Into Thin(ish) Air

Recently I have been rereading this book about climbing Mount Everest called "Into Thin Air." The first time I read it it terrified me and I couldn't imagine why anyone would subject themselves to that kind of torture, or why they would risk their lives to climb a mountain. Climbing Everest was definitly the last thing on earth I wanted to do. But reading the book again almost 10 years later I am feeling a bit differently about it...I sort of find the whole thing a bit thrilling. Like, maybe I wouldn't want to climb Mount Everest, but the idea of climbing big mountains is very appealing. I think I may be coming down with a bit of "summit fever." Not 29,000 foot summit fever, but rather 11,000 - 13,000 foot summit fever. I suddenly want to climb a whole bunch of mountains. And I don't just want to walk up the mountain to the peak, I want to be challenged and risk a little more to get to the top. So this weekend David is giving me the opportunity to try something a bit more technical. We are going to climb Mount Athabasca.

I am pretty excited. There will be harnesses, ropes, ice axes, crampons, glaciers, crevasses, seracs...just like in the book. To a considerably lesser degree that is (although it would be cool to climb something that required sherpa assistance), but still it will be awesome.

We aren't leaving for our climb for another couple days but I was so excited that, to my roommates surprise, I felt the need to put on all my gear and walk around the house in it. If they think that is weird, wait until snowboarding season when I am tromping around my house in snowsuit, toque, goggles, mitts, and snowboarding boots. They really haven't seen anything yet...