry from an animal.
Since then I have taken up rock climbing and I'm entering the raffle to hike Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the lower 48) later this year. I haven't taken up mountaineering yet, but it's naturally the next step.
Be careful! As TYRTAIOS would likely tell you Mt. Whitney has taken more than one life and needs to be approached with all due respect. Conditioning and experience are the key factors and novice climbers need to practice a little bit on less formidable structures that Whitney.
Mt. Baldy is close by and the 1000+ elevation per mile when starting at Manker Flats is great. I've run into more than a few people that told me they are using it for their Mt. Whitney conditioning exercise.
"The mountains are calling, and I must go." - John Muir
As you gain experience, be cautious on who you take advice from. Narrow it down by keeping in mind, anyone dispensing advice, who would not be concerned with first ascertaining who they are talking or messaging to, are probably suspect in experience?
Anyway, if they claim to be an expert with knots: look to see if their shoes are untied. : )
To maximize your chances as a first-timer on Whitney, submit your permit lottery application for dates in the mid-July to August timeframe. If you go in June there is a chance there will still be snow on the upper part of the route which is really the only time in the summer when you need to have technical mountaineering skills on the main Mount Whitney trail. The "99 switchbacks" gets iced/snowed over and most people ascend the "chute" which is a gradually steepening snow gully that requires proficiency in self-arrest and a finely tuned mountain sense of where your limits are when it comes to steep snow travel. That said, if you live in LA you have a ton of training opportunities nearby and anyone is perfectly capable of doing the trail with the right training. Get out there and hit the trails every weekend and try to find a local partner to train with.
Also, if you don't get a spot this year, there are still lots of great hikes up in the Whitney region that would be more-than-adequate substitutes. The hike up to Kearsage Pass, the Meysan Lakes Trail, and the hike up Mt. Dana further up 395 just inside Yosemite's eastern boundary.
A fine novel by James Salter, who flew and fought over Korea. Imagine Basho in a Sabre Jet.
Thanks for the comments! I would certainly not advocate climbing without being safe...simply that getting outside is one of the more successful ways I know of to deal with my life post-war!
For some great organizations helping people to do the same, check out
Soldierstothesummit.org
vetexpeditions.com
sierraclub.org/military
houndsummitteam.org
There's a lot of folks out there and most are always in need of good volunteers!
This is one of the most poignant and elegant examples of writing I have seen on this blog. Thank you.
No mountains in the Marshall Islands but the diving, snorkeling and kayaking are good enough substitutes.
Michael,
Thank you very much for your humbling words! Maybe we can sort out a veterans expedition over to the Marshall Islands?
Stacy
Happy to sort out a proper welcome for any visiting veterans. The fishing here is mighty fine, too.
Live in Colorado and been up several 14ers.
Nothing overly dangerous except for the pain, the lightening, and that potential falling thing.
I don't know if it is the exhaustion, the adrenaline, the lack of oxygen, or something else, but even for someone that is not overly religious, when I get to the top I KNOW God lives up there.
And I credit Colorado for saving my life. If it weren't for rock climbing, this veteran wouldn't have made it to today. Maybe you're right...God does live up there!
A nice article with a happy theme for once!
Great article and a lot more upbeat than most that get posted on here. Thanks for staying involved with the program still.
I met a lot of veterans while on the Appalachian Trail. Maybe something about military service makes people really, really want a long walk?
The first person to thru-hike the AT was actually an Army Veteran of the Pacific. The friend he intended to hike with died there. Following the war, he wanted to "walk the Army out my system, both mentally and physically..."
BTW, for those in Cali, check out the Sierra High Route. I finally finished making my maps for it...just biding the old time until I can head out that way.
We don't know that many are turning to climbing. I'm glad that you are getting a lot out of it and having as much fun as you did in Iraq. Many organizations use climbing as therapy. When done outside in scenic places, it can be thrilling as well as build self-confidence and confidence in others (rappel on.) But I read this as a personal statement and not a call to veterans to experience this adventure. Only in comments do you refer to organizations that are offering veterans this experience.
I know that I'm in left field because so many people whom I respect love this article. But I don't see it that way. It's a personal journal. What we need to do is make the premise true and get veterans outdoors hiking and climbing. As a former Outward Bound Instructor and founder of Duke Outward Bound (Project WILD) I know what can be achieved and the impact that these programs can have on anyone. In fact, it would be better to have this experience before deployment - but probably not feasible.
To reach the veterans who could most benefit, the VA ought to create a program to expose veterans to these challenges. That way, we might get to the ones who can most benefit from such an experience.
BTW, my memory of a WWI veteran was as a child seeing a man with a cane coughing and gasping for breath as he walked by. I asked my mother what was wrong with him. She said that he had been gassed.
Personal Journal vs. Several Climbers
Dear RVN SF Vet,
The piece was a lot about my own experiences, and I apologize for not bringing in the wider perspective of what others are doing. The numbers of veterans who are getting outside is growing, and personally, I am finding a number of other veterans and active duty soldiers, who are getting outside more and more.
What is difficult is that I do not have a baseline for how many were getting outside at point a versus how many are getting outside now, but there are a lot of great programs, like Outward Bound, who are helping people get outside, and its not just mountain climbing.
