In Pursuit of Perfection | The Pinnacle Newsletter #1
#1 In Pursuit of Perfection
Hello and welcome!
The Pinnacle Newsletter will aim to inform and inspire in roughly equal measure. Sometimes I'll be sharing bits and pieces about the craft and graft of writing. Sometimes I'll be telling stories. This week it's the latter.
In this first letter, I want to aim high, and talk a bit about perfection. (Just want my digest of recently published stuff? Keep scrolling!)
I seek the Grail!
When I was younger, I yearned for that classic perfect mountain day. You know – blue skies, crisp snows, inversions. I felt cheated by days that fell short of this ideal, but gradually, as the years passed, I came to realise that it's all worthwhile. Your experience on the hill is defined more by your attitude than by the weather (something that's true of many things in life).
Perfection exists only in comparison with imperfection – if we were assured of stunning conditions and success every time, would we still have that drive to get out there and try again and again? Would it even mean anything?
For ten years, long after I'd learned to take the rough with the smooth, my vision of perfection was the Lochaber Traverse in winter. I'd been up there so many times in lousy conditions. I'd walked along the spine of the Grey Corries in midge-bitten drizzle, knowing that if I waited long enough – and kept trying – it would all come together.
2008
Ibuprofen and Midges
In September 2006, I found myself on the summit of Stob Ban at the eastern end of the Grey Corries, alone, at sunset. It was my first time in those mountains. It should have been my first attempt at the Lochaber Traverse, too, and it was all going wrong.
My walking buddy, Angelika, was holed up in our campsite in the glen beneath with a broken ankle. She'd fallen over during a river crossing in Glen Nevis that afternoon, but fortunately we were equipped for several days, so decided to camp and figure out how to get back to civilisation in the morning.
As we brooded, moodily picking over our failure, Angelika turned to me and said that I might as well go and climb a hill, having come all this way.
After dosing her up with painkillers, I chucked all the camping gear out of my rucksack and started to run up the broad grassy slopes of Stob Ban rearing up above Coire Rath.
Complete solitude enveloped me as soon as the tent was out of sight. I felt frustrated that there would be no possibility of even setting foot on the main ridge, and couldn't imagine when my next chance would come. The view over the quartzite rollercoaster of the Grey Corries taunted me when I reached the summit in time for the sun to begin its dive into the Atlantic.
So close. So very close.
The next day, I helped Angelika back to the road. She could put little pressure on one leg so our retreat must have looked like some kind of bizarre three-legged race – me loaded down with most of the gear, assisting her hobble and hop over burn and bog. We made it to the Steall car park as darkness fell and hitched a lift to hospital in Fort William.
Mischief Managed
Ten years passed.
I waited, and built my experience, and had faith that one day I would go back and it would be everything I had dreamed of.
2016
I published my account of that day in the January 2017 issue of The Great Outdoors. Now, for the first time, it's available to read free online. You can enjoy it here: http://www.alexroddie.com/2018/01/in-pursuit-of-perfection-the-lochaber-traverse.html
My crossing of the Lochaber Traverse in 2016 was perfection, so much so that I think it burned out the part of my soul that yearns for it. I can't imagine anything ever surpassing that trip, so why seek a repeat of the unrepeatable? Since my Lochaber Traverse I've started to find more enjoyment in the little things, in the obscure journeys that nobody but me really cares about, even in the rain and the cloud.
Perfection is a powerful driving force when it's ahead of you, but I think when it's behind you it opens up the way for other, more complex things.
Recently Published
To hell with Facebook – I'm starting a newsletter instead.
Skills: Winter Walker to Winter Climber. A long-form skills piece over at UKHIllwalking.com.
I interviewed Alan Rowan on his Mountains of the Moon project.
My top nine wild camps of 2017.
Coming Up
I have a 'Single Moment' feature in the upcoming Vol.11 of Sidetracked, everyone's favourite coffee-table adventure magazine. I've been on the Sidetracked editorial team since Vol.4 so I'm thrilled to finally get a feature in there too!
How Editors Work
Kia Thomas takes you through the typical editorial process. Not to be missed.
P.S.
If you'd like to see a sneak preview of my new website – which I'll be talking a bit more about in future newsletters – then you can read the 'alternative' version of my Lochaber Traverse digital feature here. Please note that navigation hyperlinks won't work, as this is in a test directory. I'd be very interested in any feedback on the design. Still a work in progress, but at some point this year I plan to replace my entire website with this style.
Thanks for reading. If you've enjoyed my first newsletter, I'd appreciate you giving me a shout-out on social media, or even just telling someone the old-fashioned way. And don't forget that if you'd like to chat or ask about anything, you can reply directly to this email.
I'll catch you next time!
Alex