UKC

We were out for dinner with friends last night, and one of them, aware I am a sometime climber, asked me exactly what climbing has and still does mean to me? As you all know, explaining to a non climber what climbing means, can often be a frustrating and ultimately pointless exercise. The best way I could think, was to compare it with the perfect mistress - always there, always welcoming, always exciting.

However, this morning, I've been thinking about the question more seriously, and realised just what climbing has and probably still does mean to me, and that it's probably time I thanked it properly.

So thank you climbing.

Thank you for memories so rich and vibrant that not even the passage of time has dulled.

Thank you for those rounded, wind worn gritstone edges, twinkling like precious jewels. Where thirty feet of rock contained adventures and magic to last a lifetime. Sunday night hands covered in the love bites if intimacy with the rock.

Thank you for those Friday night dashes from the city to the crags and mountains, where the pressures and anxieties of real world, fell from my shoulders, and the wild landscape embraced me in a big warm hug.

Thank you for those long heady summers in the Alps and Yosemite, living like a vagrant off sod all, yet always happy.

Thank you for all the many adventures - both on and off the mountains - and thank you for the occasional guardian angel you have allowed me, when ambition ran out of talent.

Thank you for allowing me to follow in the footsteps of, and stand on the shoulders of giants, and even occasionally to meet them and climb with them.

Thank you for those glorious friendships, present, and those absent friends past. They are always in my thoughts and heart, and my climbing and my life, has been so much richer for having them part of it.

Thank you for those stunningly perfect days, and thank you for the not so perfect days, when storms and difficulties pushed me to, and sometimes beyond my limits. They have all shaped my imperfections.

So thank you climbing. Thank you for letting me be part of your rich tapestry for all of these years.

In reply to Goucho:

Nice post, the bits about "Friday night dashes from the city to the crags" and about "friendships" resonated well with me.

In reply to Goucho:

Nice post I enjoyed that. Here's a quote a long those lines...

Heinrich Harrer- "The absolute simplicity. That's what I love. When you're climbing your mind is clear and free from all confusions. You have focus. And suddenly the light becomes sharper, the sounds are richer and you're filled with the deep, powerful presence of life."

In reply to Goucho:

Yes, superbly well said.

I am obviously not alone and I know climbing (and hillwalking) has been crucially important for me down through the years.

It has made life (including that outside climbing) way more fun and enjoyable and has crucially helped me during the hard times. It is always something to look forward to and a good day out gives a warm glow of happiness for over a week afterwards.

I have made the most amazing friendships through climbing.

I have a huge amount to be grateful to climbing too,

M