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- Nov 18, 2010
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Confessions of a climbing addict…
Ok, so it hasn’t always been that way, I was once a bit more portly and a bit less vertically inclined; indeed satisfied with my desk job and slowly shrinking, damn those cleaners, office attire. I had always thought people who pushed the limits climbing, bungee jumping, parachuting and the like were simply “short a few screws”, perhaps “one shy of a six pack”…little did I know spare parts and five packs would soon start showing up in my life as well.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=6dba9e019247a62a45459dc1564e3352 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=d93641617ff4e015b8908b14c965471e 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=a3fa529e0bb363dd428ed7aba8a8b3b8 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=75d5885d086700f22f92aa7635dfc0ff 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=7c8a2f0c0ddb691adcae2099c90135d7 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=a0cb3b150381a9b598c2896b90c836ee 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=0db1bcb40b4e973c066c86231d486295 1280w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FCamp_for_course.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=4547b3f0b5dfe7c4d120417f93a1c4ce 1280w)
It was in the middle of one of those coffee cake, quadruple venti mocha induced moments that it hit me…ok, it wasn’t quite that dramatic. I was sitting through an Ed Viesturs presentation, by election mind you not by choice. Viesturs was droning on and on about climbing, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention given the more important task of brushing crumbs off my trousers and trying to quietly sip that last little bit of mocha up through the straw without drawing unwanted attention my way. He said something about climbing Mt. Rainier 100 or 200 times, I wish I had been paying more attention, and that is when I looked up and saw the pictures on his presentation. It drew me in; I realized he was talking about my neck of the woods here, the Pacific Northwest….hmm, time to pay more attention. I listened intently to the rest of his presentation and noted his discussion about Mountain Madness and the surrounding events on Everest.
When I left the presentation I decided I would pick up one of those “Into Thin Air” books and perhaps do a bit of investigation into this mountain climbing thing. That night I went home and talked it over with my wife, crazy talk she said…basically it was the adult version of the Christmas Story “you’re gonna shoot your eye out”, only a bit more dramatic in her mind than that. Luckily for me she had, over time, become use to my wild ideas that would eventually fade into imaginary glory with not as much as an actual finger of effort being put into the idea along the way, such as the time I decided I could insulate and sheetrock my garage on my own, yet 3 years later the house would be sold with a pile of sheetrock still in the garage just waiting for me to put it up. Well, this time I wasn’t going to go down so easy!
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=a523230a9604ee3879a97fdb9b4c295d 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=731c9e12d74c9d8a25ac19d67a17bec7 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=0eb4b029a8540cffd9362e04f153dc90 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=e188a7b0ba7dc42a238185b88afdd13d 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=40ecadc4bb66c65133e018fc55f2a798 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=54512120be40b1f45511df3e155e401b 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=4ae2153f5d7bd0e5c6c9b6fc121cf99e 1280w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FLeavenworth_crack_climbing.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=d8336f777ad8abe8b49b76a6a199a22a 1280w)
I read “Into Thin Air” in one day, it was like “popping the seal” on a good night of drinking…or so I hear. The books and movies started flowing in, whatever I could find on eBay or Amazon that looked remotely interesting I purchased, much to my credit card company’s pleasure I’m sure. I researched climbing trips on-line, called several guiding companies and started formulating my plan for re-approaching the wife. How was I going to sell this to her without immediately getting the look of “he’s finally come up with a mid-life crisis”. I sometimes under estimate the degree of patience and understanding shown by my wife, it wasn’t difficult at all, if I wanted to do it she would support me, simple as that.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=7fb5110817696a0237f4ff9d5d469658 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=60764a57d97db6c4ca30eb3ab42b18db 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=b06eb984ace73609398459b3456650fe 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=b1f3a2b6e2a5c0ed3a94c2a8d6936936 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=8b3bb534d89ce5a958f0d1269b68dcfd 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=d37baa12f740f6d0a72c8b63299b5141 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=aa60a76a41e7b45a072803257a103a51 1400w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIcicle_Canyon.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=86b81871153997c46b2e9a4ba960eb4f 1600w)
With that new bit of information my search was turned up a few notches, what was I going to climb, who was I going to climb it with, how much would it cost, how much training would it take… I started by picking a mountain that I had always found interesting, Mt. Baker, this is the mountain my wife and I were married on and it was a mountain I had grown up seeing out of my bedroom window for 15 years, yep that was going to be the one, now for the rest of the questions. There comes a point when you reach the end of your research phase and you simply need to talk it over with someone who has been there, done that and taken some names along the way. I called all of the local guiding companies and started asking questions. I was looking for a company that was as interested in helping me as I was in climbing with them. It wasn’t long before Mountain Madness percolated to the top of the pile.
