Why We (I) Really Climb? Part Two

I was in a conversation today where it was pointed out to me that I used the words “makes my head hurt” (MMHH) in reference to a presentation that was done as part of a work project to me and a team.  What does this have to do with mountain climbing?

I had to think of why I said MMHH and of course I know.  The project being presented was extremely detailed and intricate and involved several menu levels and background for our company’s flagship product.  As the sponsor of the project who had pushed it through as part of personal initiative to improve our user interface, what I really cared about was whether the project was on-track, on-time, on-budget and any issues that needed resolving.  The disconnect is that the project manager and the team wants to present the Details and step-by-step how things tie together, and a bunch of other technical specifications.  As my career progressed into senior management, I was always a working manager, but dealt more in management presentations, customer and market interactions and employee motivation and relations.  While these involve digging into things, they also require a degree of evaluation, making decisions and moving on to the next issue or project – of which there are always dozens that require daily management and monthly moving along.  My attention span towards small and medium details is limited.  I know this.  (It’s like cleaning the house – I’m really good at straightening-up and keep things clean, but not the one to clean the baseboards or between the cracks …)

Of course, I started Mountain Climbing with the Goal of achieving Seven Summits status to go with Seven Continents (marathons) –> BUT, I knew that success would entail not only physical and mental strength and duration and endurance but also a High Degree of Attention to Detail since the small things not done right could kill you.

I had to not only learn to tie ropes correctly, but make sure each and every knot connected to me and my team-mates was perfect, not just done good-enough.  I had to make sure that the tent was set correctly and each and every tent stake was deep enough so that it did not fly away in the night.  I had to make damn sure that every step I placed in difficult climbing situations (on high and narrow ridges) was perfect.  I had to fasten every strap of my pack, sled and ice-axe just right, not just in the approximate position.  PLUS, there was no one to delegate to or project manage.  It was all in my personal responsibility and accountability with feedback on an immediate basis: Life or Death or Injury.  I had to keep track of all my gear, not just some of them.  It’s the things I worried about most on the trips, about getting ready each morning, spending the hours setting up the tents and making ice-walls, having just the right amount of food and water and being a team-mate, not a manager (though every one is a leader in some way).

I had a number of moments where I could have paid the price.  I did not fasten one of my -40 mittens correctly on the descent from Denali summit, and it came off and was lost permanently.  If the weather was worse at the time, I could have lost some fingers.  On the same trip, my crampons came off three times, and if not in a flattish spot at the time, I could have been in a position where I could not come down without massive assistance or worse.  One time on Elbrus, also on the descent, I was rushing through an ice field (without crampons) and did a Fred Flintstone Flip and almost came upside down and injured my ankle that took almost a year to fully heal.  I could name more, but none of these same details are relevant in Running – though a wrong step can cause injury and not-finishing, but does not require the same attention to detail and technical understanding and comprehension and execution as climbing does.

it’s the thing that I am most proud of during the past mountain successes, the ability to do all these things, when they are the abilities that I most struggle with.   So many times I made My Own Head Hurt, but came thorugh to a better place!