On Saturday night I had the privilege of attending the "Rock" night of the Alpinist Film Festival, here in Jackson. This event turned out to be a fairly intimate, local celebration of adventure and films--decorated with a few amazing individuals--Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, came to speak, and introduce a film of himself and Royal Robbins, in one of the earliest rock climbing movies ever made. Phenomenal, and in many ways, comical. (The music and the narrator's voices sounded like it came right out of the tv show, the Twilight Zone).
Also among the crowd, were Peter Mortimer, a well-known film maker, and Steph Davis, a rock climber, who limped out onto stage to present the first 10 minutes of "Diamonds Are Forever." Peter and Steph told us how they had finished shooting on Sunday, and that this presentation had just been finished being cut. The film features Steph's free solo climb of the Tombstone in Moab, Utah, but more prominently, her free solo, vertical-route, climb of the Diamond, beneath Long's Peak in Colorado. It was certainly an amazing film, and an amazing accomplishment for Steph--but it was what she said that evening--why she did it, and what it meant to her, that impressed me, touched me, and gave me a much needed dose of strength and clarity.
Steph discussed many things--from personal loss, death, fear, truth, and freedom in relation to her person--her self awareness, her capabilities, her unwavering understanding, compassion and love for herself--all in the context of this great achievement in her life. She talked about what it felt like to be free from fear, and in all of her words, I was instantly reminded of the moments in my life when I too felt very, truly free.
She said that when she climbed, she thought about joyful things and she smiled a lot-- the two exact things that I have resolved to do more of this year. I had never heard of Steph Davis before that night, and I am not much of a rock climber, but her words gave affirmation to the things I have already thought of, felt and know about myself, love and even faith (in the universe that is).
Anyway, her presentation that night certainly gave me some strength--and I needed to tell her that. So I did. Steph instantly hugged me and said "thank you for telling me that."... and my friend Virginia snapped our photo. It was a cool night for me.
The rest of the weekend wasn't so bad either. Great people, great food, great skiing. I also listened to an song that goes, "Well it’s just that way when you get hurt, And the things you need you’re made to work, You must decide if you will die or grow. I'm a mountain, I'm a mountain like you said to be." That fits for me right now, and I am looking forward to feeling free more often.
You can see Steph's blog at: http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/
No comments:
Post a Comment