What's Your FRAC-INDEX?

Time for a garage sale. Who wants a KTM? The Super Stinx are not for sale.

FRAC INDEX =	Human Powered Vertical Feet	➗
	Fossil Fuel Powered Miles

Example 1: Skier drives 2.1 miles to North Canyon; skins 4,000 vertical feet (feet gained); drives 2.1 miles home: (using human powered vertical feet gained only, due to the propensity for skiers to ride a lift, duck the ropes then claim it as backcountry skiing.) 

     

= FRAC INDEX = 4,000 / 4.2 = 952.38

Example 2: Skier drives 40 miles from Park City to SLC International airport; flies 3,000 miles to Talkeetna, Alaska; climbs 13,352 vertical feet, West Buttress of Denali (feet gained); flies 3,000 miles back to SLC; drives 40 miles back to Park City:

= FRAC INDEX = 13,352 / 6,080 = 2.20

Hopefully the results are self-explanatory. Adventure vs. footprint, a fine line between indulgence and innocent passion. 

Indulgence! I could live with out any of this stuff and be perfectly happy, except for the Super Stinx, best skis I've ever owned (20 years old and still going strong, 180cm, 75mm under foot, G3 Tele bindings, boots are the red Scarpa Terminators or T2s).

The Gods/Goddesses of back country skiing (I'm not naming names) constantly lecture about global warming. They're rip on and on about the evils of big oil and big energy. I agree 100%, but they lose me pretty damn fast when I see their lifestyles. They continuously travel around the world looking for big lines to ski or climb, and they travel by any means necessary: F-350s, Boeing 737s, snowmobiles, helicopters, Vespas, etc, etc. Any motorized tool is game as long as they can Instagram the results by tomorrow morning. That mentality reflects the human need for approval, and it occurs in all facets of life: career, religion, politics, even back country skiing. It's all great, but actions are much louder than words. We need to be responsible stewards over the earth, it's a tithing of sorts for the greatest gift we've been given (the earth) after life itself. Recognizing our responsibilities is good, but saying one thing and doing the opposite is just plain bull shit, and I have no patience for bull shit.

Don'tr misunderstand, I'm as "tree-hugger" as they come. Utah elected officials lack all credibility for 'Billy-goating' their way out of Bears Ears and Escalante National Monuments. Say what you will about Obama and Clinton, but they know that God's creations serve the well-being of our souls and help reset our spirits in times of stress. Trump, on the other hand, would sell his grandkids for birdseed if he thinks he's making a deal.

My irritation with the God and Goddess of backcountry skiing boils down to personal honesty. I'm willing to admit that I'll drive a mile to Dick's Grocer for a pint of chocolate ice cream, or heat my house to 75 degrees in January.  I'm no different than most of you, but I try to be honest about my weaknesses. Many BC skiers don't always speak their true feelings. They pontificate about this or that cause, then go do the exact opposite. Sooner or later though, truth finds a way, truth is ultimately revealed through actions. Admit it, you would trade a kidney for a tank of gas, or launder your dying Nana's Social Security check in exchange for her lodgings in your root cellar, all just to keep your house heated on Christmas Eve. I know I would.

Perhaps I'm fighting the wrong players, but we, skiers, climbers, river runners, are part of the problem. We brag about working all day, hopping into our big trucks at sunset, driving all night to Jackson or Moab or Golden BC, playing hard all day (or two or three), then jumping back into that big truck at sunset and drive all night just to get back to work the following day. The agenda is almost scripted by Exxon, Mobil or BP Oil. Yes, it is a much better agenda than, say, sitting at home, eating Ding Dongs and bingeing on Outlander, Game of Thrones, Fleabag, et al, all of which are wonderful, 'soft-core-decadence,' which even the best Mormon's rationalize a way to devour, but before change occurs we have to admit that we often promote the exact thing we loath. One of those things is big oil and gas.

A least the talkers of the word, who are often not doers, get it. They know the power of nature even if they don't act on their own words. Far worse are the profiteers who tell me that I'm naive to think that the resources I consume don't require a payment in the form of God's handiwork. I'd argue that Bears Ears and Escalante are at the pinnacle of God's creative power and they require a higher level of protection. They are truly spiritual temples. In comparison, the proven oil and gas fields of the sage-covered-hill-country of western Wyoming or the Permian Basin of Texas are the ugly step-children of divine creativity. They are where we should consume natural resources. I am not so naive to think the resources I consume don't require a debt, but some places are too pure to consume.

If you think I am a naive-daisy-sniffer, go see for yourself. Hop in that big truck, drive to Bears Ears and camp for several nights on Cedar Mesa. Late at night, pull your sleeping bag out of your tent onto the sand, leave your phone and headlamp alone. Crawl into your bag (to ward-off the desert chill), lie on your back and watch the stars glide by. Give it some time. Don't glance briefly then roll over and sleep, study it. Watch it. Soon you won't be able to sleep. Once away from the filter of city lights the night sky of the desert is absolutely stunning. The contrast of the dark of night against the brilliance of galaxies without end will turn your mind to awe and wonder. For most, it's a feeling not recognized since childhood. For some it will be a feeling never before registered. If you don't feel a deep sense of a greater power, something beautiful, something felt from the core of your being, something that lifts and brings absolute peace but defies explanation, then there is nothing more I can say to convince you there is a real spirituality in nature.

The profiteers will never get it because they will never take the Cedar Mesa challenge. They think they already know Gods nature, and arrogance is the enemy of spirituality. To them a Princess Cruise is all the spirituality they can muster.

"Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls."  -- Proverbs

Think about it. Recognition is where change begins.

(That KTM will never sell now that I've pissed-off every side of the argument.)