WILL, INTENT & CHARACTER IN ALPINE CLIMBING

OUR PREVIOUS POST WITH THE ALEISTER CROWLEY SHIRT CERTAINLY ACHEIVED ITS AIM; TO SELL SHIRTS AND TO GET INTEREST, EVEN IF ONLY BY THE LOW HANGING FRUIT OF CONTROVERSY. THANKS TO INSTAGRAM MOST OF THE INTERACTION WAS ABOUT CROWLEY AND THE NATURE OF HIS IDEAS, AND WE FOUND A SECTOR ALMOST AS DROWNED IN COMPETING MEMES AS THE CLIMBING SCENE. IT SEEMS THE MENTION OF ALEISTER CROWLEY TRIGGERED A FEW PEOPLE, AND THOUGH MOST WERE POSITIVE ABOUT IT A FEW WEREN’T. WE HAD SOME ACCUSATIONS OF BEING SATANISTS, OR PRETENDING TO BE OR EXPLOITING THE ASSOCIATION, WHICH IS EXPECTED I SUPPOSE IF THAT’S THE CONNECTION YOU MAKE.

WHILST WE OF COURSE KNOW ABOUT THIS SIDE OF CROWLEY’S PROFILE, WE DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO IT, FINDING CLIMBING ITSELF THE BEST PERSPECTIVE TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF LIFE. WHAT WE DO SUBSCRIBE TO THOUGH IS CROWLEY AS A CLIMBER, AS AN ADVENTURER AND AS A THINKER, WHO WENT OUTSIDE THE BLOATED VICTORIAN MENTALITY OF HIS DAY AND CLIMBED AS A VEHICLE FOR AN ALTERNATIVE LIFE. IN THE CONTEXT OF ALL THE OCCULT STUFF ASSOCIETED WITH CROWLEY, THAT ALL CAME LATER, IF ANYTHING IS THE PRODUCT OF HIS EXPERIENCES ON EXPEDITIONS TO HIGH ALTITUDE. WHILST CERTAINLY A DIVISIVE AND UNUSUAL PERSONALITY ALL ALONG, IT WAS THE CLIMBING STUFF WHERE HE SEPARATED FROM THE MAINSTREAM WITH IDEAS FOUND, TESTED AND EXPLOITED ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF ASIA.

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ANYWAY THIS IS NOT ABOUT CROWLEY AS ALL THAT’S COVERED ELSEWHERE, BUT IT IS ABOUT THE COMMON ELEMENTS TO ALL CLIMBERS OF WILL, INTENT & CHARACTER FOR SOMETHING THAT HAS LITTLE LOGICAL REASON. EVEN AT THE PEAK OF EMPIRICAL CLIMBING WHEN IT WAS BEING TOUTED FOR KING AND COUNTRY AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF WORLD WARS, CLIMBING WAS STILL BEST DISTILLED WITH MALLORY’S FAMOUS QUOTE “BECAUSE IT’S THERE”, SHOWING THAT BEYOND EVEN THE GREATEST OF EXTERNAL EVENTS AND PRESSURE, CLIMBING HIGH MOUNTAINS STILL STRUGGLES TO SQUARE ITSELF WITH THE PSYCHE OF HUMANS.

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WILL

WILL IS THE STRENGTH AND GRAVITY OF YOUR CHARACTER, THINKING, PERSPECTIVE AND ACTIONS, COMBINED AS THE CAPACITY YOU HAVE TO GET SHIT DONE. THE CLIMBER WITH GREAT WILL EXUDES THE CONFIDENCE OF INSIGHT AND PREPARATION, APPLIED TO THINGS CHOSEN AS GREAT WAYS TO SHOW IT. WILL IS THE RESULT OF EXPERIMENTATION, HONESTY AND OBSERVATION, AND WHILST NOT MAGIC CAN APPEAR AS SO TO THOSE WHO HAVEN’T DEVELOPED SUCH THINGS.

SOME BELIEVE WILL IS SUPERNATURALLY DERIVED, AS THE INTERSECTING OF YOUR PSYCHE WITH THE PROCESS OF THE ‘UNIVERSE’ OR SOMESUCH. OTHERS, LIKE US, THINK WILL SIMPLY COME FROM AWARENESS, NOT IN SOME MYSTICAL WAY BUT IN APPLYING THE STUFF YOU ARE AWARE OF TO WHAT YOU ARE AWARE OF IN YOURSELF. THE CLIMBER WITH GREATER WILL IS SIMPLY THE CLIMBER WITH MORE TO DRAW ON, AND DRAWS ON IT TO DO THINGS THAT FURTHER INCREASE THEIR POTENTIAL.

