The MountainWorld™ Blog

Thursday Thought: David Rhodes Sparks on Belief

I love religions. The philosophies underlying the great faiths of our world never cease to amaze and intrigue me. In college, at Colorado College, I was a dual major in History and Philosophy, with a special emphasis on South Asia. This meant that most of my philosophy was, by default, more on the theological side of the fence.

All this said, however, I do not consider myself a "religious" person per se. I am deeply spiritual, but have always disliked the concept of worshiping this or that deity, and having to do so in this or that place. Perhaps I take the more Monist approach to spirit, i.e. that god, the divine, the spirit within us all, is indeed within us all. It is the ephemeral ether, it is all around us all the time, although we may struggle to put a name, shape, or place on it. Simply put, I believe "it" is.

Many years ago, I was given a book by my grandfather entitled simply Memoirs and Letters of David Rhodes Sparks.

Born in Indiana in 1823, D.R. Sparks was my great-great-great grandfather, and quite a man. From walking to the California Gold Rush and the Colorado Gold Rush, fighting in the Civil War, and founding a milling company on the banks of the Mississippi River in Alton, Illinois, David Rhodes Sparks lived a full and interesting life.

Recently, I was given by my mother a copy of D.R. Sparks' Statement of Belief from the mid-1800's. It is this I thought I would share with you, as well as another similar quote from Reverend Charles Andrew Farley, minister of the Alton, Illinois, Unitarian Church which Sparks attended.

I share these because I feel that, in the world we now live where people seem to be increasingly polarized along political and religious lines, we can all stand to be reminded that the divine - whatever we might see it to be - is within us all, around us all, and a part of us all, regardless of race, nationality, politics, etc.

But now I have rather given my objections to the religions of the past and present without giving my own views on the subject. It is not for me nor any thinking man to explain his thoughts on this subject unless he has concluded to adopt faith without thought; in fact, faith without thought is consistent. With the power of thought brought into play, faith vanishes and the mind goes out unfettered to fields yet unexplored. I might simply adopt the words of the immortal Paine and say, "The world is my country and to do good is my religion." These words have no equal for grandeur of thought in either old or new testament but I'll attempt a further view of my thoughts on this subject...God to me is everything, is everywhere; he is the universe, the stars, the sun, the earth; he is the human soul, he is the wood and is in the rocks; he is in the air, in the storm and sunshine alike. In part, everything we see about us or in us is the infinite God.

And, from Reverend Farley:

Do you now ask, "Which is the true church?". I answer, not the Episcopal church, not the Presbyterian church, not the Baptist church, not the Methodist church, not the Unitarian church, but the good in all these churches. All who live under the light of nature or under the more blessed light of revelation. The child of the Ganges, who worships the glorious river, and finds healing in its waters, he who adores the Sun in its Majesty, he who cries out for the help of the great father and whose dying eyes are lit up with the hope of hunting again in the spirit land, all, all are the children of god. All are members of the Church Universal, of that vast temple which the broad skies cover and the broad earth sustains and whose doors are open to the illimitable heaven.

Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Thursday Thought: The Oft-Forgotten H. W. "Bill" Tilman

I've long been an admirer of Harold William "Bill" Tilman (1898-1977).

I first encountered his name - and his legend - on my first trip to Nepal in 1992. My trip leader, Nick Yardley, and our sirdar, Urgen Sherpa, pointed out a distant, rugged pass leading from the Langtang Valley into the Jugal Himal and on to Paanch Pokhari (Five Lakes) called Tilman's Col. Nick explained that it was first explored by Bill Tilman back in 1949.

Since then, I've come to "know" Tilman as the ardent explorer he was. A true pioneer and often labeled "the 20th Century's last true explorer" - a label he would no doubt scoff at - Tilman logged countless miles in the remotest corners of the globe. He relished climbing peaks that were proverbially "off the map", and made every effort to break new ground in all that he did.

Like many of his generation, Tilman was also a war veteran, and was decorated for his service in both World Wars. When he decided many of the more popular ranges were getting too crowded, Tilman bought a sailboat, taught himself to sail, and began 25 plus years of exploration in the Arctic and Antarctic waters looking for new peaks to climb.