When you call Mountain Madness you never know who is going to pick up, perhaps a guide, perhaps the owner, perhaps the bookkeeper, it doesn’t matter, they are all willing to help and answer whatever questions you have. My mind was set; they had that small company, yet ultimately professional feeling that I liked. I signed up, just a few months until my trip up Baker! Time to get in shape!
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=9f270e37c3656cc6520b08e12d7b1474 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=80ac73d4b909284985cb3491a060a374 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=f97750c73cfab53328a0e310ba7010fd 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=7e3f8776e1577db9eb1c55ad1bf51e47 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=ec1ae7e2ed23fa76793825ce25c54b09 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=0da1f7cd8d69d9a3a85c4015322f5e2a 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=2d98fc01db345567b0651e750b3fd862 1280w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FSummit_of_Baker%3B_aka_Bakerhorn.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=db056a851d81cff4bb2452d859a14c16 1280w)
Up and down Mt. Si, around and around on the treadmill, pumping weights (ok, let’s not get carried away, you can only go so far with cable weights). After countless trips to REI, and quite a few conversations with Mountain Madness guides and staff the day came. I met up with the other climbers and our two guides, Ian Nicholson and Dave Ahrens, early on a Saturday morning. Three days later we would be basking in the warmth of the Mountain Madness van on our way home, happy to have graduated from hikers to true mountaineers, having stood on top of the great Bakerhorn. The trip was fantastic, the food was great, the guides were better and the other clients were soon to become partners for future adventures.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=c8fe1b4d72088fb6591af1c0707e324c 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=f2cf2f47d2a8fe0c5bc0a50281133945 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=eaacead9a110eb40693144e6fb64a20f 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=2c9de161edf6093271da6b30f048ebf8 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=e3d43da190bdb698563e4f01cf84142a 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=7702c2366a96e341231d4e5055e2357f 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=26c6c2242efccf80d1075b9bc877761a 1280w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FOn_the_Easton_Glacier.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=e34a08cd8f36699b73e3453eabd12504 1280w)
So, what do you do once you have accomplished your goal? The answer was easy for me; you plan your next trip! Here it is, less than a year later and I have attempted Mt. Shuksan in the dead of winter (ok, I might have jumped the gun on that one but Mountain Madness led me safely up the mountain as far as I could go), climbed Mt. Baker a second time, gone rock climbing and signed up for trips up Rainier and Adams later this year. All with Mountain Madness you ask, of course. I have now climbed with a variation of Mountain Madness guides and have been amazed at how professional, safe, caring and dedicated they are about what they do, truly world class and certainly the provider of a service that I believe helps set clients apart from the ranks of those who prefer that portly, safe office environment that I once so cherished.
There was an old joke in my office, every time I asked someone to perform a task I would say “Do It”….now the joke goes more like “Make it Happen”… if they only knew…
Tom Tucker
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=42b21b194c948b35b934ddcd34913629 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=73913dee10b0f482561b7a890c422e00 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=675e8be2bc5f9fb51d45a8769f7ed882 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=b51fb3161d6755f49e8542e841c6261c 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=a6a491dde2b6c370dfa2315671d21e3a 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=4139fc5b34d76f7661b9727c9e4c6a32 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=117511d8bbf5e38e29824f6daaffea2a 1280w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2FIan_and_Tom.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=c17ba3f04981daa208696d5c3c197b3e 1280w)