Navigating Impermanence

As 2020 closes, a year filled with a different reality for us all (and an abundance of craziness), it leaves us reflecting on how our existence and interaction with the world has transformed.

As any ice climber could attest to, these drastically changing, inconsistent times are analogous to ice climbing.

Walking into the east fork of Hyalite Canyon outside Bozeman, MT with a climbing partner the other day, we were discussing the unique differences between the ice and rock realms. What one medium can offer climbers that the other cannot.

I said that ice is an incredibly aesthetic medium due to its ever-changing conditional formations: every second something has morphed.

Such is the wind-sculpted ice found in Newfoundland.

Or just look at the differences in massive waterfalls offering bulges, fans and mushrooms or simply a thin shell of a veneer to tiptoe over.

The most engaging lines offer us a quest throughout. Gavin nodded in agreement, adding it’s “navigating impermanence.”

To which I responded, “Yes; that’s my newsletter topic!”

If anything sums up ice climbing and a pandemic, it is how we all have to find a path through the ephemeral landscape of life.

And while this maze is intimidating, at times stressful, and occasionally the desire to bail is real/ often warranted, what keeps us engaged, mindfully active and desiring more is navigating the impermanence of it all.

And who doesn’t love a good forearm pump?

Happy New Year to all!

Lindsay Fixmer; Chicks Director