![]() Those fearsome characteristics of peaks-the exposure, the extremity, the potentially fatal consequences of a misplaced foot-have now become reasons to go.įor me, however, the emotional draw of mountains has always taken precedence over the pursuit of adrenaline. ![]() Only in the 18th century, as early holidaymakers realized that you can’t enjoy a view without having a vantage, did trepidation evolve into active adventuring. They were perilous obstacles, best avoided. For millennia, our relationship with mountains was defined by fear. This much is certain: the fever that gripped Mallory is an urge more cultural than instinctive. Photograph by Michael Melford, Nat Geo Image Collection Some of us just can’t help seeing a peak without wondering what might be visible from its summit, and we’re not sure why.ĭue to rockslide and subsequent erosion, the height of Mount Cook slowly decreases. The legendary climber George Mallory, speaking to a New York Times journalist before his ill-starred attempt on Everest in 1924, uttered perhaps the most celebrated explanation for the pull of high places: “Because it’s there.” That this glib refrain should have become so famous an explanation for summit fever-the default riposte to the lowlander’s question of “why?”-tells you all you need to know about the visceral, ambiguous allure of mountains. Yet ask me to distill what it is about mountains that so possesses people and I falter. An urge to ascend is not without its pitfalls. I once skidded 300 feet down a couloir on my ass in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, my progress halted only by the sudden, cartoonish interjection of a snowdrift. I’ve also contracted snow blindness in Iran and almost fallen into a crevasse in Bolivia. I’ve seen crystalline dawns break over the Peruvian cordilleras, spent nights beneath yak hides in a yurt among the Ala-Too steppes of Central Asia, sat mesmerized by the raging dance of Nyiragongo’s lava lake in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the years that followed, as I began to travel in earnest, it became an obsession marked by euphoric highs and crushing lows. By the time a post-university trip took me from south to north up the spine of the Andes, bookish curiosity had graduated into full-fledged passion. But my baptism came on a gleeful school trip to north Wales spent bouldering among the granite crannies of Snowdonia. There wasn’t much altitude where I grew up in London. My interest in mountains, whether climbing them or merely being in their vicinity, began with stories of heroic mountaineers. Chances are I’ll never reach it-an all but impassable box canyon, the Rishi Gorge, offers the only viable route in. ![]() I’ve been fortunate to glimpse it from afar, and, since then, I can see it daily in a panorama hung in a frame on a wall at home. Remote, awe-inspiring, transcendent, the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, a glacial basin in India’s Garhwal Himalaya, embodies everything that I love about mountain country. Shake your phone to get a random card quickly.Please be respectful of copyright. Swipe through the deck with a gesture, to find the perfect card for you or a friend. Complete your deck with the add-on Teamwork and Leadership sets, for a total of 49 cards, just like the physical deck.Ĭhoose to view pictures first, or texts first. The free starter pack contains 7 of the most popular cards. And now they are in your pocket via this App a much-requested enhancement from coaches who have purchased the physical card deck over the years. Some days you need a word of advice to help you take that next step, a reminder to stop and appreciate what is already going well, or a challenge that spurs you into action. At the bottom of each message is an easy-to-spot BIG WORD that ties the front image and “love note” together. Each card is artfully created with a memorable image to inspire you, and the heart of each card is a “love letter” from Lyssa Adkins, Coach of Agile Coaches, connecting the inspirational quote to the everyday experience of your Agile Coaching work. The InspireMe! deck brings you the best of Lyssa Adkins’ daily “Inspiration for Agile Coaches” messages. May this card deck support you and challenge you as you journey on.” “I believe that you are a powerful transformation agent, ushering in a completely new way of working. On other days you have InspireMe! as a source of insight for you and your teams. The work of Agile Coaching is difficult and rewarding. ![]()
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