EXAMPLES OF WILL IN CLIMBING ARE EASILY FOUND, WHERE PEOPLE DEVELOP THEIR ABILITY, THEIR AWARENESS AND THEIR OBJECTIVES, AND EXECUTE ALL THAT ON THINGS THAT DRIVE CLIMBING ITSELF HIGHER. WILL CHANGES THINGS, SOMETHING CROWLEY WAS INTO IN AN EXISTENTIAL WAY, BUT MORE MUNDANELY IT MEANS CHANGES THINGS NOT JUST FOR YOURSELF BUT FOR EVERYONE. ONE OF THE GREAT EXAMPLES OF THIS IS THE POLISH LINE ON K2, CLIMBED BY KUKUCZKA AND PIOTROWSKI AND NEVER REPEATED, WHERE A LINE WAS FORGED WHERE NO LINE SEEMS TO EXIST BY ANY LOGIC, BUT BY THE COMBINED AWARENESS DRAWN ON BY TWO SUPREME CLIMBERS IT DID EXIST FOR TIME IT TOOK TO DO IT, IN WHICH IT RAISED THE BAR OF ALL ALPINISM.

A ROUTE LIKE IS ONLY EXECUTED WITH SKILL AND ABILITY, IT REQUIRES WILL TO RECOGNIZE, OBSERVE, FORESEE AND INITIATE, THEN SEE THROUGH, AS A GREATER PROCESS OF A MULTITUDE OF FACTORS. UNLIKE THE RIDGES AND FEATURES OF K2, THE POLISH LINE DID NOT EXIST UNTIL GREAT WILL MADE IT SO – SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED SINCE AS NONE OF THOSE FACTORS HAVE AGAIN LINED UP.

IN THEIR OWN WAYS ALL FIRST ASCENTS MANIFEST FROM GREAT WILL, ONLY POSSIBLE WHEN THE IDEAS AND THE COMMITMENT ARE PRESENT TO DRAW TOGETHER ALL THE PIECES WITH THE FORTITUDE OF CHARACTER TO ACTUALLY DO IT. YES, WILL IS NEEDED TO PULL OF ANY ASCENT BUT THIS IS NOT IN THE SAME PARADIGM AS AN FA, WHERE THE EXECUTION BRINGS A HITHER TO NONEXISTENT ROUTE INTO REALITY.

STATISTICS IS A SYMPTOM OF SHALLOW AND MISPLACED WILL, WHERE THE CLIMBER REDUCES THEIR AWARENESS TO NUMBERS RATHER EXPANDS IT BY THEM. NUMBERS AND DATA POINTS FORM A CENTRAL ROLE TO THE CLIMBER BY THE EQUATIONS THEY ALLOW FOR THINGS SUCH AS ENERGY USE, TIME/SPACE AND TOOL USE, BUT WHEN THEY BECOME THE WAY TO REPLACE OR DISMISS THE VALUES OF WILL AND INTENT THEY BECOME TOXIC FAST.

CROWLEY EXTRAPOLATED ALL THIS TO ALL OF LIFE, BELIEVING WILL WAS WHAT BOUGHT ALL THINGS INTO ACTUALITY FROM THE GREAT RESERVOIR OF WHAT IS POTENTIALLY POSSIBLE, VIA WHAT ALFRED NORTH WHITE HEAD CALLED THE ‘FORMALITY OF ACTUALLY OCCURING’. THIS IS GREAT FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOR COFFEE’D UP CONVERSATIONS WHILST STUCK IN A STORMBOUND TENT FOR LONG HOURS, BUT THE PROSAIC MATTER OF FIRST ASCENTS IS A TANGIBLE VERSION, OPEN TO MOST CLIMBERS WITH THE MEANS TO HEAD FOR SOMEWHERE LIKE TIBET.

WITH FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS TRIPS WE TRY TO RECOGNIZE WILL WHERE WE SEE IT, AND LET OUR TEAMSTERS DRAW OUT AND EXPRESS THEIR WILLS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ALPINISM. THIS IS FAR FROM SOME WOOLY HEADED, PSEUDO-INTELLECTUAL, MARKETING, AND SIMPLY MEANS WE ENABLE CLIMBERS TO FIND THEIR OWN ASCENTS THAT EXPRESS THEIR OWN THINKING. THIS IS NOT REALLY POSSIBLE WITH GUIDED STOCK PEAKS, WHERE LITTLE OF THE CLIMBERS OWN IDEAS AND ABILITIES CAN PLAY OUT, BUT IS EXTRAORDINARILY POSSIBLE IN PLACES LIKE TIBET AND XINJIANG WHERE SO LITTLE COMMERCIAL IS PRESENT AND SO VARIATION OF PEAKS PRESENT.

