The Ice Ax Cometh

After reading about Mount Everest, I started to wonder what it would be like to actually climb it? I saw myself in full climbing gear;
double plastic climbing boots with liners covering my wool socks, holding my ice ax, being held by my climbing harness while wearing pile pants with side zippers, a down parka, synthetic gloves, balaclava (I love these, brings out the real cat burglar in a person), 100% UV glacier glasses, and lipscreen.

That’s a lot of equipment to carry, not to mention the toll it would have on my back from hanging vertically, looking up to the open mouth of sky and slowly climbing inside. I know how Michelangelo must have felt when he painted the Sistine Ceiling.

The spontaneous vein in me would love to do it, but the pragmatist
handles this mental Supreme Court decision with caution, which I cannot disagree.

The boundless spirit in me says, “I can do it.”

The pragmatist says, “If you know you can do it, why do you have to prove to yourself what you already know?”

The boundless spirit enthuses, “But I want the world to see that I can do it?”

The pragmatist explains, “The world doesn’t care if you can or cannot do it. The world has enough on its plate.”

The boundless spirit adds, “But what if I want them to care?”

The pragmatist clarifies, “You shouldn’t worry about what the world thinks of you. Their thoughts don’t carry any weight in your Soul. You don’t have to prove that you can climb a mountain, swim across the ocean, set a world record, or try to win any accolades from what others deem is worthy - you’ve already done that by being here. You have won. You were born.”

The boundless spirit reflects and continues, “You mean, I don’t have to compete with anyone. I don’t have to feel inadequate when I don’t compare with anyone. I don’t have to...."

The pragmatist finishes, “All you have to do is feed your Soul. Care for it. Love yourself. Love what you do. Love how you do it. Love where you live in your heart. Love what you say - and say everything with tender loving care. Be aware of your tone, your language, your intent, your effect. Love all of life and all of live will love you.”

The boundless spirit adds, “That’s why I keep you around. You make a lot of sense. I must admit, being an Angeleno (native to Los Angeles), I don't do well in the cold. Certain things belong in the cold and I am not one of them. I am used to sweltering days of summer all year long, people in shorts, t-shirts, roller blades and kids wearing Heelys (shoes with wheels.)

Although I have climbed many Mount Everests in my mind, I could never do it outside the realm of imagination, it’s just not practical. I can’t imagine how I would feel stepping over dead bodies perfectly preserved in ice - that perished trying to accomplish greatness in reaching the goddess of the sky.

I would hate staring into their frozen faces, imagining what they were thinking - who they left behind - seeing their dreams stopped in mid stream - just to end up on top of a 60 million year old formation of rock - it’s just not practical.

The pragmatist says, “Touché!”

Mountain Mondays

Mondays are mountain days. Days when we may fell like our head is on the chopping block. Perhaps days when we lose our head? It’s hard facing confinement when we were running free through wonderland not less than 48 hours ago.

Through some strange phenomenon, the work that was completely finished on Friday somehow gained momentum over the weekend and now sits in a massive mountain glaring at us.

If we try to ignore it, it gets bigger. If we try to deny it, it screams our name. Our head has to take the red eye flight from a weekend of frolicking to a week of work. Though work is a four letter word, it is one word, we can’t live without. The letters don’t work singularly, they work together.

I think I have figured out what happens in between the days/daze. When Monday rolls in, we have to snap back into our position as a worker. We compare the week with the weekend and therein lies the rub.

On Monday, we are narrating our glorious weekend tales in vivid detail to our friends/coworkers and by doing that reliving them. By mid week, we start replacing work images with weekend images which ironically allows us to get through the week, but this method doesn’t work on weekends.

During weekends, we expand our weekend images, but don’t dare replace them with week images. Okay, I confess that I am not a theorist, but the above theory works for me. My head is the home of potent stimuli and invention that rivals any Nobel Peace Prize winner and I in my infinite wisdom will one day prove it to you all. Maybe the Pulitzer Prize is more my speed? Or better yet, the Blogitzer? (Daydreams about all of the possibilities.)

In an effort to make your work day flow a little smoother, or just assist you in your daydreams, I will leave you with facts about the tallest mountain in the world; the one and only Mount Everest. Just knowing that my work isn’t piled as high as Everest, I can get through the week a lot easier; that is as soon as I stop daydreaming.

Mt. Everest was named for Sir George Everest in 1859, the British surveyor-general of India and it was once known as Peak 15.

The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal and China.

In Nepal, it is called, Sagarmatha (goddess of the sky.) Some Nepalis also say that Sagarmatha, literally means "head of the ocean" or "head of the sea."

Tibetans and Chinese call it Qomolangma, or Chomolungma, (mother goddess of the universe) after the goddess Jomo Miyolangsangma
Chomolungma.

Everest was formed about 60 million years ago and has an elevation of
29,028 feet, or 5 and a half miles above sea level. This is equivalent to the size of almost 20 Empire State Buildings.

The first ascent of the peak was by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

Mount Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the northeast ridge from Tibet, as well as many other less frequently climbed routes. Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently used route. It was the route used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and the first recognized of fifteen routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design as the Chinese border was closed to foreigners in 1950 after the Chinese invaded Tibet.

As of 2003, more than 1,200 people from 63 countries, including 75 women, had scaled the peak. Some 211, including six women, climbed the mountain more than once. As of 2003, 175 people had died on Mount Everest; 42 while descending after reaching the summit.

By the end of the 2007 climbing season, there had been 3,679 ascents to the summit by 2,436 individuals. There have been 210 deaths on the mountain, where conditions are so difficult that most corpses have been left where they fell; some are visible from standard climbing routes. About 150 bodies have never been recovered.

Climbers range from experienced mountaineers to relative novices who count on their paid guides to get them to the top. This means climbers are a significant source of tourist revenue for Nepal, whose government also requires all prospective climbers to obtain an expensive permit, costing up to $25,000.

Most attempts are made during May before the summer monsoon season. As the monsoon season approaches, a change in the jet stream at this time pushes it northward, thereby reducing the average wind speeds high on the mountain. While attempts are sometimes made after the monsoons in September and October when the jet stream is again temporarily pushed northward, the additional snow deposited by the monsoons and the less stable weather patterns (tail end of the monsoon) makes climbing more difficult.

While conditions for any area classified as a death zone apply to Mount Everest, it is significantly more difficult for a climber to survive at the death zone on Mount Everest. Temperatures can dip to very low levels, resulting in frostbite of any body part exposed to the air. Because temperatures are so low, snow is well-frozen in certain areas and death by slipping and falling can also occur. High winds at these altitudes on Everest are also a potential threat to climbers. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Everest is about a third of sea level pressure, meaning there is about a third as much oxygen available to breathe as at sea level.

On May 8, 2008, the Olympic flame reached the top of Mount Everest, an emotional moment for China and the crowning of the Beijing Olympics torch relay.

See, work isn’t so bad is it? At least we don’t have to climb Mount Everest. We each have our own mountains to climb, so let us climb them with vigor and without hesitation. Let us climb them without looking back or looking down. If we climb them with strength and courage, we will get to the summit of life.

God grant me the serenity to accept the mountains I can not change, climb the mountains that I can and the wisdom to know the difference.