For those of you who are new to the term of mountaineering it is the act of climbing mountains (for whatever reasons like fame, cash, or nothing better to do) and generally being in a constant state of awesomeness gauged by mountain climbing prowess. If this seems like a chicken/egg debate it’s not. I eat both forms of the fowl equally and I like my eggs over-easy (over-easy eggs by-the-way are even more delicious than a bathroom with his and hers shower-heads). I will at times use climbing terms in my accounts and this is not to enrage people or to violate your peace of mind, it’s just that there really is no other way to explain certain things. Sorry to be such a jerk about it. To show you that I still care about said peace of mind I will be defining certain terms as they come up. If that isn’t the best thing ever then keep reading; I’m sure there is more awesomeness to come.
Many people ask me, “Anders, when did you get in to climbing?” Well, this is a loaded question and I’ll probably take the rest of my blog to answer it. I remember hiking with my mom when I was probably six near bandana ranch near Fruitland, Utah. As we were climbing up a hill (I thought it was a mountain and I was super cute about it) my mom asked me, “Anders, what would you like to be when you grow up?” I responded like a brat and said, “I want to climb mountains.” I mainly said it because that’s what we were doing at the time and not because it was necessarily true. This is a true story.
I suppose I could just leave it there and say that I’ve been doing it ever since but that’s not really the case. I grew up in Orem, Utah which is in the shadow of Mount Timpanogos. In case you’re wondering the mountain’s summit is 11,749 ft above sea level. Everyone and their dog climbs Mount Timpanogos.
This mountain is more an endurance test than anything, but I have climbed this mountain more than any other because of proximity and everyone wants a piece of it. It’s a very beautiful mountain, but since everyone climbs Timp (as the locals call it and it's easier to spell) it seems like a right of passage for Utah residents more than anything. I cannot say that when I first climbed this mountain at 14 gave me any desire to climb more. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect on me. Climbing without enough water for 16 miles will do that to a kid. I remember it as being very pretty on top but being relatively miserable as I resorted to licking the water off of leaves on the way down (I'm Norwegian and never get sick, so it's okay that I did this).I was bit by the climbing bug in 2008. I was a late bloomer I suppose you could say, and I was standing on top of Provo Peak (11,068 ft) when Jason, his dog Roxie (not really his dog) and I decided that we were going to climb Kings Peak. For those of you who don't know at 13, 528 ft. Kings Peak is the Utah state high point, and is a rather strenuous undertaking in that it is a 28 mile round trip. While preparing for this mountain I realized that climbing other state high-points and other mountains in general was something that I really wanted to do.
When you’re on the summit of a mountain it’s really unlike anything else. There was a period of about 5 years when I lived in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains and didn’t even notice them. Stepping into the wilderness is like stepping into another world and the mental and physical stresses are just so different from being in a town or city. The feel and sound of snow when your step crunches into it; the absolute silence of being in a calm winter forest at night, and the moon as it illuminates your path around alpine lakes are all things that I can say but can’t explain. The things you see when you walk out your door and out of the city are just so different that I couldn’t help but want to experience it. I suppose I got a little taste and that’s why I started to chase after more.
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