I believe that people are innately good.  I feel that, on a primal level, people want to be good to each other; people want to love and be loved; people want to watch their friends and loved ones succeed; people want to help each other.  Unfortunately, while people are innately good, influences of society can distort a person’s integrity and create feelings of jealousy and greed.  Society is proficient at making people seem innately bad, while i think they are not.

a grand adventure– and possibly the crowning moment of my life– started on a dusty dirt road just outside of Moab about an hour before dawn.  My climbing partner, Johnny, was reading me some vague directions from a scrunched up topo map he found in an old climbing book.  It was still dark out and the road was in ill repair.  We decided to ditch the car and head on foot for about 2 hours of steep hiking to get to the base of the Sister Superior tower, of which we were planning to climb. I was anxious on the hike; I didn’t know if I was mentally or physically prepared to climb this beautiful spire of rock.  The approach to the base of the climb gave me plenty of time to stare at the titan looming before me. We got to the climb and the moment my hands grabbed the rock on the first pitch, my mind went to a zen-like place.  The first pat of the climb was at my ability level and I was at ease with every move.  After belaying on a thin ledge hundreds of feet above the ground, I followed my partner up the pitch where the real fun starts.  The second pitch was composed of a thin crack that my hands would not fit all the way in.  As I struggled up this section for a good 40 minutes that zen-like state of mind never left me, it only intensified.  The outside world did not exist. I was there at the one moment in time and the only thing that existed in my mind was the crack I was groveling up.  There was a couple minute span where I felt surely defeated, but something inside of me pushed on.  It felt impossible for me to climb and that’s what made me not want to give up.  When I finally reached the top and sprawled out on the small surface, my mind and body melted into a state of pure ecstasy.  After that, I knew there was no challenge in life I could not overcome. When we got down, we found a beautiful lodge to grab a beer at and sit by the river.  Johnny and I sat and laughed uncontrollably for hours. We couldn’t get over how beautiful life is. http://www.mountainproject.com/v/jah-man/105717373

During less strenuous recreation I think and feel all sorts of things.  On a nice morning hike up to some climbing, I’ll think about regular life things like, am I handling my finances well or I wonder what book I should read next? When conditions are casual I think the most. I like this sort of recreation and it is just one aspect to the allure of mountain travel.  The real draw for me lies in that place I’m constantly seeking, a place in between beauty and horror, a place that fills you with awe and paralyzes your senses at the same time.  My life has turned into a constant search for those sublime moments, where the dichotomy of pain and pleasure are vanquished and for a moment, however brief, you exist in a state of pure clarity.  In these moments, I wouldn’t say I think or feel anything specific, or anything at all, I just am. These pursuits have become very spiritual to me.  Ironically, the uncertainty and general chaos involved with mountain travel makes me feel more in control of my life; climbing and backcountry skiing have helped me create a balance I have not been able to find through different avenues. More than anything else in life, climbing and skiing make me feel alive!