Featured Expedition: 2003 American Ski Everest Expedition
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Copyright©Jim Gile American Ski Everest 2003

Dispatch 43 American Ski Everest Expedition: Since getting home I have been inundated by people asking why we just didn't get a porter and some O's and go for the summit. People say you gave it a great shot, but why after you realized it was not possible with no O's or Sherpas didn't you just go for the summit with. The answer is really simple. Style matters, especially on Everest. The pioneer climbs aside, style matters and is largely ignored. There is a tremendous satisfaction in climbing to the dreaded "death zone" by fair means which in relation to Everest is really hard to explain; it almost never happens on that peak, and the successes, now well into the thousands, have been largely defined by one thing and one thing only, the summit. Don't get me wrong, the summit is important. But in our minds, and especially in the case of high altitude skiing, there is a saying; you need to earn your turns. The satisfaction from earning your turns can be applied to earning your summits as well. As it pertains to Everest and other 8,000 meter peaks, paying your dues is a matter of style. Without that style many people go on to earn a great deal of personal satisfaction from accomplishment that I can not take away and I very much appreciate. But for our team there is a need for more. Style does matter, and without it personal accomplishment is completely belittled. Maybe we are hard headed, and maybe just stubborn. And while we don't have the personal satisfaction of standing on top of the world we have one thing that many who have don't; we know how difficult Everest really is. When you throw in the satisfaction of making a personal decision to not only attempt Everest with style, but you decide to carry skis, there is satisfaction before you even get to the mountain. And then to haul the gear to the death zone and ski out of it, that is a satisfaction that only a handful of people have ever experienced. It takes huge balls to tell people you are going to attempt to ski any 8,000 meter peak; your chances of a summit are slim, your work load is guaranteed to bust your ass. But as soon as you put ptex to snow, your satisfaction is guaranteed; that makes your style that much more satisfying, summit or not. So style does matter. It is really the only thing that does.  Mike 

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