Anyway, the conversation was about the fine line that exists between being hardcore and being just plain dumb. It's a very, very fine line as you can well imagine. This came up because we were talking about someone we know who kite skies (also known as snow kiting). Nope, I hadn't heard of it either. But basically it involves letting a giant kite pull you across snow on skis. Sort of like water skiing or kite surfing.
This person decided while he was kite skiing that he was going to jump a road, letting the kite carry him across to the other side. Unfortunately for him, he hit the snowbank at the other end of the road before he made it across and tore his ACL. Bummer. (By the way, this is all like fifth hand information. So it's entirely possible that this is really an urban legend.)
It lead us to the age-old question: exactly Where is that line dividing adventure and lack of brain cells? And does it only exist if you mess up? To bring up this guy again, would we be having this conversation if he hadn't taken a bad fall? Are you hardcore only if you don't get hurt?
It's quite a dilemma. In my opinion, part of being hardcore is inevitably being stupid, no matter what you do or whether or not you take a bad fall. Here's why: being hardcore means that you're taking a lot of huge risks. So, you know that as you skydive or climb that big wall or even climb Denali (sorry, Steve) you're basically putting your life in the hands of a lot of factors beyond your control, even more so than usual. That's somewhat stupid, really. Unless you have a death wish.
The thing is, I think you actually have to be a little stupid to be hardcore. You need to have a good balance, though. To illustrate the point, I've drawn this handy Venn Diagram (which we also sort of discussed while skiing):
I'll leave you with that to ponder over for awhile. Brings back memories of fourth grade doesn't it? (The Venn Diagram, not the kite skiing).
4 comments:
Well, I can definitely say that me thinking I could lead a 5.9 pitch of slab was stupid. Of course, if I hadn't fallen, I totally would have though it was a hardcore move! So I think you're right -- success = hardcore, getting hurt = stupid.
But you have to do what you love. You're just lucky you don't love things that involve such a high amount of risk! But really marrying someone who does is just as risky isn't it? And I'm sure you'd never regret that! ;)
I'm glad you had fun skiing!!
I thought the goal was to be on the right side of the diagram -- where you're hardcore but not stupid??
Meanwhile, check out some more sillygraphs.
I thought that, too, Anne! But the Author had different ideas... :)
You guys are missing the point - if you aren't a little bit stupid, you can't be hardcore! That's why the ideal is in the middle!
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