Read, Watch, Listen. Including States of Adventure 30 Stories of Outdoor Exploration.
(This review originally featured in Vertical Life # 49)
Read: States of Adventure 30 Stories of Outdoor Exploration
This collection of stories from Fitz Cahill, host of The Dirtbag Diaries podcast, takes readers into the world of adventure sports with tales that span the hot and cold, the fast and slow, the technical and the benign. There are a vast range of entries provided by regular people committing to epic adventures ranging from stalwart classics of climbing, skiing and hiking to some slightly more niche pursuits in mono-boarding, handcycling and roller skating. Each story not only fuels the reader’s stoke but also provides insights into the mindsets of the individuals involved.
The book opens with a foreword from Alex Honnold who introduces the author Fitz Cahall as the ”everyman climber”– someone who is “Good enough to get outside and have big adventures” but without the propensity to forget the other things in life. Fitz examines the surprising links between terror/suffering and (sometimes much delayed) retrospective enjoyment. In modern society there are plenty of reasons not to leave the homeostasis of our day to day lives. We have climate-controlled offices and predictable schedules which allow us to exist almost perpetually in a manufactured state of comfort. States of Adventure is a logbook of those who have traded in a few hours, days or in some cases weeks of discomfort for deeper and more exciting flavours of ”fun”.
One of the key themes which runs throughout the book is the ”anyone can do it” attitude. The stories all highlight the incredible feats of the individual adventurers in a way that emphasises the importance of their perseverance, determination and effort, rather than any innate or unachievable level of ability. It is easy to disconnect from the wild experiences of highly skilled adventurers who’s pursuits sit on a shelf out of our own reach, but each of the journeys in States of Adventure has a certain level of viability to the reader (given the appropriate level of dedication).
Whilst I enjoyed reading about daring ascents up El Capitan and remote ski descents, it was refreshing to also delve into some more eclectic sports, such as Burro Racing. Burro Racing is a sport endemic to the South Western states of America which is similar to long distance running. The key component however is that all participants must have a donkey in tow. Whilst this is not a sport likely to make its mark in Australia, I appreciated reading about some of the more left-field activities that fellow outdoorsy types get up to.
Each story presented in the States of Adventure comes alongside a host of impressive photographs and a location pinpoint (most of the stories are from the US). This is a nice touch and provides some further context for the stories. My personal favourite, Unseen But Felt is written by the author himself and is based in the Sierra Nevada. This is a story of a hiking/climbing trip which took a turn for the cold and miserable in its final throes. I resonated with this story as it takes you along the mental journey of an expedition, from letting go of your work life at home, all the way through to the serene scenes of following deer trails in untouched snow.
Whether you are a climber looking for relatable content for some afternoon reading or someone who enjoys seeking out the weird and wonderful niches of the outdoorsy community, there is a story in States of Adventure for you.
Watch: The Mountain Queen (Lhakpa Sherpa)
The mountains draw climbers to them for many reasons, for some it is out of ego, for others it is fame. Lhakpa Sherpa, the Mountain Queen, fits neither of these categories. The Mountain Queen is a documentary directed by Lucy Walker which depicts the journey of the first Nepali woman to summit and descend Chomolungma (Everest). Lhakpa, who has summited Everest more than any other woman in the world, walks through each of her ascents as chapters in her life and describes the tribulations she has faced along the way.
Despite her numerous record-breaking ascents in the Himalayas, Lhakpa’s most challenging summit was in Connecticut where she found herself fighting to stay strong through challenging personal circumstances and relationships. She explains how her perspective on the mountains and broader life has been shaped through the lens of the domestic abuse she faced. Chomolungma, the Sherpa name for Everest, means ‘God and Mother’. This takes on new meaning as Lhakpa describes how the mountain returned her pride and allowed her to escape the difficulties of her home life.
The film shows how remarkably humble Lhakpa is. Flying in the face of her fame, Lhakpa is distinctly human, living a relatively simple life in the US. She works long shifts at the local food shop and is raising two daughters facing their own array of life’s challenges. Through all of this she maintains her impressive determination and strength for Himalayan ascents.
This film resonated with me, not only for its take on a number of modern societal issues but also as a motivational piece on the ability of someone living a fairly ordinary life at home to maintain a highly successful career in climbing.
Listen: Babsi and Jacopo: The Flame Burns Bright, Climbing Gold podcast
With its birthplace in mountaineering, climbing has historically been surrounded in adventure, commitment and equipment reliance. However, since the late 20th century climbing has taken an alternative path with newer members of the community now able to enjoy the sport without owning any gear or venturing beyond the reaches of air conditioning. The introduction of high quality commercial climbing gyms has made climbing materially more accessible, yet in this process has diluted the prevalence of more traditional forms of outdoor rock climbing. Further to this, with the inclusion of climbing in the Olympics and the subsequent explosion of modern indoor bouldering as a primary form of climbing, expedition and adventure climbing of the past seem to be growing ever more remote.
Babsi Zangerl and Jacobo Larcher are walking this path in the opposite direction, and this is explored in Alex Honnold’s podcast, Climbing Gold. With backgrounds in competition climbing and hard bouldering, Babsi and Jacobo have sought to apply their unique strengths and skillsets fostered indoors to hard trad routes and adventurous big walls. This approach has allows them to not only push the limits of their own comfort zones, but also the boundaries of adventure climbing itself.
Babsi and Jacobo talk about their journey into this side of the sport and how their decision to return to this more traditional form of climbing (albeit with a modern mindset) was fundamentally based on a desire to challenge themselves. Through the podcast they discuss how they needed to work through their hesitancy to fall, a general mistrust of trad gear and the strategies they employed to work through these aspects.
This podcast provides insight into the journey into hard trad climbing and how modern climbing styles can be leveraged to progress the world of adventure climbing.
This article appeared in Edition 49 of Vertical Life Magazine SUMMER 2024. Grab your copy here
