Chris posing in a nice, clean Patagonia coat of Jane's because hers had holes and mine didn't, Skaha, British Columbia.
Photo by Jane Courage
Interview with Christine Boskoff
By Robert Hauptman and Frederic Hartemann
On July 7, 2006, Bob Hauptman and Fred Hartemann filmed and recorded an interview with Christine Boskoff, lost in China that following November with Charlie Fowler apparently as the result of an avalanche. Boskoff, an electrical engineer, mountaineer, alpine guide, co-owner of Mountain Madness, and one of the world’s most respected alpinists, sat down with the pair at the Seattle Mountain Madness headquarters, to share her thoughts on the state of the sport and her life as a climber. The following interview will also appear in Hauptman and Hartemann’s upcoming book Grasping For Heaven: Interviews with Mountaineers. The pair also authored The Mountain Encyclopedia (amazon.com/Mountain-Encyclopedia-Compendium-Concepts-People/dp/1589791614/sr=1-1/qid=1169665657).
"What do you do for a living?" one [climber] asked her as she limbered up a 5.10 line. "Oh," said Boskoff, who had recently topped out on Mount Blanc and the Matterhorn, "I run a travel business."
— Bruce Barcott
RH: Thank you for talking with us; we appreciate it. I know something about mountaineering: its practice, practitioners, and history. I am stunned by your accomplishments. You began climbing just a few years ago, and someone recently called you the greatest female mountaineer ever. Another commentator insists that you are “One of the greatest mountaineers of all time.” How did you manage this extraordinary feat? CB: Well, I started climbing in 1992 and I think what it was, was I found my passion in life and I think what you are going to see with all of these people you interview is that we all have a passion for climbing, the outdoors, adventure, and once you find your passion, you become driven, you become focused and that’s all you want to do. ... I took a two-day rock course and when I climbed to the top I just knew that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And now I just love every aspect of climbing, and every day I go out, I try to improve, I try to get more experience and for me it’s not even just the summit or to climb real difficult peaks, but it’s the people I get to climb with, and just the whole experience of culture when you go to a different country. And then when you just love a sport so much or a lifestyle like this, you try to be the best, and I am a very driven person and I put everything into it. There are some things that I do better than others, for example, high-altitude mountaineering; I am very strong at [it], because my body adjusts very quickly, so I was able to progress really quickly versus something like ice climbing. I am not as strong as I am with maybe rock climbing. But it is mainly finding your passion and when you find your passion, you become good at it.
RH: But you also have to have an inherent skill; my passion might be mountaineering, but I don’t have the ability; I could never do what you have done at the lowest level. ... CB: Well, I think my success is because — and if you ask my mother she would say I am hardheaded — when it came to mountaineering I knew I had to train a lot; I’m really driven when it comes to exercising. When I trained my first time I went to Everest, I would get up at three o’clock in the morning and drive up to one of the local hills just outside of Seattle [in the] pouring rain; I would be carrying a heavy pack and I would do it three or four times, with a 10,000-foot elevation gain, or I would run up Mt Sy — it’s a three- or four-mile run — and I’d do it three times. You’re looking at ... 18 miles for a workout. ... I really work at it. And it’s not like it just comes naturally: I roll off the couch and go and climb. I put a lot of time and dedication into it, and a lot of pain, just having the discipline to get out of bed at three and go and train.
Interview with Christine Boskoff
By Robert Hauptman and Frederic Hartemann
On July 7, 2006, Bob Hauptman and Fred Hartemann filmed and recorded an interview with Christine Boskoff, lost in China that following November with Charlie Fowler apparently as the result of an avalanche. Boskoff, an electrical engineer, mountaineer, alpine guide, co-owner of Mountain Madness, and one of the world’s most respected alpinists, sat down with the pair at the Seattle Mountain Madness headquarters, to share her thoughts on the state of the sport and her life as a climber. The following interview will also appear in Hauptman and Hartemann’s upcoming book Grasping For Heaven: Interviews with Mountaineers. The pair also authored The Mountain Encyclopedia (amazon.com/Mountain-Encyclopedia-Compendium-Concepts-People/dp/1589791614/sr=1-1/qid=1169665657).
"What do you do for a living?" one [climber] asked her as she limbered up a 5.10 line. "Oh," said Boskoff, who had recently topped out on Mount Blanc and the Matterhorn, "I run a travel business."
— Bruce Barcott
RH: Thank you for talking with us; we appreciate it. I know something about mountaineering: its practice, practitioners, and history. I am stunned by your accomplishments. You began climbing just a few years ago, and someone recently called you the greatest female mountaineer ever. Another commentator insists that you are “One of the greatest mountaineers of all time.” How did you manage this extraordinary feat? CB: Well, I started climbing in 1992 and I think what it was, was I found my passion in life and I think what you are going to see with all of these people you interview is that we all have a passion for climbing, the outdoors, adventure, and once you find your passion, you become driven, you become focused and that’s all you want to do. ... I took a two-day rock course and when I climbed to the top I just knew that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And now I just love every aspect of climbing, and every day I go out, I try to improve, I try to get more experience and for me it’s not even just the summit or to climb real difficult peaks, but it’s the people I get to climb with, and just the whole experience of culture when you go to a different country. And then when you just love a sport so much or a lifestyle like this, you try to be the best, and I am a very driven person and I put everything into it. There are some things that I do better than others, for example, high-altitude mountaineering; I am very strong at [it], because my body adjusts very quickly, so I was able to progress really quickly versus something like ice climbing. I am not as strong as I am with maybe rock climbing. But it is mainly finding your passion and when you find your passion, you become good at it.
