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www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/thewrongstuff/
By Kathryn Schulz
There's a select number of places on earth where you really, really don't want to make a mistake. High on the list, in every sense, are the planet's tallest mountains: the 14 peaks in the world that are more than 8,000 meters (26,247 feet).
Widely acknowledged as one of the world's greatest mountaineers, Ed Viesturs is one of fewer than 20 people and the only American to have climbed all of those peaks—and one of only five to have climbed them without supplemental oxygen. Nonclimbers probably know him best as the star of the 1996 IMAX movie about Mount Everest, which he has climbed seven times. I sought Viesturs out because I was curious about the kind of attitude you develop toward error when a single mistake can easily cost you your life.
Ed Viesturs: "A mistake is a mistake even if you get away with it. Even though we succeeded, I don't ever want to do that again. I felt on the way down that the conditions were pretty desperate. We could've gone down in an avalanche at any minute. We just got really, really lucky. There were moments I was convinced we weren't going to make it down, when I said [to myself], "Ed, you've made the last and most stupid mistake of your life."
"I think a lot of people, when they survive a situation like that, they're willing to do it again. They're like, "Well, you know I got away with it one time, I can probably get away with it again." You do that too many times and sooner or later, it's not going to work out."
"I don't really look back and say, "Oh my God, that thing I did was really idiotic, how could I have done that?" I think I always wanted to be careful. I didn't want to die in the mountains. I do think, though, that as I climbed more, I became more conservative, just because of all the things I'd learned. When you're less experienced, you don't even know about the mistakes you're making."
Schulz: Are there certain predictable mistakes that less experienced climbers tend to make?
Viesturs: There's what I call groupthink, what some people call summit fever. You know, there's five or six people and they're climbing along and the weather starts to get funky and the majority of the group wants to go on, and the person with the least experience is like, "Weeellll, they're going on, it's probably OK." It's almost a lemming-type effect. People get swept up in it, it's that psychological feeling of safety. But I think we see that a lot in everyday life, too, where there's a group of people doing something and you go, "Well, they're doing it, it's probably OK."
". . . Climbing a mountain has to be a round trip. So many people get to the summit but never make it back down."
Oh those blue skies are very nice
but if you stop to think twice,
by clouds they are enhanced
and they keep us all entranced.
When fascination takes root
photographs we must shoot,
and with camera in hand
we will wander the land.
When we start to obsess
of cloudscapes to possess,
life takes on a new meaning
and there’s no time for cleaning!
The weather may be foul or fair
but there’ll still be clouds up there,
and we can take photo’s galore
then stop, to take just one more.
Of our collections we are proud
especially that elusive cloud,
and to catch an optical effect
can really make our day perfect.
© Jackie S Brooks 2011
This wonderful yacht sailed into Newhaven last week and since I have always wanted to sail on her I was thrilled to see her. Sea Cloud II is styled on an old windjammer and was built in 1931 for an American heiress. then it was the largest private yacht in the world and entertained famous people and royalty. Its has a chequered history and was even used in the last war. It had its masts removed and was painted grey and used as an observation station in the Atlantic. After that it was bought by a group of German investors and now sails the med and Caribbean. Unfortunately it didn't have its 29 sails up until it got too far away in the channel after leaving Newhaven. I hope to sail on it soon and enjoy some luxury!
Do something creative every day | Part 33 | Mushroom Cloud
Thought of this one the other day and thought I'd see if I could pull it off. I think it came out alright. Nuclear bomb jokes are always hilarious, right?
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