FOR THE CLIMBER WITH THE WILL TO SEE THROUGH A PLAN THAT THEY THEMSELVES INITIATE AND SUSTAIN THE RESULT IS ALL THEIRS, AS THE SUM OF THEIR MOTIVATIONS, THEIR PERSPECTIVE, THEIR ENERGY AND THEIR COMMITMENT. EVERY YEAR WE SEE ROUTES DRAWN INTO REALITY FROM PREVIOUS NON-EXISTENCE, WILLED INTO BEING WHERE BEFORE NO ONE HAD APPLIED ANY. THE VERY ACT OF CLIMBING NEW TERRAIN WITH THE WHEREWITHAL NEEDED AT HIGH ALTITUDE IS NO SMALL THING AND DOESN’T HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT, AND SETS THAT CLIMBER APART FROM THOSE WHO GET IN LINE TO CLIMB WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN.

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INTENT

INTENT IS THE FIDELITY OF THE OBJECTIVES YOU CHOOSE; THE CLARITY, THE FEASIBILITY, THE QUALITY AND THE REASONING. THIS IS THE ANCHOR TO WHICH WILL IS TETHERED, AND THE MORE FIDELITY IT HAS THE MORE STUFF LINES UP TO ACHEIVE IT. WHEN TRIPS GO SEAMLESSLY AND PROBLEMS ARE CONFIDENTLY SOLVED, IT IS BECAUSE INTENT MATCHES UP WITH YOUR CAPABILITY AND CHOICES.

JIM DONINI FAMOUSLY STATED THAT BECAUSE CLIMBING HAS NO REAL FUNCTIONAL REASON TO JUSTIFY ITSELF, ALL IT HAS IS STYLE AS A WAY TO DEFINE THE GOOD FROM THE BAD, AND THEREFORE GOOD STYLE IS ITSELF A WORTHY INTENT. GOOD STYLE THOUGH NEEDS TO BE CLEARLY DEFINED AND ACKNOWLEDGED SO WILL AND INTENT CAN BE APPLIED, AND SUPERFICIAL OR CORRUPT INTERPRETATIONS RESULT IN SUPERFICIAL OR CORRUPT OUTCOMES.

IF INTENT IS FOR NOTHING MORE THAN SUPERFICIAL GAIN THEN STYLE WILL REFLECT THAT, WHERE ANYTHING GOES INCLUDING ALTERING THE ENVIRONMENT TO BRING IT DOWN TO BE EASIER. THE BLATANTLY OBVIOUS EXAMPLE HERE IS SUPPLEMENTARY OXYGEN BUT THE REAL FACTOR IS BEHIND IT, AND THE INTENT TO REPLACE HUMAN ABILITY RATHER THAN ENHANCE IT. IT IS NOT A MATTER OF THE TOOLS USED WHETHER THEY ARE O2, FIXED LINES, BOLTS OR PORTER-GUIDES, BUT THE WEAKNESS OF INTENT THAT UNDERMINES THE POTENTIAL OF A PERSON, THAT RENDERS ANY OBJECTIVE POSSIBLE IF ENOUGH CONCESSIONS TO STYLE ARE MADE.

AT THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM, GREAT CLIMBING IS THE EMBODIMENT OF GREAT INTENT, AND HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH STATISTICS, CIRCUMVENTING STYLE OR ATTENTION. THE GREATEST ASCENTS CAN PASS UNNOTICED BY THE UNKNOWING NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE OVER-NIGHT SENSATIONS, BUT BECAUSE THE FACTORS THAT MAKE THEM GREAT JUST DON’T REGISTER WITH THE PEANUT GALLERY. THIS CAN BE WHERE THE INTENT IS GO DEEPER INTO THE REAL ELEMENTS OF ALPINISM, LIKE NEW TECHNIQUES APPLIED IN NEW WAYS TO OBJECTIVES CHOSEN FOR NEW REASONS. THIS IS ‘CLIMBERS CLIMBING’ AND WILL NEVER GET THE ATTENTION OF THOSE WHO ONLY JUDGE THINGS BY REDUCTION, BUT WILL CONTRIBUTE IMMENSELY MORE AND BE PART OF CLIMBINGS FUTURE.

