« The Red Baron flies again | Main | This is your captain speaking »

January 17, 2010

It's not the fall that kills you; it's the sudden stop


I have an almost paralyzing fear of heights, albeit not an irrational phobia, in my opinion. I'm not afraid of falling when I'm in a position of safety -- behind a sturdy barrier or far enough away from the precipice that a stumble won't send me sailing into the void, for instance.

But throwing myself out of a perfectly good airplane, or climbing a mountain with only pitons, ropes and harnesses standing between the structural integrity of my body and a gravity-induced transformation into 175-odd pounds of steak tartare and Smucker's raspberry jam?

Uh, no thanks.

Still, movies like North Face, which details the 1936 record-setting ascent of the never-before conquered north face of the Eiger by two friends, allows me to vicariously experience being an insanely-reckless thrillseeker -- in plus-fours, no less.

The climb is even more impressive when you get a gander at the low-tech gear they used in their assault on the Eiger; no GPS, sat-phones or Gore-Tex for these plucky Germans, just steel, leather, hemp line and wool, danke!

I'll watch this one from the very back of my seat, feet braced against the row in front.

Is anyone else feeling a little woozy?

Posted by Mike Lief at January 17, 2010 05:24 PM