Comments on: Alpine Climbing in the Northern Cascades http://www.chickswithpicks.net/alumnae-news/alpine-climbing-in-the-northern-cascades/ Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:04:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chicks Climbing » Blog Archive » Links to some amazing inspiration in this week’s Gossip Report! http://www.chickswithpicks.net/alumnae-news/alpine-climbing-in-the-northern-cascades/comment-page-1/#comment-162 Chicks Climbing » Blog Archive » Links to some amazing inspiration in this week’s Gossip Report! Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:03:52 +0000 http://www.chickswithpicks.net/?p=2112#comment-162 [...] week we had some amazing features on the Chicks Climbing blog, including a guest post from Chicks alumna Carolyn Riccardi, who shared her July trip report to the Northern Cascades. On [...] [...] week we had some amazing features on the Chicks Climbing blog, including a guest post from Chicks alumna Carolyn Riccardi, who shared her July trip report to the Northern Cascades. On [...]

]]> By: Kathy http://www.chickswithpicks.net/alumnae-news/alpine-climbing-in-the-northern-cascades/comment-page-1/#comment-161 Kathy Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:13:20 +0000 http://www.chickswithpicks.net/?p=2112#comment-161 This is beautiful, Carolyn! Thank you for being so honest and putting your finger on something few of us ever face, let alone talk about. This last paragraph is so meaningful to me: "I guess it’s not alpine climbing until you shed a few tears behind your glacier glasses. It’s perfect cause no one can see. During the climb tears felt like submission. My struggles were crystal clear indications that I didn’t belong on these routes. I couldn’t keep up. I was lagging. I was afraid. Now I realize that all those moments were the heart of the climb not top outs and summits. I was wrong. The tears are self knowledge. They apart of who I am. It’s not simply that I pushed through the tears and become this alpine amazon its that I own my tears. I own my fears. I own my short coming and failings as I own my hard work and my climbing skills. My heart and my passion. It’s all me." Very well put. And I also loved your revelations about how training, no matter how intense or how helpful, can lure one into false confidence. A confidence that mountains have a way of slapping down, this is such a helpful reminder. The mountains are unique, nothing can really match them for challenge. They force us to set very high standards for ourselves if we want to live and move among them. That's why we work so hard and keep going back. Great piece, keep up the hard work and stay safe out there! <br><br>Kathy This is beautiful, Carolyn! Thank you for being so honest and putting your finger on something few of us ever face, let alone talk about. This last paragraph is so meaningful to me: “I guess it’s not alpine climbing until you shed a few tears behind your glacier glasses. It’s perfect cause no one can see. During the climb tears felt like submission. My struggles were crystal clear indications that I didn’t belong on these routes. I couldn’t keep up. I was lagging. I was afraid. Now I realize that all those moments were the heart of the climb not top outs and summits. I was wrong. The tears are self knowledge. They apart of who I am. It’s not simply that I pushed through the tears and become this alpine amazon its that I own my tears. I own my fears. I own my short coming and failings as I own my hard work and my climbing skills. My heart and my passion. It’s all me.” Very well put. And I also loved your revelations about how training, no matter how intense or how helpful, can lure one into false confidence. A confidence that mountains have a way of slapping down, this is such a helpful reminder. The mountains are unique, nothing can really match them for challenge. They force us to set very high standards for ourselves if we want to live and move among them. That's why we work so hard and keep going back. Great piece, keep up the hard work and stay safe out there!

Kathy

]]> By: Golds21 http://www.chickswithpicks.net/alumnae-news/alpine-climbing-in-the-northern-cascades/comment-page-1/#comment-155 Golds21 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:26:17 +0000 http://www.chickswithpicks.net/?p=2112#comment-155 Strong work alpinista!<br>-SG Strong work alpinista!
-SG

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