In his career, Tilman achieved great things. Some of his accomplishments are:

• 1930: First ascent of West Ridge of Batian (Mount Kenya), and traverses to  Nelion, with Eric Shipton
• 1932: Tilman ascends Mounts Speke, Baker, and Stanley in the Ruwenzori Mountains of Uganda, with Eric Shipton
• 1933: Solo ascent of Kilimanjaro
• 1934: Tilman and Shipton penetrate the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, the first to do so
• 1935: Tilman is a member of the Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition
• 1936: First ascent of Nanda Devi, reaching the summit with Noel Odell
• 1937: Karakoram Reconnaissance with Eric Shipton
• 1938: Climbs with others to 27,200 feet on Everest without oxygen
• 1949: Exploration of Langtang and Ganesh Himal, and first ascent of Paldor
• 1950: Leads British Annapurna Expedition, nearly summits Annapurna IV
• 1950: Does first reconnaissance of Everest's South Side with Charles Houston

The list goes on...and on...and on. 

But, what I've valued most about Tilman in reading his books - and in reading what others had to say about him - is his work ethic, his value of teamwork, ethics, and philosophy about the mountains and the mountain way. 

Interestingly, though, you won't find much on the web about Bill Tilman. There is a wonderful site by Bob Conlay, who sailed with Tilman and adventured with him from 1956-1977. And, there's David Glen's site for his book WARRIOR WANDERER The Life and Times of the Legendary Explorer Bill Tilman. There's also Treescaper's album on his travels with Tilman on Flickr. Other than that, not too much.

Perhaps it's Tilman's zest for exploration rather than notoriety, and his humble (but tough), somewhat enigmatic ways that have kept him out of the limelight. And, that's probably how Tilman would have liked it; as Glen writes, Tilman was "a man whose basic shyness and reticence to boast of his astonishing achievements belied a great sense of honor in the way he conducted his life."

And, I would add, perhaps in the way he conducted his death: In 1977, at nearly 80 years old, Tilman set sail in the tug En Avant with five others. On November 1, 1977, the left Rio de Janeiro, bound for the Falkland Islands. They disappeared without a trace...

So, below are some of my favorite quotes - mostly by but some about - Bill Tilman. Enjoy!

The truism that we climb on the shoulders of our predecessors is sometimes forgotten, and it is difficult to exaggerate the important of the part which earlier failures play in the final success. The Himalayan peaks over, say, 23,000 ft. which have been climbed at the first attempt can be numbered on the fingers of one hand, and even if the present climb be cited to the contrary, the answer is that we had the inestimable advantage of knowing where to make our effort and how to get there - knowledge gained for us by our forerunners. And apart from previous experience on the actual mountain there is the vast fund of accumulated knowledge of high climbing in general to draw upon; for though experiences may be "the name men give to their mistakes" it does not lessen their value to those who are willing to learn.

- from Ascent of Nanda Devi, 1937

It was but a short three months that we had met, many of us strangers, but inspired by a single hope and bound by a common purpose. This purpose was only achieved by team-work, team-work the more remarkable on account of the two different nationalities; and though these two nations have a common origin they are for that reason more critical of each other's shortcomings - as relationship leads proverbially to ill-feeling. The Americans and ourselves do not always see eye to eye, but on those rare occasions when we come together to do a job of work, as, for example, in war or in the more serious matter of climbing a mountain, we seem to pull together very well.

There each man pulled his weight each must share the credit; for, though it is natural for each man to have his own aspirations, it is in mountaineering, more than in most things, that we try to believe:

        The game is more than the players of the game,
        And the ship is more than the crew.

- from Ascent of Nanda Devi, 1937

A propos of writing books Dr. Johnson's opinion was that "any blockhead can write if he sets himself doggedly to it". I should like to alter that and say, " any blockhead can write a book if he has something to write about" - that I have anything to write about is entirely due to my companions, British and American, to whom I dedicate this book.

- from the preface to Ascent of Nanda Devi, 1937

We live and learn, and big mountains are stern teachers.

-from Two Mountains and a River

After the first joy in victory came a feeling of sadness that the mountain had succumbed, that the proud head of the goddess was bowed... [That night] each little incident of the climb was gone over again and again, and I remember, in the small hours when the spark of life burns lowest, the feeling which predominated over all was one of remorse at the fall of a giant. It is the same sort of contrition that one feels at the shooting of an elephant, for however thrilling and arduous the chase, however great has been the call upon skill, perseverance, and endurance, and however gratifying the weight of the ivory, when the great bulk crashes to the ground achievement seems to have been bought at the too high cost of sacrilege.

