THE POWER OF Awe

As climbers, we have the privilege of being part of a global community of people who often get to access remote environments regularly, and because of that, climbers as a collective know a thing or two about being awestruck. A central feature that defines the experience of awe and the most applicable to us as climbers, is the concept of perceived vastness (Dacher, Keltner & Haidt, 2003), meaning the sheer magnitude of external stimuli in both physical and metaphysical terms. Put simply, when we’re faced with expansive environments, awe has the power to leave us feeling more connected to others and the world around us.

For climbers, no environment has played more of an active role in the catalyst of these experiences, than the mountains. So potent is feeling awestruck, that the experience can be likened to “an altered state of consciousness akin to the flow state” (Allen, 2018)--which is something all of us climbers know all too well.

What makes a climber's relationship with awe distinctive from other outdoor communities though, is that we’ve built our collective history on a foundation of sharing it with others. The environments we climb in, and the experiences of climbers within them, have influenced generations of collective sporting achievement, undeniably brilliant written work, iconic imagery and dramatic visual storytelling through film–all with the purpose of building shared connections.

It’s through these self-transcendent experiences in our climbing environments, that we learn to embrace the complexity of our individual and collective fragility, in a way that’s totally unique to us. Having built a cumulative history on the foundation of experiencing awe in the places we climb and sharing that with others, we’ve collectively stitched together the fabric of an unspoken but undeniably powerful bond that all climbers should be proud to share.

From hiking under a seemingly endless canopy of giant trees en route to the crag, witnessing the dappled rosy hues of alpenglow settle on a mountain peak for the first time, standing under the deep inky-black of the night sky while the aurora borealis explodes overhead, or simply experiencing an alpine environment so expansive and boundless that it leaves you lost for words– it’s these experiences of perceived vastness (Keltner, Haidit, 2003) that transform us as individual climbers and stitch us together as a climbing community.

Inspired by the climbing community’s deep history of mountain storytelling and our own climbing-driven awe experiences, issue #43 of VL builds on that collective history, with 84 pages that speak to inspiration, challenge, fear and hope amongst a backdrop that influences us all–the mountains.

We get a reflective look at how the enormousness of New Zealand’s Southern Alps sewed the seed for a life of equally enormous climbing achievements for Australian Mountaineering icon, Tim Macartney-Snape; while VL’s Assistant Editor Wendy Bruere explores the motivation behind Allie Pepper ’s attempt to become the fastest person to reach the true summit of all 14 of the 8000m+ peaks, without supplemental oxygen.

Dr Heather Purdie shows us that the enduring power of the mountains can lead to a different type of career. As both a mountaineer and an Associate Professor at the University of Canterbury / Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, Heather draws upon both her climbing and her research to explore how mountains are changing as the planet warms–giving us plenty to think about.

Our cover photographer, Gavin Lang, speaks to his value of the mountains in his “How I Got The Shot” column, and reassures us that “every mountain adventure begins with uncertainty. Uncertainty creates the thrill of the unknown, which is necessary for personal growth”. The role mountains play in our personal growth is at the heart of Cassie Davies Journey to Weeping Wall, as she tells us how she transformed her life to chase ice in Canada.

We get to know NZ Mountaineer Maddy Whittaker and her world-class attitude, through her incredible teenage introduction to the mountains. She reminds us that “when you are doing it, you are in awe of what’s around you”, getting us psyched for all winter climbing has to offer.

On history and what we can learn, we have another brilliantly reflective piece on the risks of mountaineering in Louise

Shepherd ’s column “Tale of Woah”. “From The Archives” features a piece called “Mountaineering For The Preservation of Youth and Beauty” written by Constance A. Barnicoat and originally published in 1910, speaking to a different kind of motivation to head for the hills. In “Mindset Reset” Dr Kate Beacher hones our mental game with an introduction to some of the considerations and attractions of moving from rock to the mountains.

Closer to home, we take a look at a different experience of vastness inspiring awe, as we head to Mparntwe/Alice Springs with local climber Hetty de Crespigny, to better understand access on these ancient lands. Just as transformative and inspiring as the environments we climb in, are the people we share these moments with–so hearing from local climbing legends Tom O’Halloran, Brendan Flanagan and Macciza Macpherson on climbing and fatherhood, is a real treat.

I hope you find awe wherever you’re climbing this winter, and that when you do, you continue our shared tradition as climbers by sharing it with others.

Coz Fleming (they/them) VL Managing Editor