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2009年04月16日
Japanese Mountains: One Rope
I go rock climbing for many reasons. My main reason of course is to keep in shape and for my health. However, I also go to enjoy beautiful mountain scenery and breathe nice fresh mountain air and of course I also go to be alone with God in the mountains that He has made.
However, there is another reason and that is the many wonderful friendships that I have been able to make in the mountains. One of the wonderful people I have met is Mr. T. The other day I arrived at the Kura Iwa and found him in full climbing gear. He at once invited me to share his rope and to climb together rather than for me to use my own. I had a wonderful time of climbing and and also relaxing together over coffee.
Afterwards I thought of this concept of one rope. To offer the use of your rope you are letting someone else touch and use a very basic piece of equipment. The rope is what makes sure we come back alive after each climb. To let someone else use that is a great sacrifice I thought. Secondly, it involves the giving of your time. Mr. T did all the hard work of setting up the rope and now he is going to let someone else use it while he just watches. Each time I use his rope to climb is time that he himself could be climbing. But, for the sake of comradship and friendship he decided to offer me the use of his rope.
Of course, accepting the offer is also meaningful I thought. It involves trusting his rope. I know I can trust my own rope but to use someone else's rope means you trust them. I also have to give up any ideas of my own about which route to climb. Of course, for me, spending time climbing with Mr. T was more important than choosing my own route and so I gladly accepted his offer.
Let me end with a quote I have used before.
"Mountaineering transcends all everyday matters. It transcends all national frontiers. Mountaineers are a band of brothers. They are all one party on one rope."
Guido Tonella: Italian climber and journalist
投稿者 bethany : 2009年04月16日 20:01
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