Look Again: Lessons Learned From Mountain Climbing Experiences

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Lessons Learned From Mountain Climbing Experiences

One of my favorite activities is mountain climbing. Last year, with a group of friends, we had together climbed and conquered 6 mountains in Malaysia, including scaling the summit of the highest peak in Borneo, Mount Kinabalu. It's to my great dissappointment that my father had forbidden me from joining any expedition this year.

Apart from keeping me fit and slim (I've put on a few kilograms since my last mountain climbing expedition in September 2003), I have enjoyed mountain climbing for many reasons and learned a lot of lessons in life through mountain climbing experiences.

Here I listed a few...

8. the special feeling about being on top of the world…
Nothing beats the feeling of being on top of the world – despite knowing fully well that you are not actually on top of the world but merely on top of the particular mountain you have climbed. All pains and aches miraculously became momentarily forgotten upon arrival at the mountain peak …

7. … but one won’t always be on top at all times
But one won’t always be the first to arrive to the top. Just like one won’t always on top at all times. Life is like that. Sometimes, we would be recognized as top of the pack. At other times, we are considered similar to the rest of the pack. But what matter more is how did we benefit from the ascending journey. After all, sooner or later, everybody will reach their own peaks…

6. Sometimes we may need to walk around obstacles
Along the way, one will encounter large obstacles – piles of large timber, swamps, rivers. Just like in life when we face obstacles that we have no power to change, we just have to move around them or cross over them carefully and cautiously.

5. …at other times, we can just remove the smaller obstacles
But if it’s just a small branch which hinders the way or a palm leaf full with thorns – we will just remove them aside. The people behind us will benefit – and we will benefit too on our way back… We learn to leave legacies that will serve both ourselves and others well…

4. We need each other, we are bound to each other
Due to the risks involved, climbers need one another and are often bound to each other - to assist when needed and to ensure each other’s safety. Mountain climbing is always a team effort, a cooperative effort, so that the better and more experienced climbers can lead the way and guide less skilled and less experienced climbers.

3. Prepare ourselves in taking bigger challenges
One way to keep going when one really feels like quitting during any mountain climbing training session is to remember that it is just training for a bigger deal. What is 2700 feet when we are aiming to tackle a 4095m mountain? Just like in life, as we overcome daily problems and obstacles, we train and prepare ourselves to take bigger challenges ahead.

2. Gets us closer to nature
Why do people climb mountains in the first place? Simply because the climber feels called by the mountain to scale its heights, to explore its woods. But mountain climbing is never a waste of time. We get closer to nature when we hike in the woods and personally ascend the mountain, than we do peeking from a distance through the plane’s windowpane or staring through the car’s window.

1. Sharing commitment makes the difficult possible
Climbers share the same commitment to reach the summit in a group. A climbing party is only as good and only as fast as its slowest climber. The common practice is to position the slowest climbers up front - to keep those members always before the eyes of the better climbers, in order to help them, to urge and encourage them whenever needed. Working as a team with shared commitment help in achieving the goal of reaching the peak safely and successfully. As in life, sharing commitment help in making the difficult easy, the impossible possible.