What risk level is acceptable?
I came a cross the article in the link below recently and its a topic that I have debated with my self many times. There are no easy answers and no answer will fit an other individual. It all boils down to personal preferences and individual decisions.
http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/03/in-defense-of-taking-risks/
My defense for taking risk when out in the mountains skiing or climbing is simple. I take risk when I'm at peace with what I do. The decision making process around the risk level at a certain point of time during an outing is a complex process and in my experience the best decisions are made when I start out having made up my mind about what kind of risk I'm willing to take before going on an outing.
The risk levels in risky sports are a moving target. Nothing is static and the topic needs constant review but I think while I'm on a risky venture its too late to be having second thoughts. I think deep inside us we know what we are on to and if we are at peace with what we are up to.
Things change in life. Our values change over time. And our motives for why we take risk change. This is why I think alpinism is a complex sport. In alpinism a goal involving risk is so personal its virtually impossible to be on the same page as a climbing partner.
It can be very hard to find the justification personally to go out and pursue this specific goal and even harder to talk some one in to join in a bid to go for some thing involving taking risk. And even if your partner needs no convincing it can still be very difficult to execute on the common goal. What is driving me to desire the goal might be very different from the reasons driving my partner. Yet the perfect balance some times is there and things get done.
This makes up for a complex mix of emotions and rationals for sharing a risky experience. When I go through the thought process of what kind of risk I'm prepared to take for a given goal I look at the objective I want to go climb and then I try to figure out what is driving me and how I value it compared to the known factors in my life.
Its an equation. Its about valuing what the experience will give me compared to the price I might have to pay for going forward and expose myself and my loved once for the sake of some thing that ultimately means nothing to no one else than me. Its a self obsessed process.
I find that close to home on smaller objectives I find it harder to justify taking risk. This is a strange perception. In relative terms an undertakings close to home should be easier to take risk on as they are in an environment where there is relatively fewer unknown factors to me. I can monitor weather and conditions better so fundamentally I posses more data that should enable me to take better decisions. Still Its not working that way for me. I can't answer why I feel like this and what is behind that sort of thinking. Its just the way us works for me.
I need distance and solitude to find the peace I need to focus on what I have set out to do. Disturbance in the form of phone calls and emails have a negative effect on me when I'm on a mission to try and accomplish some thing I desire. I think the answer to this is simple. If I stay in close contact to loved once the potential downside to the decisions I have taken and the rational I have projected to myself in order to expose myself becomes much more fragile. Being close to what you are about to lose is a harsh reminder of the steep price not only I will pay but more so what loved once left out of the process will have to pay. Therefore I think its a natural instinct to seek isolation in order to focus on what I want to do.
I think we as humans instinctively strive to have as few regrets as possible and we all know we are at some point going to depart mother earth and thats why I think we want to be at peace with what we do and know why we are taking risk. At the end of the day I think we all have things we are prepared to die for. If its a mountain we want to climb or a cause we want to defend is indifferent, its just a question of choice.
I'm not sure you follow me but this is my honest thoughts on the topic.
Dreams die hard some one said. Obsessions I think are impossible to kill. Its some thing inside us that just drives us to go out and try no matter what the consequences are.
The bonus of risk is to get to places and see things few other ever get to see or experience. Its a part of the equation making risk worth taking.
© Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved David Falt
I came a cross the article in the link below recently and its a topic that I have debated with my self many times. There are no easy answers and no answer will fit an other individual. It all boils down to personal preferences and individual decisions.
http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/03/in-defense-of-taking-risks/
My defense for taking risk when out in the mountains skiing or climbing is simple. I take risk when I'm at peace with what I do. The decision making process around the risk level at a certain point of time during an outing is a complex process and in my experience the best decisions are made when I start out having made up my mind about what kind of risk I'm willing to take before going on an outing.
The risk levels in risky sports are a moving target. Nothing is static and the topic needs constant review but I think while I'm on a risky venture its too late to be having second thoughts. I think deep inside us we know what we are on to and if we are at peace with what we are up to.
Things change in life. Our values change over time. And our motives for why we take risk change. This is why I think alpinism is a complex sport. In alpinism a goal involving risk is so personal its virtually impossible to be on the same page as a climbing partner.
It can be very hard to find the justification personally to go out and pursue this specific goal and even harder to talk some one in to join in a bid to go for some thing involving taking risk. And even if your partner needs no convincing it can still be very difficult to execute on the common goal. What is driving me to desire the goal might be very different from the reasons driving my partner. Yet the perfect balance some times is there and things get done.
This makes up for a complex mix of emotions and rationals for sharing a risky experience. When I go through the thought process of what kind of risk I'm prepared to take for a given goal I look at the objective I want to go climb and then I try to figure out what is driving me and how I value it compared to the known factors in my life.
Its an equation. Its about valuing what the experience will give me compared to the price I might have to pay for going forward and expose myself and my loved once for the sake of some thing that ultimately means nothing to no one else than me. Its a self obsessed process.
I find that close to home on smaller objectives I find it harder to justify taking risk. This is a strange perception. In relative terms an undertakings close to home should be easier to take risk on as they are in an environment where there is relatively fewer unknown factors to me. I can monitor weather and conditions better so fundamentally I posses more data that should enable me to take better decisions. Still Its not working that way for me. I can't answer why I feel like this and what is behind that sort of thinking. Its just the way us works for me.
I need distance and solitude to find the peace I need to focus on what I have set out to do. Disturbance in the form of phone calls and emails have a negative effect on me when I'm on a mission to try and accomplish some thing I desire. I think the answer to this is simple. If I stay in close contact to loved once the potential downside to the decisions I have taken and the rational I have projected to myself in order to expose myself becomes much more fragile. Being close to what you are about to lose is a harsh reminder of the steep price not only I will pay but more so what loved once left out of the process will have to pay. Therefore I think its a natural instinct to seek isolation in order to focus on what I want to do.
I think we as humans instinctively strive to have as few regrets as possible and we all know we are at some point going to depart mother earth and thats why I think we want to be at peace with what we do and know why we are taking risk. At the end of the day I think we all have things we are prepared to die for. If its a mountain we want to climb or a cause we want to defend is indifferent, its just a question of choice.
I'm not sure you follow me but this is my honest thoughts on the topic.
Dreams die hard some one said. Obsessions I think are impossible to kill. Its some thing inside us that just drives us to go out and try no matter what the consequences are.
The bonus of risk is to get to places and see things few other ever get to see or experience. Its a part of the equation making risk worth taking.
© Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved David Falt
