There are many things that make mountaineering a difficult sport. First of all there’s the physical effort, the most demanding thing I’ve ever done. Then there is the mental energy, the focus, the emotional side. Plus, it requires much expensive gear and frequently access to a remote location. All of the factors I listed are more or less controllable. However, there are things that can stop expeditions before they ever take off, and injury is one of them. It always sucks to be hurt, there is nothing you can do about it and you just need to let yourself heal.
This Spring, while my dad was ski touring, he helped recover someone else’s snowmobile. In doing this he gave himself a hernia. That means he has a small hole somewhere in his abdomen that is causing his guts to move around and escape through his muscles so that they are right under the skin. This is not usually a big problem for someones health. It restricts movement slightly and can be painful if you exert a lot of energy, like lifting heavy weights or exercising. So he is currently unable to ski or mountaineer. To fix a hernia surgery is required, and the recovery is about 6 weeks. Our trip was planned for next month, so he would not be recovered in time even if he had the surgery today.
Another thing that makes mountaineering different from other sports is team dynamics. If one member gets injured, you can’t just tag out, there are no subs. If one person is harmed, usually the entire team needs to seriously reconsider their trip or way forward.
I am pretty disappointed that I will not be going to Denali this year, but I am still eager to climb it so we are planning on going the Spring of 2019. I had been running quite a bit as training for mountaineering, and now that my main trip is postponed, I will be running the Whistler Half Marathon this June. This Summer I am excited to do some more local rock climbing and hiking.