-reflecting on reaching the summit of Nanda Devi, from Ascent of Nanda Devi

No one goes so far or so fast as the man who does not know where he is going. 

Any worthwhile expedition can be planned on the back of an envelope.

Tilman was always first away in the morning, carrying a load in excess of the standard Sherpa load. He always arrived first at the day's destination. Sometimes he would run along parts of the route. He would have tea brewing by the time the rest caught up with him and then he would praise those who had made good time, and yell and scream at those he thought had been lazy or lacking in some way. On at least one rest day he made all his Sherpas a cake. Tashi, the Sherpa who was translating all this for me, was made to repeat this fact several times. He was always the first to cross turbulent streams, pass hard rocky sections, and shoulder awkward loads.

- Sherpa Norbu, on climbing with H.W. Tilman in the 1930's

And, finally:

Put on a good pair of boots and walk out the door.

-H.W. "Bill" Tilman on how to have an adventure

Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Thursday Thought: Criticism, Conservation, & Politics by Teddy Roosevelt

I've always been enamored with Teddy Roosevelt. A gallant, eloquent statesman, he was also an ardent supporter of conservation in all its facets. And, he was a passionate explorer and climber.

In fact, Roosevelt was descending from the summit of Mount Marcy - the highest point in New York State - on September 13, 1901,when he received a telegram informing him that President William McKinley was near death. McKinley died on the 14th, and Roosevelt was sworn in as President - becoming the youngest to hold the office. 

A Republican by party, Roosevelt was quite unlike what we know as the GOP today. Again, he was an avid conservationist, pushing the use of the nation's natural resources, but not the misuse of them through greed. Roosevelt pushed for equal opportunity for all American citizens in his "Square Deal" policy, and was a strong supporter of thoughtful government regulation of interstate corporations. In a nutshell, Roosevelt wanted America to be great...for all Americans. As he said in a speech in Philadelphia in 1912: In the long run, this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.

There were many things to admire about Teddy Roosevelt. But, as usual, his words are better than mine, so below are some Thursday Thoughts from Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, whose birthday fell on October 27th:

From A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, 1916:

Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.

From Arbor Day - A Message to the School-Children of the United States, April 15, 1907:

We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted...So any nation which in its youth lives only for the day, reaps without sowing, and consumes without husbanding, must expect the penalty of the prodigal whose labor could with difficulty find him the bare means of life.

From Citizenship in a Republic, Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

And, finally, a little call-to-action for us all:

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. 

AND

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

Finally, a great video on Roosevelt from YouTube:

Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Thursday Thought: No Child Left Inside

Lila on Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo, at 7 months Last night I was with the First Ascent team at the Eddie Bauer store at Flatirons Crossing. Peter Whittaker, Dave Hahn, Chad Peele, Seth Waterfall, and I held a panel discussion, and kicking it all off was the great Jim Whittaker, an elder statesman of American mountaineering, and a great guy to boot.

Jim waxed about his early days with Eddie Bauer (the man, not the store!), taking his early down products up McKinley, Everest, Mount Kennedy, and more. But, what struck a chord with me was Jim's recollection of where "it all began" for him, and for his twin brother, Lou Whittaker. He recalled his mother yelling when they were children - be it raining or snowing, sun or cloud - "get outside and play!" and shuffling the two giant twins out the door. Jim's personal mission these days is, as he said with a wonderful roar and a wry smile: No child left inside.

Having a daughter of my own now, and living in a far more urban setting than the one in which I grew up, I think a lot about how my wife and I will foster in Lila a love of the outdoors, a respect for the wilderness, and a desire to interact with it in simple yet profound ways. And, more importantly than just Lila, how we can - as a society - encourage our kids (and adults!) to get outside, to experience nature and to push themselves and learn about their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

So, these thoughts bring me to today's Thursday Thought, by John Muir:

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

If you're interested in this topic of getting kids outside - and the importance of it - be sure to check out Richard Louv's excellent book on the subject: Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.

Jake Nortonis an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speakerfrom Colorado.

Thursday Thought: Get Travelin' - October 15, 2009

 

I've always loved to travel...Visiting foreign lands, experiencing new cultures and worldviews, religions and politics, never ceases to expand my personal horizons, both physically and intellectually.

