Did you all see that he and his nephew and others went out to retake the stair climbing record at the Cathedral of Learning? His nephew climbed them 132 times in just under 24 hours.
http://www.dannychew.com/CoL2everest.html
Two words: ou-ch!
Danny also broke his old record of 101.
I stand by my statement that nobody will break his
3:37 record during my lifetime.
I have to admit it kind of upsets me that after the movie was made so many people want to go see 'the bus', and think of Chris McCandless as a hero. I love the film, but I think that people forget that he relied on humans the entire time--without them he wouldn't have gotten to alaska, wouldn't have had a sleeping bag or shoes, and wouldn't have even had a bus to live in.
anyway, this trip sounded cool. riding to alaska would be intense.
I stand by my statement that nobody will break his 3:37 record during my lifetime.
@Steevo--Amen. I don't even see how that's within the realm of possibility.
I agree with caitlin on Chriss McCandless. For stories along those lines Richard Proenneke's is a zillion times better. See the link below if your not familier with it ...
http://www.aloneinthewilderness.com/building_the_cabin.html
I didn't see the move but I think the book Into the Wild pretty well makes the point that McCandless was helped by a lot of people--esp. the guy in (I think) South Dakota.
boazo, yeah +1. I saw the PBS doc. on Proenneke and you are right.
Boazo, thanks for that link, I had never heard of that guy. I think any story where someone does that AND live to be 85 years old instead of dying like an idiot at age 24 is inherently a better story.
Yea, the area he built his cabin on became a National Park and the Park Service has left his cabin as it was, Now THAT would be something to see,
"into the wild" and "alone in the wilderness" are not equatable. the moral of each story are completely different. Proenneke's tale is a fable of the rugged indivdualist, while mccandless's story subverts this ideal climaxing with the anti-individualist: "happiness is only real when shared." this said, i prefer the lessons of mccandless to the dated fable of Proenneke (although i did enjoy his technical expertise).
Not to hijack the thread any more, but...
But Chris McCandless was a foolish kid who was incredibly hypocritical in his quest to live off the land.
He lived(and died) in a bus that was driven in to the woods. I mean this should tell you a few things, he was only in far enough that someone was able to drive a bus to and he wasn't living in nature, he was in a bus.
When he was unable to cross the river to leave, he gave up, but in Krakaurs book he points out there is a bridge one mile down.
And the movie made Chris appear to be an angel who brightens the lives of everyone he meets.
Just a pet peeve that people will now idolize this kid...
-Joe
Alone in the Wilderness vs. Chris McCandless???
Well, for one, Chris McCandless was a dummy who didn't need to die in the wilderness. Between being able to cross the river with the hand-tram to get back to civilization, ruining an entire Moose worth of meat which could have kept him fed for months on end, and numerous other reasons I won't dwell on...
And then you have Richard Proenneke who saws down his own trees, and carts a bunch of hand tools into the wilderness, without even the handles which he makes himself to save space in his pack... Fashions a DELUXE log cabin with a lock, freakin' fireplace, shuttered windows, need I go on??? Also, Proenneke didn't seem to be at a loss to preserving his meat and keeping it away from the bears.
Both are good stories and you can learn a lot just by watching them... But pretty much polar opposites in terms of survival skills.