THE BEST FORM OF INTENT IS THAT WHICH IS THE BROADEST IN ITS OUTCOMES, DOING MORE THAN AFFECT JUST THE CLIMBER, AND AFFECT CLIMBING ITSELF. THIS IS ACHEIVED BY BRINGING MORE THAN THE MECHANICS OF CLIMBING TO ALPINISM, AND CLIMBING WITH AN INTENT FOR MORE THAN SUMMITING A PEAK. GREAT INTENTIONS IN THE PAST HAVE INCLUDED STUFF LIKE HUMAN POSSIBILITY, EXPLORATION OF NEW PLACES, THE COMBINATION OF NEW MATERIALS, TECHNOLOGY AND CLIMATE, AND THE INTENT TO GO FURTHER LEAVING THE LEAST IMPACT. THESE THINGS DEMAND MORE THAN SIMPLY FOLLOWING IN SOMEONE ELSES FOOTSTEPS, AND REPRESENT A LEVEL OF INTENT AND WILL THAT MUST BE SUSTAINED FROM INCEPTION AND LIVED WITH AFTER.

INTENT IS EASILY EVALUATED BY WHAT COMES NEXT, WHERE SOMETIMES THE SMALL IS SEEN TO BE THE START OF SOMETHING BIG, OR THE BIG WAS FOUND TO BE EMPTY. INTENT IS NOT HOBBY OR GAME IT IS THE MEASURE OF WHO YOU ARE, AND IS THE STRING THROUGH A LIFETIME THAT CONNECTS ALL YOU DO. IN HINDSIGHT INTENT CAN BECOME CLEAR WHERE IT WAS NOT AT THE TIME, WHERE THE DEPTH OF WILL CAN BE SEEN AS IT PLAYS OUT THROUGH THE THINGS IT WAS APPLIED TO. THE CLIMBER THAT ‘BURNS OUT’ BECAUSE THEIR WILL COULDN’T SUSTAIN IT IS WORKING TO DIFFERENT INTENTIONS TO THE ONE THAT CLIMBS AS A LIFES WORK.

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CHARACTER

INTERESTING THINGS HAPPEN TO INTERESTING PEOPLE IN A SEEMING LOOP OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING HERE IS THAT THE ELEMENTS OF ‘INTERESTING’ ARE BEING SPUN INTO REALITY, NOT BY ANY MYSTICAL WAYS BUT SIMPLY BY APPLICATION OF WILL.

‘INTERESTING’ CAN BE DEFINED AS A MIX OF THINGS INCLUDING NEWNESS, DIVERSITY, NOVELTY, ELEGANCE, HUMOUR, INSPIRATION AND VERACITY – AMONG OTHER THINGS – AND THE INTERESTING PERSON DO INTERESTING THINGS IS SIMPLY ENGAGING IN STUFF INTENTIONALLY THAT HAS THESE QUALITIES. BY DOING INTERESTING THINGS THEY HAVE INTERESTING EXPERIENCES, AND USE THOSE EXPERIENCES TO DO MORE STUFF AT INCREASING LEVELS OF INTERESTINGNESS. THIS IS NOT MAGICK NOR EVEN SPIRITUAL AND IS SIMPLY A WAY TO INTERACT WITH THE WORLD.

THIS GETS CALLED ‘CHARACTER’ AND IS SOMETHING ESTEEMED IN THE ALPINE CLIMBING WORLD, AND SOMETHING THAT CROWLEY THOUGHT WAS THE MEASURE OF THE PERSON AND THAT IT COULD BE INCREASED AND DEVELOPED. IN HIS IDEAS CHARACTER CORRESPONDED TO THE WILL THE PERSON HAS, AND WHAT THEY HAVE THEY HAVE GOT THROUGH INTENTION. PRAGMATICALLY. CROWLEYS METHOD WAS TO FIND AND DO GREAT THINGS, FOR NO REASON NECESSARILY OTHER THAN TO PROPIGATE CHARACTER.

THIS GETS TAUTOLOGICAL FAST, AND WITH THAT COMES WOOLY THINKING, BUT THE TAKE AWAY FOR THE CLIMBER IS THAT CHOOSING GOOD OBJECTIVES THAT HAVE MANY INTERESTING ASPECTS WHERE THEY EXERCISE THEIR WILL AND INTENT, THE RESULT WILL BE CHARACTER THAT ITSELF CONJURES NEW WAYS TO BE EXPRESSED. THIS IS NOTHING NEW TO ALPINISM AND THE SPORT MAY WELL BE DEFINED AS THE PURSUIT OF THIS ALREADY, CLARIFYING WHERE ISSUES IN CLIMBING LAY WHEN THEY INCREASE CHARACTER OR DO NOT.

