TR on the FA of El Pilar del Sol Naciente, Patagonia

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mike m

Trad climber

black hills

Jan 7, 2013 - 07:32pm PT

Awesome write up and what a climb!

Leggs

Sport climber

Home away from Home

Jan 7, 2013 - 07:40pm PT

Amazing TR.... thank you for sharing.

I think our success relied heavily on our solidarity. We all had our roles to play, we all had our highs and our lows but never at the same time. It’s because of that that we managed to keep going in moments of doubt. The summit feeling was unique; it’s never certain that an opportunity such as this pillar will present itself to us as alpinists in our lifetimes so we had to really appreciate and take advantage of it.

To see the smiling faces at the summit ... beautiful.

~peace, leggs

Josh Higgins

Trad climber

San Diego

Jan 7, 2013 - 08:35pm PT

What an amazing experience on an amazing line! Now this is front page worthy on ST!

Josh

tahoe523

Trad climber

Station Wagon, USA

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 8, 2013 - 12:29pm PT

This is what I call the beauty of the trip report and why they're worth sharing. And not just theirs, mind you; I mean of all shapes and sizes. These stories provide us temporary reprieve from our cubical lifestyles in the form of relatable entertainment. Reading, in this particular case, with a serious degree of humility, as we're gently reminded that rolling out of the car and gearing up for a 10 minute approach to the base of el cap is hardly an inconvenience.

Then the eyes narrow in on the photos. At that point it's hard not to feel a twinge of envy. Now, it's not to say that it provokes a serious existential crisis, but you might spend a minute or two questioning why you're sitting in front of a keyboard, quickly taking inventory of your justified priorities while that inner monkey child of yours is rebelliously inquiring, "damn, why am I here and not there?"

Envy promptly turns into awe and respect as soon as the delusional grey matter in your head finally comprehends what it took to actually get to where they are now. Years of collective experience in hard rock, ice, mixed and big wall climbing-- prior failures, past successes and excruciating determination culminating in a summit shot with tired smiles in such a remote, uncharted, high altitude place like Cerro Murallon. Millions of years we have existed on this planet and there are still places on earth where, for lack of a better phrase, no man has gone before.

With the browser now closed, the awe mutates into inspiration. The seeds of motivation are either planted or re-watered. This sounds cheesy, you say, reading the rest of this narrative with a soothing Fitz Cahall voice over. No. Cheesy inspiration is reserved for scotch taping a picture of Chris Sharma on your fridge and sneaking in extra ab crunches while your cream sauce comes to a boil. No, trip reports do much more than what cheesy could ever do for you. While many of us will never summit a grade VI climb of that nature or difficulty, we revel in their success. We see what other mere mortals are capable of; in turn, we're inspired to push ourselves, to test our limits and our dreams.

Anyway, that's why I'm so drawn to reading TRs. Point me to a religious or political post that can elicit that many emotions and I'd be keen to read that thread over a cup of coffee.