No, I Don't Have a Death Wish

...just a desire for adventure.

I was reading an article last week of Will Gadd and Tim Emmett taking on the task of ice climbing "the world's hardest climb" (a waterfall in the Canadian Rockies).  The article is well written with an amazing story. (Link is at the end)  The pictures will probably shock your mind the most and might even make your head explode.  In all seriousness, what these two did in a 2-week span is unbelievable, especially after reading about the route itself.


After reading the article I naturally did what everyone else does and read the comments below it.  You get the typical "Wow sick! Nice Job!" comment, the "Beautiful, but you would never catch me on there" comment, and the "Idiots with a Death Wish" comment.

Really, a death wish?!

A current wish right now.

Why is it that people who never experience these sports have this notion that what mountain enthusiasts do is a death wish?  Maybe because people do die backcountry skiing/riding, ice climbing, rock climbing, etc; but it is not our intention to die doing the sports that we love to do.  It's not like we seek death.  In my opinion, we as mountain enthusiasts are more in-tuned with who we are supposed to be as people on this planet.  We are explorers, adventurists, and sometimes daredevils.  We feed off of fear and are glutens for pain.  When you push past all of that, you get the most satisfying reward of accomplishment.


"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." - Helen Keller

My biggest problem with people who use the "death seeker" comment is that many times it comes from a person who rarely has taken a risk in their life.  It can come from someone who is pushing the limits in their sport but usually they do not post anything because they respect what that person/team has accomplished.  They understand the hardships, preparation, and training that it took to complete.  They are not naysayers but 'sayers.

Yes, we are risk-takers and yes, to some people we take big risks.  "We" though is such a vague term because what I do compared to Alex Honnold or Ueli Steck is a big difference.  My risk is calculated and I always take my "gut" into consideration when taking a risk while on rope, boulder, or on a board.  If I feel like there is some form of danger ahead, I analyze it really quickly and either go for it or not.  If there is anything unsafe about it (in my opinion) I usually back off.

I wanted to find some data on the accident rate compared to typical things in life.  I found these stats courtesy of AllClimbing.com:

The American Alpine Club, in its yearly compendium Accidents in North American Mountaineering, reported 15 fatalities in the United States in all of 2007. The highest tally in the last 57 years, in 1956, was 53. The yearly average was 25.

The British government, comparing the risks of various activities, assembled these statistics:

* Maternal death in pregnancy 1 in 8,200 maternities
* Surgical anesthesia 1 in 185,000 operations
* Hang-gliding 1 in 116,000 flights
* Scuba Diving 1 in 200,000 dives 
* Rock climbing 1 in 320,000 climbs 
* Canoeing 1 in 750,000 outings
* Fairground rides 1 in 834,000,000 rides
* Rail travel accidents 1 in 43,000,000 passenger journeys
* Aircraft accidents 1 in 125,000,000 passenger journeys

Those numbers are actually kind of scary when you consider how many babies are being born a day.  As you can see though climbing is not the most death-defying activity.

I believe that before people get all up in arms when they find out that someone close to them is a mountaineer, climber, backcountry skiier/snowboarder, scuba diver, hand glider, whatever; that they try to take into consideration of why they do it.  Maybe you will never understand, but respect what we do.

In your mind it may be our death wish to push our limits of fear and physical strength, but in ours it is just living.  In our minds, the doubter has the death wish of living a routine, boring life of solidarity and routine.

For the article and pictures, click here.  Courtesy of Mail Online.