In reply to AlisonS:
> It's when people start getting judgmental that it becomes an issue.
>"And actually a very sensible, well researched and carefully thought out objective for the style of ascent and the risk factors involved."
In YOUR judgement!! So when you judge something to be good, that's OK. But when someone judges the same thing to be bad, that's not OK. Nice one.
ie. "Don't judge me = don't say things about me I don't like". But if what you say is 'nice', well then that's OK. So much for your aversion to the 'cotton wool' society, Alison.
Going unprepared to a notoriously dangerous face, trying to haul a portaledge up a route with too much snow on it (!) and clearly not understanding the psychological and emotional ramifications of having constant phone contact with loved ones during such an attempt does not smack of "sensible ... carefully thought out" etc.
Maybe Andy's ego and ambition got the better of him and, short of new material for next year's shows, he thought "what famously hard thing can I get on - and off - with just a few days free over the hols, then talk engagingly about in my shows as to what a silly man I was to have even tried?". Cue the well-known 'Eiger' brand. He's now garnered much publicity for "attempting the Eiger Direct solo in winter". Mission accomplished!
I know I'm being unfair to Andy here, because he can't argue back to my face, and I wasn't on the Eiger with him, but really I'm just using him here as a case in point, a point about climbers in general, having been stupid, egotistical, deluded and ill-prepared myself on more than a few climbs.
Too many people lionise famous climbers as if their motivations are always pure and righteous, or at the very least, logical. High end climbing is competitive, like it or not. To succeed in competition you need to be selfish, driven to prove something, and maybe a little dumb (so as not to be distracted by imagination or good sense) - no matter your IQ. A lot of what we read in the climbing media is just white lies and self-justification for this unsavoury (ie. basic human) behaviour - behaviour that is accepted, even encouraged, in other pursuits. But climbing is special, right? We don't want to admit our passion is less than pure.
Rational choice theory is bunk, as the current financial mess has proven once again. People are not logical. Famous climbers, like the rest of us, feel insecure about their lives and achievements, or lack thereof. They need to prove their strength to the tribe, like dumb boys. They get greedy. They feel the need to have their lives and choices validated. They care too much what others think. They succumb to the lure of money and, if they're 'lucky', fame. Eventually they get over it and settle for something else.
In other words, they're just like everybody else. To pretend they're not is naive and actually quite damaging to the climbing community. Delusion always is.
D