You're also right that it would be great to have these programs prior to deployment as well as I know that when I was in combat, I turned to memories of my time in the outdoors to help relax.
Shoot me an e-mail, I'd love to hear your ideas about how we can continue to broaden the opportunities available for veterans and military families and as you say, 'make the premise true'.
Best,
Stacy
Thanks for being gentle. If you give Tom your email address, he can relay it to me. Perhaps by affiliating with outdoors organizations, the VA and veterans groups can do a quick strtu.
We need to give it some thought AND persuade the VA. This is the same VA which spent millions to ascertain that dogs may not help veterans.
he has my e-mail addy. Looking forward to connecting with you. We're doing some cool things with VAs at the local level. Salt Lake City's VA, Wasatch Adaptive Sports, and the Sierra Club are partnering to get a bunch of folks outside this summer and the Club is actively working to here from military and veterans in Seattle, Colorado Springs, and DC how to develop leadership training programs so that veterans / military can also go outside on their own.
With resources, volunteers, AND VA volunteers, I think we can get this done. Like I said, any thoughts, ideas, etc are more than welcome! It takes a nation...
http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/training/forms/listening-session-application.asp
OUTWARD BOUND WAS FOUNDED IN WWII (1942)
You may wonder why Stacy and I speak of giving these experiences to troops prior to deployment. Stacy refers to memories of past experiences during periods of stress. And, that's the secret.
The Chairman of the Blue Funnel Line (Great Britain) during the Battle of the Atlantic learned that when his merchant ships were torpedoed, his old stokers and other older men survived their time in freezing waters covered in oil and avoiding flames. But, his young sailors in better physical condition were not surviving the exact same experience. He turned to Kurt Hahn to found a school to condition the minds of young men to stress by exposing them to alien challenges which seem insurmountable at the time. Of course, they all can be conquered because the biggest barrier to climbing a mountain or completing a ropes course or shooting a rapids is in the mind. They have never done these things before because they are from the city or led cloistered lives. Well, that part of the story is the significant omission in the Wikipedia story which can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outward_bound
For young people over 18 (for psychological reasons) this can open them up and give them the ability to have a more successful life because it raises their perception of their limits. And, as with Stacy, they can reflect on past challeging experiences that they conquered. They can survive life's shipwrecks.
An excellent concept for helping vets cope, but I have to ask, why stop there? Why not explore the possibilities of other wilderness sports? I guess mountain climbing is cheaper and more geographically feasible than, say, parasailing.
Personally, I've always been more of a skiing type person. I do so miss those Vermont slopes.
Right on Rabbit!
Actually, I think more veterans and activities focus on fly fishing, rafting, hiking, etc. than specifically mountain climbing. There are several different skiing programs for veterans and military families, the Vail Vet Project is just one of literally dozens. Most are always looking for volunteers.
Here's a video of us on the Grand Teton: http://vimeo.com/29396742
Cheers!
It's great to hear about our nation's veterans enjoying a great sport like climbing. Its great to see them upbeat and climbing gives them an opportunity to explore the great outdoors of the country they served to protect. Climbing Grand Teton is a feat. It's great to see such dedicated men and women enjoying everything this country has to offer.
As always you should never climb without the proper equipment. This includes climbing rope. If your rope is showing signs of wear or damage be sure to replace it ASAP in order to stay safe. Get more information on proper climbing equipment here: http://www.justropes.com/
This really is some of the best writing. Very conversational and engaging. Now I want to take up Mt. Climbing...
Looking at climbing differently
During my time in Afghanistan, I had the chance to take my RRs in two other Central Asian countries to run around the hills and mountains just outside those capitals. When I returned I managed a trip into the Panjshir valley and all I could do was dream of climbing those untouched peaks. After a few TDYs in Iraq, a climbing trip into the Vermont Green Mountains felt like I was there for the first time, although I've been climbing for a decade now.
Thanks for the post.
I know that I'm in left field because so many people whom I respect love this article. But I don't see it that way. It's a personal journal. What we need to do is make the premise true and get veterans outdoors hiking and climbing. As a former Outward Bound Instructor and founder of Duke Outward Bound (Project WILD) I know what can be achieved and the impact that these weddingblog programs can have on anyone. In fact, it would be better to have this experience before deployment - but probably not feasible.
Read More
May/June 2013
-
Profile
-
FP Power Map
-
Think Again
Follow us on Twitter | Visit us on Facebook | Follow us on RSS | Subscribe to Foreign Policy
About FP | Meet the Staff | Foreign Editions | Reprint Permissions | Advertising | Writers’ Guidelines | Press Room | Work at FP
Services:Subscription Services | Academic Program | FP Archive | Reprint Permissions | FP Reports and Merchandise | Special Reports | Buy Back Issues
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Contact Us
11 DUPONT CIRCLE NW, SUITE 600 | WASHINGTON, DC 20036 | Phone: 202-728-7300 | Fax: 202-728-7342
FOREIGN POLICY is published by the FP Group, a division of The Washington Post Company
All contents ©2013 The Foreign Policy Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
(25)
SHOW COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE