Mountain Athletes and Modern Mountain Men

A Profile on Elite Outdoorsmen

I watched, almost in awe, while my future brother-in-law passed my entire bachelor party as we climbed up one of the steepest hillsides I have been on, made even worse by the skiff of snow that had fallen since our descent.  Actually, hillside is the wrong word; make that “subdued cliff”.  What made it even more impressive were the people he passed.  Among them, my two best friends whom I had struggled to keep up with for years on all day hunting trips.  He also easily passed my college roommate who won all kinds of awards for his fitness during army boot camp a couple months later.  He moved with ease up the hill, like a mountain goat, choosing each foothold decisively and almost never stopping to rest.  It reminded me of trekking up Reynolds in Glacier with another intense outdoorsman the year before.  He also moved like a goat, we even went up on the “goat trail”, which is visible from Logan Pass. This route includes a trail that is shoulder width with a 200’ drop on one side and 200’ up on the other, then a 100’ scramble that taxed my limited rock climbing ability (no rope involved). 

These men are extreme outdoorsmen and always in outstanding mountain shape.  For a long time, my similar awe of their fitness led me to believe they were cut from the same mold.  But as I have been around elite outdoorsmen more frequently I have noticed a subtle difference.  One man is a Mountain Athlete and one is a Modern Mountain Man.

Montanans can be categorized by many criteria, but few are as subtle and yet divergent as the difference between Modern Mountain Men and Mountain Athletes.   To be sure, there are similarities.  You might find them on the same trail, floating the same river or even hiking a peak together on occasion.  To be honest, I think most extreme outdoorsman are a little of both but are usually defined by one.   It is their primary motivation that differentiates them.  

Modern Mountain Men want to live and breathe the woods and mountains.  They don’t just want to know about the outdoors they want to know the outdoors.  They want to participate in each season.  They want to hunt when the bulls bugle, explore the winter wonderland when its winter, find sheds (antlers that have fallen to the ground) when they drop, fish when the fish bite and pick huckleberries when they’re ripe.  Their houses are adorned with the outdoors, from what hangs on their walls to what is on their plate.  They are generally purists when it comes to sportsmanship- fly fisherman and bow hunters (often traditional).  They also put loads of cash into the equipment required to be a purist. They resort bullets and bait only if it is a matter of filling the freezer.   The accomplishment is

the experience with these folks.

Mountain athletes are powerful rugged individuals that have a deep desire to conquer.   I don’t mean this in a negative “screw-the-forests” way.  They most certainly respect nature, but they respect it for the challenge it gives them. They are constantly looking for new challenges the outdoors can offer them: whether it is skiing a loop that demands incredible endurance or climbing a wall of rock that looks impossible.  Modes of back country transportation and the equipment to do so are very important to this group.  If they hunt and fish, they will likely do so as purists, but they will measure catches and kills and not experiences.  This group wants to test itself against nature.

So next time you see an elite outdoorsman, look at them closely and see if you can tell what motivation defines them.  Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, they’ll probably hike you into the ground.  That’s True Montana!