Reawakening

'Reawakening'

Tanja and Heike Schmitt together with Steve Swenson in the Kananaskis, Canada                            - picture Matthias Scherer

The waterfall is growling: the sound of the melting ice and snow.  Unleashed energy that was bound for a season, frozen still.  Now it is rushing towards the sea for another cycle. 
My 24th full ice climbing season has passed. I remember the dawn of the season back in November in the Rockies, the chase during the following months for the frozen element and its fading at the end of march...   

Luckily I found with Ski Alpinism again a remedy to accept the flux of an universe. I breathe the flux and start to ski up towards the night with the hope for another dawn.

A night that lasts but with focused rush I keep going. A breeze is blowing from the starry sky. A breath of the void on this planet and ice is an ephemeral reflection of this breath: its merciless but wonderful reality is not to capture in numbers and grants no securities. Humans with a hang to narcissism and self celebration get quickly frustrated from the hard and exclusive nature of ephemeral ice formations. They dive into training sports like drytooling to celebrate numeric victories. They howl with the big pack that believes in numbers over commitment and experience. And why? Because they are afraid of the unknown, the inconceivable. 

Since ancient times humanity tries to encounter the unknown with a mathematical system. The fear of the unknown forces whole societies into the worship of quantification: bank accounts, grades, calories, heart beats, Strava, clicks on social media, blood pressure, ... 
On the other side mighty clubs were and are always busy to keep one of the mightiest power of humans, the belief, under control. They direct humanity towards a belief in fear of the past and the future. Never in history people of our western civilization were so worried about what will happen and try to get insurance for everything. No more self awareness nor self responsibility. It has become the life in fear of living...

Stepping on the fragile matter of frozen water means stepping away from all the definitions and conventions - alone, but with trust in the inconceivable and acceptance of the unknown to experience the harmony of the life in every breath. 

Another winter will rise - I can feel its breath....