{"id":2456489,"date":"2020-03-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=323498"},"modified":"2020-03-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T06:00:00","slug":"paul-andersen-uphillers-climb-mountains-to-counter-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/paul-andersen-uphillers-climb-mountains-to-counter-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Andersen: Uphillers climb mountains to counter coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Steve Skadron\u2019s vision for Aspen ski mountains has come true. The former mayor wanted to make Aspen an uphill capital, and that\u2019s what has happened since the lifts shut down.<\/p>\n

My son and quarantine buddy, Tait, and I marveled at the hushed silence after having skinned up Aspen Mountain in a thick fog cloud last week. We saw just one other skinner and exchanged greetings \u2014 from a safe distance. \u201cThis is so good for me!\u201d she affirmed. \u201cI just had to get out of the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-quarantine can be a tough adjustment when life BC was so packed. Now there\u2019s more unstructured time \u2014 a blessing and a curse. For the locked-down, homebound, it can be a curse. For uphillers, time outdoors has been a blessing on empty slopes with fresh powder and slack work demands.<\/p>\n

Not that slack work is a blessing. For many, it means a dire sense of loss, not only from reduced income, but from lack of purpose. Hike skiing has been a great replacement for workplace productivity for a retiree-in-training like me. The outdoors can provide a necessary antidote to Weltschmerz \u2014 a German expression for global anxiety.<\/p>\n

Tait and I have counted our outdoor blessings many times \u2014 on skis, on bikes, with backpacks \u2014 in the mountains and the deserts. Rather than fixate on the stupor of TV, we shun the virtual for the real experiences of getting out as far as our bodies, minds and spirits allow.<\/p>\n

The run down Ruthie\u2019s last week was sublime on 6 inches of fluff. By then, other hikers were heading up. We waved and said friendly hellos. Everyone was keeping safe distances in a partitioned yet celebratory atmosphere for where we all live.<\/p>\n

Driving home on 82, a glance at Tiehack showed strings of uphillers heading for their skiing fix. Aspen Skiing Co. had even groomed some runs, a nice gesture to their non-paying, uphill clientele.<\/p>\n

My family and I are striving not to allow the virus to dampen our spirits. It\u2019s possible to live health fully on the periphery of the virus, and even to thrive. That\u2019s the lesson Viktor Frankl took from having survived Nazi concentration camps. In his book, \u201cMan\u2019s Search for Meaning,\u201d Frankl made the strong case that individual thriving is possible under even the worst circumstances.<\/p>\n

Frankl, a psychologist, coped with what he called \u201cbarbed wire sickness\u201d from captive containment. He wrote: \u201cAs the inner life of the prisoner tended to become more intense, he also experienced the beauty of art and nature as never before.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why nature is intensely gratifying for many today, as a Washington Post columnist explained last week in defense of keeping public lands open.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially at a time of crisis and high anxiety, we need a safe outlet, and the outdoors is pretty much the only one left.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cIt\u2019s not just about hugging trees: The outdoors also allows us to be in sight and earshot of other humans at safe distances. Especially at this awful time, we need reminders that we still live in a society of fellow flesh-and-blood humans, not just two-dimensional simulacra thereof.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skinning up the mountains, cross-country skiing, bike riding, hiking \u2014 all offer opportunities for social engagement, with distancing, plus a physical outlet for calming the turmoil many are feeling.<\/p>\n

Frankl wrote: \u201cSuffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.\u201d As harsh as it sounds, this yin\/yang contrast is part of being human. So, advised Frankl, is spiritual growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is just such exceptionally difficult external situations that give man the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond himself. Naturally, only a few people were capable of reaching great spiritual heights, but a few were given the chance to attain human greatness which in ordinary circumstances they would never have achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frankl echoed Darwin\u2019s findings on survival, which have been misinterpreted to imply survival of the strongest. Rather, Darwin meant survival of the fittest through adaptation to changing environments, which we must all do today.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the governor\u2019s stay-at-home order allows for outdoor recreation, an essential ingredient for adaptive coping and for nurturing the spirit.<\/p>\n

Paul Andersen\u2019s column appears on Mondays. He may be reached at andersen@rof.net<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Skadron\u2019s vision for Aspen ski mountains has come true. The former mayor wanted to make Aspen an uphill capital, and that\u2019s what has happened since the lifts shut down. My son and quarantine buddy, Tait, and I marveled at the hushed silence after having skinned up Aspen Mountain in a thick fog cloud last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 07:04:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}