An Old Saying

I’m constantly reminding Craig “you’re only as strong as the weakest link.”

Most of the time I do this to remind him I’m tired and out of shape. There’s no way I can keep up with his pace and stamina, so he’s going to have to throttle things back a little if we’re ever going to get anywhere together.

On climbs like the north face of Gothics that’s mostly true, yet somehow, somewhere I’m able to pull out the reserves on things like that and push to the front.

On climbs like the north face of Gothics I say it to him to remind him (and myself) that we need to pay attention to everyone. Regardless of how strong and/or excited we feel, we need to watch out for the “weak link”. We’ll never get farther than the weakest member. To try it or push it is a risk not worth taking. It’s unfair to the “weak link”, their family and ourselves. In those conditions an injury to anyone of us puts us all at risk.

The “weak link” isn’t a derogatory term. It’s a transient label that moves around members on each and every trip/adventure. It’s the guy that partied too hard the night before. The one who isn’t eating enough. The one with sub-par gear or simply a bad attitude. It’s many different things on many different people. It’s not always a problem either. Most of the time it’s something you simply identify and manage.  But sometimes it’s a liability that requires immediate attention. Decisions and actions will need to be made that are not often very popular.

I’ve been the weak link. I food bonked on Mt. Washington. By the time I realized it, it was too late to fix it. We were too far up and the conditions too gnarly to take a minute and eat enough to be strong enough to continue up. Because of me, we turned around and headed back to the safety of tree line. I was the weak link then, and I’m sure I’ll be it again one day.

It happens. There’s always at least one of some degree. It must be identified and monitored, so the appropriate decisions can be made before it’s too late for everyone.

– b