Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking And Be Antifragile

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Everyone wants to be indestructible like Superman! Do you say you don’t? Ok then, almost everybody wants to be indestructible. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen for you in this life.

On the other hand, you can make yourself antifragile by hiking mountains. In Taleb’s book, he says he likes deadlifts. They are good, but hiking is better!

Uneven Terrain

Mountains are not treadmills or even streets with hills. The surface is varied. Your body needs to adjust to rocks, stumps, mud, and blown down trees at times. This makes your body ready for anything.

The surface is varied as I said, but you are also going up for a long time and then down which adds even more variety to your workout.

Your Mind

If you walk around your neighborhood it is always the same neighborhood. Mountains change every week. A tree falls, a rock tumbles into the trail, and different people are on the mountain. Weather is typically more severe in the mountains. All these stimulate your mind and make it antifragile.

Just figuring out the logistics for a climb is a good exercise for your mind and keeps it strong.

Testing Yourself

Every time you climb a mountain it tests your ability. You find out of you still have what it takes. This contributes to you being antifragile. It surprises your body and mind.

If you are going to remain that way you need to test yourself over and over again. This is not a one-time thing or you will regress and become more fragile. You will break easily. Climb Different Mountains

This is something I need to work on more. I tend to hike the same mountains. It makes me more fragile. Last year I did climb some new ones so I became more antifragile that year, But I need to keep at it.

This is a good admonition for everybody. Change things up in your life. Drive a different way to work even if it takes a little longer. Change your routine.

Become ANTIFRAGILE! Go Hiking!

Go Hiking Because The End Is Always Near

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It is always good to keep danger in the back of your mind as you climb. Alpinists face it all the time and to a much greater degree. However, weekend hikers can do face plants as I have done, break bones, like I have done or run into some wildlife. However, there is less chance of catching the new Coronavirus from China when you are out in nature away from people.

“Danger, Danger, Will Robinson”

Some of you don’t remember that quote and some do. It was a computer of sorts talking, but when you hike you do not have any warning for what might happen.

So don’t have an earpiece, listening to music as you climb. Use your ears to hear something before it sees you. It might even be a tree falling toward you in the wind. Save the podcast listening for the treadmill at the gym. Besides, you will miss the singing of the birds.

Snow

If you hike in the snow, be sure to stay away from avalanche areas. Don’t even trust the reports. Just don’t climb there. Too many people have died because of ignorance or testosterone poisoning.

I am sure I have mentioned this before, but if you go in the snow take your Microspikes or at least Yaktracks. They will save you from injury. Sure, I know you young folks have better balance than me, but why take chances?

High Winds

You need to listen so you can hear a tree coming down, but the best way to avoid being crushed is to stay home when there are gale force winds in the mountains. Why push it? Remember, Risk = Danger Times Exposure. You might get away with it once, but be exposed long enough and you might not.

A little wind is good. It blows the stink off of you ad keeps you awake. The sound of it is soothing as well.

The main thing to keep in mind, of course, is that “The End Is Always Near.”

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This was too easy! How could I resist using Dave Asprey’s book title for a short article about hiking? He does promote exercise in his book!

Everybody that hikes a mountain every week is superhuman. That is just a given. If you go hiking once in a while or only every week when you’re “training for a big climb” you are just normal. But if you have no training goals, and you’re out there every week then you are superhuman!

At The Bottom

There are three times during a hike when I feel superhuman. The first is when I start because I am always a little afraid. It is dark and I am by myself. There are bears to consider and cougars. That is when I take a deep breath and get out of the car feeling superhuman. After all what mere human could face the wild like that?

Even as I start up the trail I feel stronger and stronger. More confident. I adjust to the terrain and begin to focus on my first micro goal.

Half Way

When I reach the halfway point it is almost proof I am superhuman. By now I am feeling very strong. I feel all of the muscles in my legs. The initial aches and pains of the hike have subsided. Now it is a steady superhuman burn.

Ready for the second half of the hike and feeling superhuman, I pick up my pace knowing that I will soon be at my destination.

At The Top

Everybody feels superhuman when they reach the top and are enjoying the view. We don’t always acknowledge it, but we should. It is a real accomplishment.

Actually, if I am completely honest there is only one kind of superhuman when it comes to climbing and that is an Alpinist. They climb the highest mountains with the most technical difficulty. You have to be superhuman to do that.

But wait! Alpinists use ropes. There can really be only one kind of superhuman and that is the rock climber that does not use ropes like Alex Honnold. In fact, maybe there is only one superhuman and that would be Alex.

https://stayonoffense.com/2020/01/25/596/

Go Hiking And Create Something

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Why not? You are hiking with lots of time to think. Nature surrounds you so everything is fresh. You can write a poem in your head or a song. Maybe the outlines of q speech you re going to give soon.

