Well, my days as a “mountaineer” were short lived, except for skiing which I’ve done all my life. But my mountain climbing days were confined to a few weeks with my brother and a few others trained by Tompkins’ outfit in the Rockies in Wyoming and Montana.
At the time, I was 16 years old, I wasn’t having much fun, but now I look back on that time with more fond memories and feel kind of proud that I actually scaled the summit of the Grand Tetons. What a view.
Doug Tompkins was kind of a tragic figure IMO. He had so much talent and was in many way, obviously, a sensible and very intelligent person. But there was definitely an angry side to him where didn’t seem to like people too much and embraced socialism - back in the 60’s. But the free market was definitely a successful vehicle for the billionaire as the article describes.
These days, I’m fascinated by the amazing talent of a seemingly much more amiable guy and free-solo climber, Alex Honnold.
Alex is like a metaphorical son to me and my wife on YouTube when we watch him on TV
Such a sweet boy
My palms sweat and heart races watching him
It’s unfathomable what he does
I shut my eyes sometimes and my wife shrieks
I pray he quits while ahead soon with free solo
Long term outlook is ominous
He’s in a class by himself