Facing the storm

The weather is. No pleas, no sacrifices, no prayers, no whimpers, nor any insult will ever change the fact that the weather simply is. Sometimes the weather's good, a lot of times it's bad, but where else besides storm-bound in the mountains would you read Moby Dick for fun?

I've seen a hot aspirant alpinist reduced to tears of frustration by a medium-duration storm of ten days. No chance that guy will ever stand on Cerro Torre. I'm not a great climber, but I'm better at wasting time than any alpinist I've ever met. After all, I was in the Army for seven years.

Here, based on my experience, are a few key points on the alpine art of wasting time.

Be patient: Time is a weapon. The best guarantee of success is a lot of time. Every season has good weather. Even Patagonia, a place notorious for vicious storms, has perfect weather. It just doesn't happen very often. And expeditions with lots of time are less likely to run big risks trying to make the impossible happen.

Maintain motivation: The storm goes on and on, and the wind howls day in and day out, and you eat and sleep and roll over and read and drink and roll over and the wind howls and the tent flaps and you haven't moved in days and you can't sleep and one morning boom — the weather is good. Your mountain stands there in the crystal sky.

	Before you go . . . Learn to Read the Weather with Greg Crouch.

Have fun: Laugh. Free your spirit. You are, after all, in the mountains. Let your imagination soar. It's very seldom that we are truly free to think. Listen to the rain beating on the tent . . . roll over . . . listen to the rain beating on the tent . . . roll over . . . listen to the rain . . . Lots of people wouldn't think this is fun.

Move on to More Suggestions for Sanity

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