Friday, January 20, 2006
1/20/2006 07:11:00 AM
1/20/2006 07:11:00 AM
Security and Risk
posted by Francis Ho
Going deep: Ground team member Andrew Sheppard rappels down the mythic Hidden Falls in the heart of the gorge. (Dustin Lindgren)I've just finished reading "Hell or High Water : Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River" by Peter Heller about the greatest and ultimate whitewater expediton of the 21st century.
The Tsangpo Gorge in southeastern Tibet, sacred to the Buddhists and the inspiration for Shangri La, has lured explorers and adventurers since its discovery. As a river-running challenge, it is more difficult than any stretch of white water ever attempted. The finest expedition paddlers on earth have tried. Several have died. All have failed. Until now.
In January 2002 a team of seven kayakers launched a meticulously planned assault of the gorge. Accompanying them was author Peter Heller, a world-class kayaker in his own right. Filled with history, white-knuckle drama, and mutiny in one of the world’s most remote locations, Hell or High Water is a grand and riveting epic.
I like this passage on page 251 of the book and would like to share it here.
"I passed 100 prayer flags strung on a wire over the creek with the morning sun shining through them and thought how adventurers, the truest and the finest, were the least encumbered people I'd known, had the least to protect. The rest of us acquire not just material things but also education, careers, advancement, everything entailing politics and caution. We acquire lovers, spouses, children,homes. We repeat the moves that have succeeded before, and eventually, security triumphs over risk. The seven paddlers didn't own anything. Most of them didn't even have a car. Most of the time, they had no steady girl to go back to. They collected nothing but stories. Maybe freedom really is nothing left to lose. You had it once in childhood, when it was okay to climb a tree, to paint a crazy picture and wipe out on your bike, to get hurt. The spirit of risk gradually takes its leave. It follows the wild cries of joy and pain down the wind, through the hedgerow, growing even fainter. What was that sound? A dog barking far off? That was our life calling to us, the one that was vigorous and undefended and curious." PETER HELLER
Stumble It!13 Comments:
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 
Francis Ho said:
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 Francis Ho said:
Easier to click on this link to Outside Online for the Tsangpo Expedition.
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 HappySurfer said:
Wow!
Very nice pictures. Exciting no doubt. Thank you for sharing the excitement, FH2o.
Very nice pictures. Exciting no doubt. Thank you for sharing the excitement, FH2o.
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 Robin CHAN said:
This is a much better post than above.,.
the pics is nice.. though not taken by u
the pics is nice.. though not taken by u
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 Francis Ho said:
robin - aiya, if I had taken those pics, I would had been there and would have written the book instead of Peter Heller!! :P
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 HappySurfer said:
FH2o, **lightbulb blinking above** have you ever thought about compiling all your expeditions into a book? Food for thought, eh?
Don't forget royalty for my idea. haha......
Don't forget royalty for my idea. haha......
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 Francis Ho said:
happysurfer - sorry u r a bit late! almost all of my friends who reads my blogs (but NEVER like to comment) had already suggested that I do just that; all without exception expressing their surprise that I 'can write'. Huh? My spoken english must be very bad lah or is it just my kuching accent! Do i look blur as well? Now, I am not asking for your opinion Robin!!
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 HappySurfer said:
FH2o, too bad they only suggested it verbally while I am the ONE who put it down in writing so I shall still be the one who collects the royalty. :D
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 HappySurfer said:
Right, Robin?
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 Francis Ho said:
Happy - robin is too busy picking flowers for you to reply lah! :)
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 HappySurfer said:
LOL!!!!!
At Friday, 20 January, 2006 fullmoon said:
this is one hell-er an expedition !! Must be one of those last great descent in the world tdy. Did they manage to clear the Tiger Leaping gorge ?
-awesome.
-awesome.
At Saturday, 21 January, 2006 Pandabonium said:
And to think some people think that you are crazy to share a river with a few crocs.
These guys are adrenaline junkies, I think.
These guys are adrenaline junkies, I think.
http://outside.away.com/tsangpo/index.html