Sunday, June 20, 2010

Quote of the Week ... Eric Shipton


Dusting off an old Christmas present, I peruse Jon Waterman's 'The Quotable Climber," to find an entry for today. (Of course it also brought up such wonderful memories of Jon ... introducing me to COBS, climbing ice on Katahdin, holding a fall on "Dracula," sitting in a soggy tent in Scotland, climbing in Chamonix one winter, and of course laughing in his face on a 15 mile run, as he goaded me to join the winter ascent of the Cassin Ridge.)

In the last lines of his biography Eric Shipton route the following: THE SPRINGS OF ENCHANTMENT LIE WITHIN OURSELVES; THEY ARISE FROM OUR SENSE OF WONDER, THAT MOST PRECIOUS OF GIFTS,THE BIRTHRIGHT OF EVERY CHILD."