It's getting too hot to safely do Skyline now.

[cynthia23]

Ken, you're absolutely right that a life without risk is no life at all. We don't want to lead totally sanitized lives and it's understandable that some people react against our overly controlled and corporatized lives with forays into extreme sports.

But, on the other hand, quite frankly I see extreme sports as really being very much entwined with late-stage capitalism. Participation in extreme sports is as much as way of asserting your economic status as owning race horses was for Victorian gentleman. It's a way of bragging about how much money/leisure one has and a primitive way of expressing macho dominance. We don't see anyone in Somalia jumping off cliffs in wingsuits nor do we see factory workers in Bangladesh engaging in mountaineering treks (though there's a good chance they may have sewn some of the clothes worn by hikers.) It's crucial to have wilderness experiences just to keep our sanity, but the energy some people put into 'extreme' or dangerous pursuits is, I think, essentially egoistic, and it's better devoted to helping those less well off just attain bearable lives. After all, teaching girls in Afghanistan to read is far more risky than climbing Everest. It's just much less glamorous.

But getting back on topic to Skyline--my concern is not with experienced hikers who know Skyline well and choose to risk hiking it during summer months. That's their business and choice. My concern is with the ignorant--the people who don't understand how dangerous it is. Those are the ones we see getting rescued or killed. My fear is that sooner or later they will get a SAR person killed as well.

[Wildhorse]

I know a young man of independent means who has been providing public health education in Burundi to help improve the lives of people there. When he speaks of it, his expressions, his face and and his body all show the excitement that he feels from doing this work. His spirit seems to soar. He recently left Burundi for a brief trip to the U.S., the fighting started in Burundi, and he was not allowed to return. I imagine that he would not have wanted to left when the State Department ordered Americans to leave because they were in danger. I see the connection between the two dangerous ways to live, or to enjoy leisure, that Cynthia has linked. I know a young woman, also of independent means, who spends her life in the U.S. helping abused immigrants and in the summers makes trips to dangerous parts of the world trying to improve the lives of people there. She speaks of how good this makes her feel in terms not much different from those used by Dean Potter's girlfriend to describe his feelings of oneness with the world.

As for me, I have looked at photos of the mountains in Burundi and have tried to imagine hiking there. It would be dangerous (Gorillas on the trail and all), but I don't think about that. I just think of the beauty and the mysteries of the continent from which we have all come.

[zippetydude]

We don't see anyone in Somalia jumping off cliffs in wingsuits nor do we see factory workers in Bangladesh engaging in mountaineering treks

Well, maybe not in Bangladesh...

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2 ... -the-climb

z

[cynthia23]

Awesome! I knew you'd come up with something good, Zip

Those are touching stories about your young friends, Ken. I know we still have the Peace Corps, but it seems that young people now have so many worries about student loans, finances, etc, that they generally can't afford to take a year or two off to explore the world and help the less fortunate. I'd love to see it possible for more young people to channel their energy and curiosity in these wonderful ways.