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To submit a news item send an email to press@mountainnews.com. The Industry Report is published by Mountain News Corp., which also publishes OnTheSnow.com Editor-In-Chief: - Craig Altschul Executive Editor: - Roger Leo President & Publisher: - Rob Brown Managing Director: - Chad Dyer Advertising Information: - sales@mountainnews.com Subscriptions:
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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Essay: The Lure Of The MountainsBy Roger Leo 
We seek the summits on foot, by lift, on skis, boards and snowshoes, awakening early to catch the dawn's early light on the sharp, glistening crystals of fresh powder. We stay late to watch the sunset from a vantage high above the Earth. John Muir, arguably America's first mountaineer, put it this way in The Yellowstone National Park, published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1898: "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." Jim Whittaker, first American to stand atop Mount Everest, told me some years ago that he climbs mountains because the view from the top "makes my eyes feel good." Englishman Edward Whymper won the race to be first up the Matterhorn and met disaster on the descent when four of his party fell and were killed. He wrote Scrambles Amongst the Alps, with this note of caution: "There have been joys too great to be described in words, and there have been griefs upon which I have not dared to dwell; and with these in mind I say: Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end." Gunther Jochl, president and co-owner of Sugar Mountain in North Carolina, told OnTheSnow.com last season, "You're out in nature, have the thrill of going downhill under control, feeling the cold air in your lungs, having a great challenge. It's one of the few sports that combines being outdoors, being challenged, the exhilarating feeling, you can go with friends, have family along, or be by yourself. You can go up the mountain in the dark morning, make first tracks in the powder as the sun comes up, or go out in the spring and set your first tracks as the sun just touches the snow and it gets soft. What other feeling is there?" What other feeling, indeed? « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » |
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