Solo travelers are people who travel in absolute solitude. Motives and methods of implementation of routes may be different for us all, but the ability to be self-sufficient is a must for all solo lovers.
Contrary to popular belief about irresponsibility and the dangers of single-hikers, it is often solo travelers who devote so much time to the training process and survival skills. Not always everything goes smoothly, so there is always plan A, Plan B and Plan C in your pocket.
A bit of history
My process of preparing for the first solo ascent began as a child when the holidays were spent in pioneer camps or in the grandparents’ village. Although the true mentors were for me: my father, who instilled in me a sense of time, discipline and love for the Spartan way of life; my mother, who taught me how to talk to nature; and my grandmother, who developed my creative abilities of ” Necessity is the mother of invention.” 🙂
If you read the previous lines, your inner voice says, “I want to be solo too,” then it makes sense to read the subsequent chapters carefully.
Part 1. The mental preparation.
Turn on the computer and watch the movie “127 Hours.” What for? Because right now you have to make a decision about who or what you’re going to be willing to fight for your life if things go wrong. Can you do the same as the hero of the film to return to them alive? Sounds tough, but you see…
Any ascent is a round-trip way. When a person does not need to return, he/she limits him/herself only to the physical abilities of his/her own body, losing access to the source of internal energy, which in difficult times is able to endow superhuman forces. The story of the abandoned to die, Beck Withers, is the most visible proof of that.
The antidote for EGO. On the one hand, human self-love motivates, helps to cope with inconveniences and deprivations on the way to the goal. On the other hand, the blinding idea of conquering the summit at all costs drowns out natural intuition and deprives a person of the ability to make the right decisions.
To have inner self-love is neither good nor bad if only this is enough.
Not so far ago, I had to come up with a fuse against my EGO. I am free to do whatever I need until intuition speaks. As soon as this happens, a special algorithm devoid of emotions of rational response to a certain situation is automatically launched.
Observation - Marks Analysis - Plan A, Plan B, Plan C - Choosing the Best Option - Implementation
How the algorithm is practically applied, you can read the Ascent to the Southern Summit, Jabal Shams, Oman (2997m) solo or Hike to Everest base camp, Nepal (5364 m).
By nature, women are endowed with a strong enough instinct for self-preservation. That’s probably why the algorithm works smoothly all the time. But that’s my way. Someone might have another one. In fact, it does not matter what “antidote” to choose, the main thing that it worked!