I guess that's why I've devoted much of my life to the pursuit of travel by working as a photographer, climber and guide, and hitting the road whenever the opportunity arises for me and my family. Fortunately, we've been able to do this a lot, and have continued to travel with our daughter, Lila, who's already made it to Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, and India!

At any rate, travel is not just about seeing the world, about getting out of town and on the road. Rather, I think it is about challenging ourselves, pushing our philosophical envelopes...and at times our physical ones, too. By immersing ourselves in different cultures and ways of life, we discover one of the simplest and most profound truths of humanity: At our most basic, fundamental level, we are all the same. We want the same things from life, whether we be from Denver or Delhi, Baghdad or Boston. We find through travel - and it's accompanying experiences - that if we're a Hindu or a Muslim, a Maoist or a Capitalist, Lefty, Righty, or in between, we all are looking for a good today, and a better tomorrow, for ourselves and our children and families.

To me, this is the essential of travel, once the romance and pretty photos are stripped away. After a journey, as TS Eliot wrote, we "arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

But, rather than me trying to wax philosophic, let me share a far more eloquent ode to travel, by the great Mark Twain from The Innocents Abroad:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of
our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views
of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the
earth all one's lifetime. 
 - Mark Twain -

And, just for good measure, here's a little video I put together with some of my favorite travel images, and to the tune of Maybe There's A Worldby Yusuf Islam, nee Cat Stevens. Enjoy!

>

Jake Nortonis an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speakerfrom Colorado.

Thursday Thought: Hegel, MLK, Obama, and the Dalai Lama

I definitely tend toward the left side of the political spectrum, and identify myself more as a Democrat than otherwise. But, I make a conscious effort not to be partisan...I try my best to praise the positive things the "other side" does and accomplishes, and make my voice heard when the leaders I support are, in my estimation, making bad decisions.

This, to me, is the very essence of democracy: The ability - and, in fact, the need - to voice our disagreement with those in power, whether they be friend or foe. As the historian Henry Commager wrote: If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent.

So, it was with dismay that I heard President Obama chose not to meet with the Dalai Lama while he was in Washington to accept the Lantos Human Rights Prize. I'm a supporter of Tibet and it's quest for spiritual autonomy, but, even more so, I feel strongly that, for us to be a leader on the world stage, we must be willing to make a stand, to defend our beliefs and our ethics...regardless of the political capital on the table.

Certainly, President Obama felt that a meeting with the Dalai Lama would create friction in US-China relations. It almost certainly would. But, our ethics and beliefs should transcend our short-term priorities. By meeting with the Dalai Lama - which has been done by all sitting US presidents since George H.W. Bush - Obama would have sent a clear message to China, and to the world, that we as a nation believe what we say, stand up for our core values, and have a true desire to make the world a better place for all people.

Today's Thursday Thought offers a little advice on taking a stand to President Obama, and indeed to all of us, from the great minds of Georg Hegel and Martin Luther King, Jr:

To be independent of public opinion is the first condition of achieving anything great.
- G.W.F. Hegel

Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe?
Expediency asks the question: Is it politic?
Vanity asks the question: Is it popular?
But conscience asks the question: Is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular,
but one must take it because it is right.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

And, for those who are interested, here is a video of the Dalai Lama accepting the Lantos Prize on Tuesday:

Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Thursday Thought, September 10, 2009

One of the questions we, as climbers, get quite often is a simple one with a remarkably complex answer: Why do we climb?

It is different for every climber, and sometimes changes with the wind. Not an easy one to nail down. The great climber and author Greg Child once put it this way:

Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery of why we climb.

Simple and perhaps accurate in its generality, but also not really answering the question...which was probably Greg's point.

It is a question I've struggled with for my entire climbing career. What is it that motivates us to climb, to pit ourselves against the at-times monumental risks and hazards of the mountain realm, to push against the inertia of comfort...higher and higher still? Indeed, what is it that drives us - climbers and non-climbers alike - to set goals for ourselves which we know will be nearly impossible at best?

