“Sometimes mountaineering is deadly serious - other times you just have to laugh…”
I was raised by mountain men; at least that is what I jokingly tell people! But the truth is, I’ve always loved the outdoors. As a child, I begged to be taken iglooing and attempted to run away from home to climb Mt Rainier. From rock climbing, to mountaineering, skiing, and scuba diving; the call to be outside and exploring runs deep. Growing up, I moved between the United States and Europe, which is why my husband and I decided to migrate back in 2017. Nearly as soon as we arrived, we ventured to the hills. And it quickly became apparent that I was, in many ways, starting fresh as a beginner again; understanding what maps to buy and where, learning about grid references, local terrain and weather patterns, new terminology and practices. There were days when it was frustrating, but ultimately, I came to learn, grow and get involved. Each experience lending itself to new memories and new stories. Over all the years I’ve been in the outdoors, it is the stories that stick with me the most. The suffering, the discomfort, the fear, for the most part, fade away. But the friendship, the sense of achievement, the adventures and the laughs stay constant. One day after recounting just such a story, I joked that I should create comics based solely on the sheer number of stories I have gained over the years. In many ways I believe they speak to the heart of the outdoor experience. With outdoor pursuits gaining mainstream popularity, it is easy to understand how the extreme nature of the pursuits attracts people and makes it an easy focus. A growing number of outlets have even focused on the mental and philosophical aspects. With such awe inspiring and thought-provoking material available, it’s easy to see how the every day little incidences can be overlooked. But these comics are a nod to all the other less openly celebrated moments. The amusing, lighthearted anecdotes we all have in some form or another. The ones that define us and unite us in more subtle ways. The little occurrences that add up to make the overall experience that much richer and more memorable.
The comics are inspired by my experiences and observations, with many being direct quotes from actual events. But lacking the artistic skills to depict them myself, I reached out to several artists online. It was ultimately a fellow climbing partner, who incidentally was the first to coin ‘The Warren Variation’ after having been on several herself, who introduced me to artist, Justin Van Gend (www.justinvangend.com) whose creative illustrations have brought the comics to life. With a degree in Illustration from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, coupled with his participation in a wide variety of outdoor pursuits, has helped him bring a touch of reality to the comics. I hope they make you laugh, or at the very least, smile!
Mountain Chivalry
Ladies First. I cannot recall the number of times I’ve had a guy look at a difficult or dangerous section and tell me ‘’ladies first’’. It is a delicious bit of irony when the big, tough guys look at something skeptically and push me towards it; covering their actions by painting it as a chivalrous gesture. I have countless examples from crevasse crossings, rock aretes. Once, I was even told that same ‘‘Ladies first!’’ while looking at a three story high ladder propped against a bridge. The only way to get to the start of the route was to climb the ladder with a fully three day mountaineering pack. Not willing to fight what I would have to do anyways, I went first. As I was climbing I felt the ladder moving and someone below me started yelling that it wasn’t locked and was collapsing! I was already too high so I raced the last several feet up to grab the concrete edge with my hands and pull myself up.
Congratulations
Halfway there. Again, this is another quote from my blunt, bordering on irreverent, mentor. Although it is also a nod to anyone who has been out with someone who believes they are saying something positive when they are only making the goal seem that much further away!
Evolution of Climbing
Over the years there has been a noticeable shift in mentalities across a wide range of activities, and the shift in the outdoor world is particularly stark. The three panels represent, from left to right, the people I learned from, my own experiences and what I see now. The shift is so contrasting it is comical, and perhaps inspiring of reflection.
Navigational Types
I am notorious for finding my own path or route and occasionally that will clash with my partner’s more structured approaches. One particular partner, an engineer by trade, approached every situation logically with a map and GPS while I would occasionally tell him my gut was saying something else. It is this desire to roam and explore that has dangerously mixed with my own personal intuition that has led me off on a few Warren Variations in my day. Honestly, it is all just another name for an adventure!
Tougher Than Indiana Jones
This is verbatim what a friend yelled at me while we were both bushwhacking through a dense section of Cascade slide alder. It was hot, tiring, and frustrating work that was suddenly alleviated when through the brush I heard him yell that! Turns out we had picked the hardest ascent line. On the descent we walked off a blissfully vegetation free section.
Gaelic Names
I’d like to believe I am not the only one who struggles with these names. I once spent an entire day telling people where I thought I was heading, receiving only confused shrugs in return, only to find out I was going the same place everyone else was. I was just saying the name so incorrectly that no one could understand! It was on the Cuillin where my husband was attempting to sound out a name, that I told him in the event of an emergency we should just stick with coordinates. Much harder to confuse. We are hopeless otherwise!
Work-Life Balance
I once attended a mountaineering course where participants had to take a survey which, essentially amounted to a bunch of questions to pit your morality against your determination to climb. At the time I remember laughing at questions like ‘‘If it was your grandma’s 80th birthday, but it was the only good weather weekend in months to try and attempt a route, which would you choose?’’. I mean, come on, do we really need to ask ourselves these questions? Fast-forward a few years and that was me telling my boss the evening before that I needed the day off to do a route. And before you ask, yes, I missed more than one social event. It is a fine balance passion and responsibility and the dance between can help give us perspective.
Heat Leech
This isn't even based on a true story - this is a true story. This was our third night out. We had experienced more difficulties than expected and narrowly avoided disaster in two or three separate incidents over the course of those days. We made it off the summit and down into an upper basin where the sun was setting so we decided to crash in our lightweight bivy gear. The temperatures dropped that night, the wind rolled in and with all the crazy of the last several days, those factors had an impact. Most notably when I woke up the next morning from a generally poor sleep to hear my partner say that he could feel me leeching the heat off him all night. Just sucking it away from him. Like I was the reason he was cold all night!! In a fit of tired pique, I just muttered back ''Okay crazy.. I was cold too!''. I think we have all had those days and nights out when the circumstances produce some really odd statements and behavior and the best of partners just laugh with you! And this is the best of partnerships!
Mountain Privacy
After a lifetime of using the outdoor facilities I have, for the most part, become apathetic towards the necessary. Need a buddy to walk to the outhouse? Fine. Someone on your rope want you to turn so they can squat? Fine. Take a picture of someone from behind to tease them mercilessly later? Check! This was not one of those times. I was trying to offer my partner a bit of privacy and threw the toilet paper without looking. I knew I’d missed the mark with the accompanying noises! That then meant I had to turn to see the toilet paper skittering downhill towards the crevasses lower down. Let that be a lesson for everyone! Sometimes it is easier to just pass the toilet paper!
Crazy Light
Another, this did actually happen just this way! Someone did actually dig around my pack and throw out things they deemed unnecessary. When he came across the first aid kit and told me, ‘’If you need this, you’re going to die!’’ I remember thinking we are on completely different pages here! What is this guy imagining?! Also, laughing after he told me I didn’t need spare underwear and socks... Yah, I put those back in my bag.
Typical Weather
This is a bit of a mash-up for all the different times the weather has been enticingly promising only to be wretched on the actual day – something I believe we have all experienced! Like that time, I waited hours in a car on the Cascade River Road as a dramatic thunderstorm descended on the area. Or the time the weather moved in quicker than expected and we humped out miles in a deluge so strong we weren’t sure we’d get the car off the mountain. Even that time my partner told me, en route to Thunder Creek Trailhead, about his strict policy of not even starting a climb if the windshield wipers were on high on the way to the start. So really, this is a nod to all the times the weather didn’t go to plan and the friends who begrudgingly let themselves be dragged along.
UPCOMING COMIC SERIES……
The Deet Incident