I can’t help but think of Ulysses on his odyssey these days. When the battle was over, he and his men set sail for home. The uncharted territory was sea-gone wilderness. His ship was essentially alone in the world to the point where everything they just left and everything back at home was irrelevant to their experience of the moment — they were entirely independent in every sense. No one at home knew how they were or even whether they would return.

Finding comparable adventures that are escapes from connections of our home and battles of daily life have to be sought out — often vigorously — in this day and age. As the New York Times article entitled On the Ledge and Online that seems to have circulated all over Facebook and Twitter among outdoors enthusiasts says, even the outdoor adventures we often use to be independent and alone are not necessarily the solitary adventure of Ulysses and his crew.

Since the advent of the telegraph and the railroad in the 1800s during the Industrial Age — the precursor to the Information Age, our quest for such dis-connections for renewal were often found in the hills through hiking and mountain climbing. (This was aided by the rise in popularity of walking for fitness and competitions — called pedestrianism — which was a first in England around the same time.) What was once just a method for military movements and ways of merchants, now became a wonderfully frivolous activity for mankind.

As a blogger and a dedicated armchair mountaineer, I rely on those social media connections to follow active climbers as well as the happenings around my favorite mountain destinations. But how much connectivity is too much? Suddenly alpinists  are sending Tweets from the summit of Mount Everest and the walls of Yosemite — during their climbs. Climbers have already spent energy and resources filming their climbs and writing daily dispatches to their fans. The biggest offenders in this area are usually sponsors, and in the English language media, are usually The North Face and National Geographic.

Many go to the wilderness to be Ulysses and escape the notion of being constantly in contact and enjoy being wild — in the nature sense, not the party animal sense. However when climbers take up sponsorships they are often subject to certain terms. Updating Facebook pages and sending Tweets can be quite beneficial to drawing a market’s attention to a sponsor, particularly during a well publicized attempt at a route.

However, it can also be like bringing those people with you. When I take a family vacation from work in my nation’s capital, I try to leave the smartphone from my job turned off, otherwise, my time away is often no different than an ordinary weekend.

Many sponsored climbers are attaining the status of professional athletes of popularized team sports. Their responsibilities as celebrities — including during their expeditions — to their fans and followers adds a new element to how we enjoy our sport. I think amateur climbers seeking wilderness will appreciate their amateur status all the more.

Interestingly, following climbers through social media has some broadly reaching benefits. For example, I also follow bobsled competitions. It’s a somewhat obscure sport. Without the posts of Olympic Gold Medelist Steve Holcomb and the team’s blog, I wouldn’t be able to follow them as closely as I do my favorite baseball team. Living vicariously through someone else’s alpine endeavors, whether they are reported live or after the expedition is irrelevant to me — just tell your story.

The use of social media in the mountains by climbers — while it should be discouraged for the purposes of being Ulysses — is likely to build a larger, more-informed audience for the sport. The real question is where does this take the sport next? Edelweiss and I believe that the younger generation of climbers that use social networks to a greater extent than my generation may continue to inject social connections during climbs. That is, unless, those younger climbers seeking the mountains are trying following the path of Ulysses.

Thanks for dropping by again. If you enjoyed the insights of this post and the many others, please consider following the Suburban Mountaineer on Facebook or Twitter. Happy reading and carpe climb ’em!

Sources: 1) Lowther, Alex, “On the Ledge and Online: Solitary Sport turns Social,” New York Times, December 9, 2011; 2) Graham Brown, Thomas and Sir Gavin Byland DeBeers, The First Ascent of Mont Blanc, Oxford University Press, London, 1957, p. 11.