In 1923 a New York Times reporter asked George Mallory why he wanted to climb Everest. He gave the most famous answer in exploration: “Because it’s there.” A year later the mountain kept him.
That answer never worked for me. This episode is my attempt at a real one.
Someone recently asked if I found the answers I was looking for in Greenland. I was never looking for answers. I was looking for better questions, because that’s how we get better. So this one digs into the stack that sits under this whole road: the promise I made myself about turning 50 and not going backwards. Wanting something you can’t buy off a brochure. A lifetime of competing, and finally finding an arena where I can compete flat out and nobody has to lose. How a big goal with a date on it turns the noise down on everything else. The people who started walking the dog again because a guy was dragging tyres up a hill. And underneath all of it, the one that resists explanation: something in me simply knows I need to do this.
The full road: gerryvanderwalt.com/road-to-the-south-pole
Next episode: the part I’m scared of.
Do good work.
G.
