A couple of days ago, Doug and I walked 20 kilometres from Dolphin Point to Bawley Point along the coast. As adventures go, it was pretty soft. Sure, we got up at O Dark O'Clock, but that was only so we could get the 8.05 am bus from Bawley Point and wanted time for a coffee before we left. There was no elevation gain to speak of, no raging river crossings, no crevassed glaciers or knife edge ridges, just a pleasant walk with temperatures in the mid teens. Despite all that, I had a full day pack - gloves, puffy jacket, fleece sweater, long pants, beanie, food, water, thermos of tea, first aid kit. When I hefted my pack onto the bus I thought, "gosh, that is remarkably heavy."
So, it is with the caveat that I tend to lug a lot of gear about, that I approach the current "light and fast" trend. Arguably, this originated with Marc Twight and was made popular with publication of the book "Extreme Alpinism: Climbing Light, High And Fast," although Yvon Choinard is reported to have quipped, a decade or so earlier that "if you carry bivi gear you will bivi" so perhaps Marc Twight was derivative like the rest of us.
Listening to the latest Sharp End podcast where the 21 year old protagonist from Iowa was on a "fast and light" ascent of Ellingwood Ridge on La Plata in Colorado - apparently a helmet is too heavy - I find myself thinking that the difference between Marc Twight going fast and light and a gym climber from Iowa planning a fast and light ascent are worlds apart.
After hearing of several dozen similar incidents where, like all classic Mills and Boone romance novels, only the names of the protagonists and the routes change, I am beginning to think that you need to earn the right to go fast and light by going slow and heavy for a few years. Prove me wrong.
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