In my personal quest for wholeness and soul, art is a priority. I aim to surround myself with literature, language, music, film, poetry and museums,. We are conditioned to believe that art is paintings, poems, sketches and symphonies, yet I would like to assert that my biggest addiction (which is none of those things) is art.
Under a microscope, a large bulk of hiking, climbing, and snowboarding is scientifically calculated. The way we use physics to propel our bodies up boulders depends on pulley systems and tension. When we first start a long hike and begin to read the trailhead we see maps with topography contours, segment distances, rules, order, science. A day snowboarding first begins with cheating the weather and wearing “state of the art” temperature control gear with fibers designed specifically for that powder day. We have engineered gondolas, lifts, carbon boards, bindings, ergonomic boots and poles. Some backpackers are calculating their loads by the ounce, leading scientists to craft new frames and threads to optimize lightness. Hydration timing, squeeze gel packs, power trail mix, calculation, nutrition, science. We want to be faster and stronger so we use every bit of science to make it easier for us. With science we can conquer the elements and cheat the system with technology. Fundamentally, the definition of science is “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment”. We could argue that a day in the woods fits in the category. Observing tangible obstacles such as rocky traverses, calculating risk, and then experimenting with a solution. There are definite results, if x happens than y will result. If you fall, pain will result.
The pragmatics of outdoor sports can be delved into all day but I will however challenge even Madam Curie herself to calculate the way I get goosebumps when I start carving and flowing with fresh powder at dusk. When I strap in my bindings and begin my descent I stop breathing at the sound the edge of my board makes is so beautiful. On a long hike, a tree is more than a root system that photosynthesizes and emits carbon dioxide. I am intoxicated by the smell of the pines, and speechless when I look at the black detailing of aspens as hand painted tribal scars. The definition of art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination….producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power”. Do we not use our bodies for application of creative skill? I suppose we are not creating a master painting, but to every outdoorsman the trail is our canvas. We replace brushstrokes with fresh boot tracks, we replace music with bird songs, and our poems become the way a thousand snowflakes look dancing around us. Beauty and emotional power is the best way I could ever describe why I always run to the mountains. I am not a painter, composer or potter but I’ve got perspective beyond carbon fiber and physics. I have come to conclude that to the artist, everything is art. In the wilderness I have found a masterpiece that I can crawl inside to live and breathe, and laugh and cry. In my oil painting I ache and hurt from the immenseness of the valleys and the insignificance of myself. Science is about conquering the elements and art is understanding that when we are in the woods we are both naked and vulnerable. If we consciously choose to remember that every time we cross the threshold we will craft a whole new generation of artists.
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