Creating when you’re climbing a mountain is natural. It helps you feel creative when you have the sun, wind or rain beating down on you.

A Song

You don’t believe it? Of course, you won’t know until you try, but I can give you an example of a song I wrote while climbing Mailbox Peak. I had it copyrighted. Now, I just need to get Willie Nelson to sing it unless my guitar playing and singing get a lot better. Here is is,

It’s an uphill battle
The trail goes on and on
Every step I’m takin gets me closer to the dawn
Then it’s on and on again, never any rest
All I know for sure is, I will do my best.
I don’t know if I’ll make it all the way
But I’m going to make it through the day.

Toss and turn all night
Everything’s a fight
Bad things on my left and on my right
It’s just a challenge
Got to keep it tight
And the Lord has got me in His sight
I don’t know if I’ll make it all the way
But I’m going to make it through the day.

Question on my mind
What is it I’ll find
When I make it through the awful time
I hope it will be something I can use again
Maybe it will keep me from some sin
I don’t know if I’ll make it all the way
But I’m going to make it through the day.

I did patent it. That is how big my ego is.

Hey, Willie Nelson!! Come and get it!

Go Hiking and Be A Badass

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How can hiking help you become or stay a badass? That’s easy. Do it every week! There are a few exceptional badasses that hike multiple times a week. Usually, they don’t have a job or are independently wealthy. Maybe retired? But what about someone with daily obligations? Well, most of us have at least one day off a week. Do it then.

The reason weekly hiking qualifies you is because of its relatively rare quality. It is hard to get yourself to hike every week especially in all kinds of weather conditions.

Hiking The Burners

Another way to be a badass is to regularly hike the burners. These are the climbs that make your legs scream at you to stop.

When a friend says, have you climbed this or that route and it is “interesting,” they are trying to get you to experience a burner (link).

You Hike No Matter the Weather

You are not badass unless you are out there in all kinds of weather. Rain, snow, wind it doesn’t matter. You do your climb. Now I am not talking about Alpine climbing. Weather is an important consideration in that arena.

I am not an Alpinist nor do I wish to be one. However, I do admire the Alpine badasses out there like Jimmy Chen who makes movies too.

How Do You Know For Sure?

The only way to really know if you are a badass is if someone tells you. This is the test.

Then of course even if someone says you are a badass, remember, someone else thinks you’re a minor league player. Actually, any real Alpinist would look at a weekend hiker as a being in the minor leagues.

Once when I was on my way down from Camp Muir on Rainier an older gentleman was climbing up with his girlfriend and we had a casual conversation. I mentioned I was seventy-something and he said when he was my age he was summiting one of the seven summits. It is kind of like the old west. There is always someone faster on the draw. However, if you want to get faster the only way to do it is, go hiking!

Go Hiking And Be Awesome

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If you want to be awesome it is easy. Put your boots on and go climb a mountain. There is something magical when someone asks you what you did today and you can say, “I climbed a mountain.” It’s awesome!

Now it isn’t always easy. If the sun is shining or it is mildly cool, no problem. But if there is rain or snow that is another thing.

Are You Fit?

To be awesome you need to be fit enough to get to the top of the mountain and have enough energy to get back down. So how do you do that? The best way is to climb more mountains. It is like when someone asks how do I get so I can do ten pull-ups. The answer is to do more pull-ups.

You can also spend time in a gym. There are exercises that will prepare your legs for climbing. Just stepping up and down on a bench will help you. However, if you want to be an awesome hiker you need to be able to carry some weight on your back. Remember, you’re not a mountain “runner” or “trail runner.” That is totally different. They carry no weight. An awesome hiker has at least 25 pounds of weight on his or her back.

Are You Dedicated

In order to be an awesome hiker, you need to be dedicated to hiking consistently and not just once in a while. There is something I use to get into the right state of mind the day before a hike.

Sometimes the weather is bad and hiking up some mountain is not something I want to do at all on a two day weekend. So I need a ritual that gets me in the right state of mind. In the morning if someone asks me if I am going hiking the next day I say yes, but not enthusiastically and usually tell them I need to get psyched up for it.

So in the afternoon I just begin my preparations. I get my pack ready. Water bottles ready. Extra clothes ready. The ten essentials ready. That is all it takes. By the time I am done, I usually am psyched for it. However, there have been times when I arrive at the trailhead and it is pouring rain when I don’t want to get out of the car. That is when I take a deep breath and do it.

Go hiking and be awesome!