Back in December, 2006, I wrote about this question here on The MountainWorld Blog. Towards the end, I referenced one of my favorite answers to the age-old query of the hills:

No, climbing is not about taunting death, but rather about living life. As author James Ramsey Ullman put it so eloquently in The Age of Mountaineering:

The mountain may well be a way of escape - from the cities and people, from the turmoil and doubt, from the complexities and uncertainties and sorrows that thread our lives. But in the truest and most profound sense, it is an escape not from but to reality. Over and above all else, the story of mountaineering is a story of faith and affirmation - that the high road is the good road; that there are still among us those who are willing to struggle and suffer greatly for wholly ideal ends; that security is not the be-all and end-all of living; that there are conquests to be won in the world other than over each other. The climbing of earth's heights, in itself, means little. That we want to try to climb them means everything. For it is the ultimate wisdom of the mountains that we are never so much as we can be as when we are striving for what is beyond our grasp, and that there is no battle worth the winning save that against our own ignorance and fear.

But, for today's "Thursday Thought", I wanted to share yet another eloquent and accurate description of why we climb. This one is by Joe Simpson, the great climber, epic-survivor, and author of Touching the Void:

In a curious way, maybe the climber stops living when he begins to climb. He steps out of the living world of anxiety into a world where there is no room, no time, for such distractions. All that concerns him is surviving the present. Any thoughts of gas bills and mortgages, loved ones and enemies, evaporate under the absolute necessity for concentration on the task at hand. He leads a separate life of uncomplicated black and white decisions—stay warm, feed yourself, be careful, take proper rest, look after yourself and your partner, be aware. Be aware of everything until there is nothing but the present and there are no corrosive fears to eat away at confidence.

Well said, Joe.

Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Thursday Thought

One of the first climbing books I ever read was the classic Scrambles Amongst The Alps by Edward Whymper.

It was a fitting read, in 1984, since my family and I were on a vacation in Zermatt, Switzerland, home of the Matterhorn.

Whymper, a British man who was trained as a wood engraver, made the first ascent of the Matterhorn on July 14, 1865. It is this climb - and its tragic conclusion with the deaths of four members of the party - that forms much of the story of Scrambles Amongst The Alps.

It is reflecting upon this tragedy that, no doubt, forms the basis of the following Thursday Thought:

There have been joys too great to be described in words, and there have been griefs upon which I have not dared to dwell, and with these in mind I say, climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are naught without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste, look well to each step, and from the beginning think what may be the end. - Edward Whymper**

Words we can all apply to our lives, be it in the mountains on at home on terra firma.

** If you want to read the entire passage, which is wonderful, stop on by Tomas Frydrych's blog, The Whole is Less than the Sum of Its Parts.

Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Thursday Thought...#2 for today

Generally, I would only post one Thursday Thought...and, generally I stay out of politics on this blog. But, with the passing of Senator Teddy Kennedy on Tuesday, I thought it was OK to break both rules.

Like him or not, Senator Kennedy was a force in the US Senate...at times belligerent, at times reaching across the aisle to forge partnerships and coalitions. His nearly 47 years of service to the country was full of highs and lows, good points and bad ones.

Here are a few of his thoughts, courtesy of BeliefNet.

We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make.
--Accepting an honorary degree from Harvard, December 2008

I recognize my own shortcomings — the faults in the conduct of my private life. I realize that I alone am responsible for them, and I am the one who must confront them. I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too.
--Apologizing to his constituents, Oct. 25, 1991

Yes, we are all Americans. This is what we do. We reach the moon. We scale the heights. I know it. I've seen it. I've lived it. And we can do it again.
--Democratic National Convention, August 2008

There is no safety in hiding.
--From a speech in Worcester, Mass., August 1968, after the death of his brother Robert

Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Thursday Thoughts...

As a person who loves and collects quotes, I'm going to start a regular posting of my favorite quotations, or new ones I've come by and which struck a chord with me somehow.

Today's quote comes from mathematician John Allen Paulos, and deals with a topic I cover quite a bit in my motivational keynote presentations:

Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.
- John Allen Paulos -

How are you dealing with the certainty of inherent uncertainty?

And, just because, I'm going to share another new-favorite quote from the late, great Frank Zappa (I just shared this on Facebook as well). Apparently it was during an interview with the conservative host John Pine; immediately after Pine seated Zappa, he said: You have long hair...you must be a girl. Zappa immediately replied: You have a wooden leg (Pine did)...you must be a table. Aah, to have such a quick mind!

- Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.