New Book

[lemon]

I just finished, Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow by Maria Coffey(sp?). Apparently she's the ex-girlfriend of Joe Tasker, who died on Everest back in the early 80s with Peter Boardman.

 

She went around and interviewed parents, children and spouses of dead climbers, talking about the holes left in their lives, etc. by the passing of the climbers. It was a very heavy read, but I had a hard time putting it down. It was funny to read of how the ones left behind coped when the climbers went on expeditions. Their reactions were amazingly similar to my wife's when I deploy (Navy submarines).

 

I doubt anyone's life will be changed. It gave me a bit of pause, but since most of my climbing is smaller Cascades/Olympics type stuff, and these guys are all Himalyan vets, I figure my chances of dying are much smaller than theirs. I was amazed by how many of the climbers she spoke with agreed that climbing is purely selfish with no real socially redeeming value. Yet, they (and us here on this board) continue to climb.

 

Short version: Good book. Recommend it.

[fern]

lemon said:

I figure my chances of dying are much smaller than theirs.

 

actually I think you'll find they are equal: 100%

[ChrisT]

I read an article that she wrote about Tasker's death and it's affect on her, even many years later, but not the book. Sounds like too much of a downer for me.

[chelle]

Lemon, you might enjoy reading Dark Shadows Falling by Joe Simpson if you haven't already checked it out. I think it is one of his best.

[thelawgoddess]

lemon said:

I was amazed by how many of the climbers she spoke with agreed that climbing is purely selfish with no real socially redeeming value. Yet, they (and us here on this board) continue to climb.

 

a lot of the things people do are pretty much out of pure selfishness. i don't think something needs to be socially redeeming to make it worthwhile. i guess it just depends on what you're looking for in life. but i think i know what you mean. it sounds like an interesting book- how death affects other people's lives from the viewpoint of the deceased having been a climber ... as opposed to maybe a cop or a firefighter.

[Lord_Bosco]

"Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow." by Maria Coffey

 

Anyone thoughtful who climbs in the mountains should read this book. It will make you think, it might make you consider the implications of your choices, and will likely provide insights into your motivations.

[Dru]

I encountered Maria Coffey at one time and noticed how she seemed to assume every climber has a death wish. Every sentence she spoke was about death or risk or danger. I don't think she seems to understand the joy that climbing brings. I can only compare her to Andrew Todhunter as someone who writes about climbing but IMHO doesn't seem to "get it".

[willstrickland]

I heard a bit of an interview with this lady on NPR late last week. They were talking about Allison Hargreves (sp?), and the author definitely seemed to "not get it".

 

They also made some mention of how climbing was THE "it" thing right now. Made me slightly nauseous...too many already, don't encourage them. Need more people sitting on ass eating chips, not more people clogging da hillz. We need to colloborate with Mountain Dew and promote full-on DIRT RAPPELLING as the new extreme sport. The Mounties could help get it going. Aussie-style dirt rapping, EXTREEEEMMM!! That way the influx of people would stay on the 3rd class choss and eventually kick rocks on each other, break a few bones, and move on to the next "hot" extreeeeeeeemmmm sport.

[Lord_Bosco]

Dru and Willy:

 

Perhaps YOU don't "get it". (and that's not a double entendre in typical cc.com fashion). Maria Coffey has lived IT in some ways you haven't and by her own individuality and experience possesses insights and perspectives that you don't. Read the book and see what it says about your own reflection in the mirror and how your choices might affect others, then come back informed and pop off if you feel so inclined. As for climbing being trendy, it is. It's easier to do than ever before with a minimum of gear and knowledge needed to "succeed" on a sport-crag or indoors. With rock gyms blasting reggae, REI selling gear in fashionable colors, glossy ads in outdoor magazines promoting a "cool" image, plus a dose of competition to provide drama and heroes, and behold: you got rollerblading and disco for the new millennium. Maybe they'll all get bored after a couple of years but I doubt it. Hopefully they'll stay out of the mountains where their limited skills won't help much.

 

[skyclimb]

Lord_Bosco said:

"Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow." by Maria Coffey

 

Anyone thoughtful who climbs in the mountains should read this book. It will make you think, it might make you consider the implications of your choices, and will likely provide insights into your motivations.

 

Very well said. Reading should provide insight, into separate perceptions from our own. So the reflection in the pond may be someone elses that we are seeing. However this may help you realize a better form of yourself.

[Dru]

Talk about "not getting it"

 

The scene: Banff 1998. Dru has caught a ride to the disneyland of the Cdn rockies with some friends going to Banff Fest (Dru is on his way to Calgary to visit a soon-to-be-ex girlfriend). Upon leaving his friends Dru is spotted in an elevator in Banff hotel by Maria Coffey. Dru has a big pack full of climbing gear and stuff.

 

Maria: Hello, my name is Maria Coffey. Are you a climber?

Dru: yes.

Maria: How does your mother feel about you risking your life?

 

who's jumping to conclusions here?

[lemon]

Dru said:

Talk about "not getting it"

 

The scene: Banff 1998. Dru has caught a ride to the disneyland of the Cdn rockies with some friends going to Banff Fest (Dru is on his way to Calgary to visit a soon-to-be-ex girlfriend). Upon leaving his friends Dru is spotted in an elevator in Banff hotel by Maria Coffey. Dru has a big pack full of climbing gear and stuff.

 

Maria: Hello, my name is Maria Coffey. Are you a climber?

Dru: yes.

Maria: How does your mother feel about you risking your life?

 

who's jumping to conclusions here?

 

I think she probably does get "it"...whatever that is. She's coming from a differing perspective than a climber's is all. I am not going to defend her or her perspective, but I will say that the book really does no preaching, other than just the pure subject matter. She never says, "don't do it" or anything like that. It would have been very easy for her to do so, given her circumstances.

 

I just thought it was a really great book. I've read a bunch of mountaineering literature, and most of it is pretty verse-chorus-verse with a different author and different peaks. Very seldom (with the exception of Joe Simpson) does any author simply address the fact that climbing can be devastating to those left behind, and then try to reconcile a climber's desire to climb with their family lives and goals, etc.

 

It's funny that so many climbers spout off about her and her views, while they refuse to look at it from any other perspective than their own. I know I've certainly been that way, and being here on the board the last year or so, I've seen many similar attitudes.

[lancegranite]

Funny, I feel more in danger driving to the danger.

 

When I climb, I figure that I always have a choice.

That choice gives me more control than being forced to share the road with thousands of distracted commuters.