Gear Man

**Posted on 1/29/09, but back dated due to the Giveaway Sticky Post**

About ten years ago, I decided to learn about winter mountaineering. I enrolled in a class sponsored by the AMC and traveled to the White Mountains to join other like-minded novices on a four day adventure of survival in the rough and rocky terrain of the Franconia Range.

My group of ten was pretty diverse; young and old, experienced and otherwise, but there was one member who stood out. He was about thirty-five, tall, good looking with a mop of blond hair. He exuded confidence, but more significantly, he was adorned with every type of brand name mountain gear you would ever want to imagine. He was loaded with stuff from Marmot, Mountain Hardwear, and Asolo: He seemed like a male model right out of an REI catalog. And it was hard to believe that he was not everything a first class mountaineer should be.

At first, I was impressed. He talked the talk. He related tales of past conquests as the rest of us picked through our own meager equipment as feelings of inadequacy and doubt began to fill our heads. On the other hand, I had encountered a few of these self proclaimed Masters of the Universe in the past and found that word and deed did not necessarily match.

On the first day out on a practice trip, our group climbed up to Greenleaf hut using crampons and ice axes but without our heavy packs. The climb was steep in places, but not particularly difficult. Everyone did well, except Gear Man who lagged behind complaining about a previous leg injury. By the time we returned to the lodge late in the day, Gear Man declared that he was finished. He told the rest of us that his knee had given out and that he could not continue. So the next morning as our slightly diminished group set out for the summit of Lafayette for two nights in an igloo constructed in minus 20 degree weather, Gear Man was lugging all his stuff back to the warmth of his home somewhere in Massachusetts. Apparently, you cannot judge a mountaineer by the splendor of the gear he wears. Live and learn.