Making It Happen

There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. Jim Lovell

Lately I've been thinking that there are people you meet in life who make things happen, and others who go along with whatever is happening. The former are much rarer than the latter.

On my recent Bonnington Traverse, we skied up a couple of peaks after the days travel between cabins was completed. After skiing to Steed Cabin we skied up Siwash, and after skiing to Copper Cabin we skied up Copper. Usually, I also ski up Grassy on the first day after we have skied into the Grassy Cabin (it takes only about four hours to the cabin), but, on this trip, I had to return to the trail-head to pick up a forgotten jacket and didn't get into Grassy Cabin until late (with sore feet too).

The two other fellows on the traverse had, of course, plenty of time to ski up Grassy Mountain without me as I was at least two hours behind them. But, neither of them did. Instead, they hung around the Grassy Cabin all afternoon. Similarly, when we got to Steed and Copper Cabins, I encouraged them to head off to the summits without me, but neither would, although they were more than keen to go along with me.

Before Easter, I was chatting with a friend before she left on the Wapta traverse, I asked if she had plans to ski up some peaks along the way as her group was taking 5 days to do a 3 day trip and would have plenty of time. She replied that she had made no plans as she didn't know how fast her partners would be.

This is completely different to how I approach a ski traverse. Before the trip, I research all the peaks along the route and work out which ones are potential ascents and by what route. Then, when we get near the peak, I am ready to go and getting to the top is simply a matter of making it happen.

Guess that makes me one of the former.

Climbing Wesley on the Hurley Traverse