COMPETITION IS A SYMPTOM OF LOST OR ERRANT CHARACTER, WHERE NO MORE INTERESTING THINGS CAN BE ASPIRED TO THAN THE BEATING OF SOMEONE ELSES TIMES, SCHEDULE OR SPEED, AND WHEN AN ASCENT BRINGS NO MORE TO IT THAN COMPETITION BETWEEN EGOS, THE ‘CHARACTER QUOTIENT’ CAN BE SAID TO BE MINIMAL. CONVERSELY WHEN THE OBJECTIVES SET ARE SOPHISTICATED, BROAD RANGING AND ENGAGINGTHE CHARACTER QUOTIENT CAN BE SAID TO BE HIGH, AND THAT EVEN NO SUMMIT IS ATTAINED OR NO NUMBERS MET, THE VALUE IN ALL THE OTHER ELEMENTS ARE STILL GAINED.

CROWLEY INSISTED THAT ‘PERSONAL POWER’ CAN BE INCREASED BY DOING POTENT THINGS AND NOT BROADCASTING IT. THIS IS A PRIMITIVE, VICTORIAN ERA WAY OF SAYING THAT A PERSONS FORTITUDE OF CHARACTER CAN BE DEVELOPED BY UNDERTAKING COMMITED AND AUDACIOUS THINGS, IN THE CASE OF ALPINISTS THIS PLAINLY MEANS FIRST OR OBSCURE ASCENTS. THIS ALSO EXPLAINS WHY WE DON’T COMMENT OR BROADCAST ON THE EXPLOITS OF OUR TRIPS, PARTLY BECAUSE IT IS NOT OUR ROLE TO BUT MOSTLY TO RETAIN AND DEVELOP THE POTENTIAL OF WHERE WE GO, RATHER THAN BLEED AWAY ALL THE COOL STUFF VIA SOCIAL MEDIA AND SHALLOW CHATTER. THIS IS NOTHING NEW AND WE ARE IN THE TRADITION OF CHARLIE FOWLER AND MUGS STUMP AMONG OTHERS, WHO FELT THAT THE PROPIGATION OF DISCOVERY WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PROPIGATION OF PROFILE.

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IS ALL OF THIS SILLY, ESOTERIC, NONSENSICAL VOODOO? PERHAPS. BUT AT SOME POINT SOME PEOPLE GO DO THIS STUFF AND SOME WILL COME AWAY GREATER FOR IT WHILST OTHERS WON’T. WE REGULARLY SEE ONE-HIT-WONDERS WHO PULL OF GREAT FEATS BUT THEN GO NOWHERE AND ARE FORGOTTEN NEXT SEASON, AND WE ALSO SEE CLIMBERS OF GREAT REPUTE WHO HAVE STRINGS OF FAILED SUMMITS AND ABORTED ATTEMPTS BUT WHO EXEMPLIFY THE VERY CORE OF ALPINISM.

WITHIN THE POTENT MIX OF ALL THAT IT TAKES TO CLIMB MOUNTAINS A PERSONS CHARACTER MUST INTERSECT WITH THE RAW REALITY OF DOING SO, AND THAT ANY TRIP GETS BEYOND AN IDLE IDEA SHOWS THAT WILL AND INTENT ARE SOMEHOW INVOLVED. AT SOME POINT MONEY, GEAR, ATTENTION, TIME AND WHO YOU KNOW ISN’T ENOUGH, AND TO ACTUALLY OCCUR RESOLVED THINKING NEEDS TO HAPPEN. THE EXTENT OF THIS RESOLVE WILL BE TESTED THE HIGHER THE BAR IS SET AND THE MORE OBSCURE THE IDEA, EVENTUALLY NEEDING MORE THAN JUST RATIONALISM AND SOUND LOGIC TO GO FROM GOOD PLANNING TO GREAT CLIMBING.

AS HUNTER S THOMPSON SAID, “YOU WON’T FIND REASONABLE MEN ON THE TOP OF HIGH MOUNTAINS” BECAUSE THE POINTLESS PURSUIT OF ALPINISM DOESN’T STAND UP TO REASON AT ALL, WHEN THINGS GET COLD AND DANGEROUS AND CONSEQUENCES GET HIGH. THIS DOESN’T MEAN BEING UNREASONABLE AT ALL, IT MEANS REPLACING REASON WITH SOMETHING ELSE, AND HAVING A HANDLE ON WILL AND INTENT ALREADY CAN SAVE SOME NASTY SURPRISES.