RH: But you also have to have an inherent skill; my passion might be mountaineering, but I don’t have the ability; I could never do what you have done at the lowest level. ... CB: Well, I think my success is because — and if you ask my mother she would say I am hardheaded — when it came to mountaineering I knew I had to train a lot; I’m really driven when it comes to exercising. When I trained my first time I went to Everest, I would get up at three o’clock in the morning and drive up to one of the local hills just outside of Seattle [in the] pouring rain; I would be carrying a heavy pack and I would do it three or four times, with a 10,000-foot elevation gain, or I would run up Mt Sy — it’s a three- or four-mile run — and I’d do it three times. You’re looking at ... 18 miles for a workout. ... I really work at it. And it’s not like it just comes naturally: I roll off the couch and go and climb. I put a lot of time and dedication into it, and a lot of pain, just having the discipline to get out of bed at three and go and train.
Interview with Christine Boskoff
By Robert Hauptman and Frederic Hartemann
On July 7, 2006, Bob Hauptman and Fred Hartemann filmed and recorded an interview with Christine Boskoff, lost in China that following November with Charlie Fowler apparently as the result of an avalanche. Boskoff, an electrical engineer, mountaineer, alpine guide, co-owner of Mountain Madness, and one of the world’s most respected alpinists, sat down with the pair at the Seattle Mountain Madness headquarters, to share her thoughts on the state of the sport and her life as a climber. The following interview will also appear in Hauptman and Hartemann’s upcoming book Grasping For Heaven: Interviews with Mountaineers. The pair also authored The Mountain Encyclopedia (amazon.com/Mountain-Encyclopedia-Compendium-Concepts-People/dp/1589791614/sr=1-1/qid=1169665657).
"What do you do for a living?" one [climber] asked her as she limbered up a 5.10 line. "Oh," said Boskoff, who had recently topped out on Mount Blanc and the Matterhorn, "I run a travel business."
— Bruce Barcott
RH: Thank you for talking with us; we appreciate it. I know something about mountaineering: its practice, practitioners, and history. I am stunned by your accomplishments. You began climbing just a few years ago, and someone recently called you the greatest female mountaineer ever. Another commentator insists that you are “One of the greatest mountaineers of all time.” How did you manage this extraordinary feat? CB: Well, I started climbing in 1992 and I think what it was, was I found my passion in life and I think what you are going to see with all of these people you interview is that we all have a passion for climbing, the outdoors, adventure, and once you find your passion, you become driven, you become focused and that’s all you want to do. ... I took a two-day rock course and when I climbed to the top I just knew that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And now I just love every aspect of climbing, and every day I go out, I try to improve, I try to get more experience and for me it’s not even just the summit or to climb real difficult peaks, but it’s the people I get to climb with, and just the whole experience of culture when you go to a different country. And then when you just love a sport so much or a lifestyle like this, you try to be the best, and I am a very driven person and I put everything into it. There are some things that I do better than others, for example, high-altitude mountaineering; I am very strong at [it], because my body adjusts very quickly, so I was able to progress really quickly versus something like ice climbing. I am not as strong as I am with maybe rock climbing. But it is mainly finding your passion and when you find your passion, you become good at it.
RH: But you also have to have an inherent skill; my passion might be mountaineering, but I don’t have the ability; I could never do what you have done at the lowest level. ... CB: Well, I think my success is because — and if you ask my mother she would say I am hardheaded — when it came to mountaineering I knew I had to train a lot; I’m really driven when it comes to exercising. When I trained my first time I went to Everest, I would get up at three o’clock in the morning and drive up to one of the local hills just outside of Seattle [in the] pouring rain; I would be carrying a heavy pack and I would do it three or four times, with a 10,000-foot elevation gain, or I would run up Mt Sy — it’s a three- or four-mile run — and I’d do it three times. You’re looking at ... 18 miles for a workout. ... I really work at it. And it’s not like it just comes naturally: I roll off the couch and go and climb. I put a lot of time and dedication into it, and a lot of pain, just having the discipline to get out of bed at three and go and train.
- advertisement -
Interview with Christine Boskoff
By Robert Hauptman and Frederic Hartemann
On July 7, 2006, Bob Hauptman and Fred Hartemann filmed and recorded an interview with Christine Boskoff, lost in China that following November with Charlie Fowler apparently as the result of an avalanche. Boskoff, an electrical engineer, mountaineer, alpine guide, co-owner of Mountain Madness, and one of the world’s most respected alpinists, sat down with the pair at the Seattle Mountain Madness headquarters, to share her thoughts on the state of the sport and her life as a climber. The following interview will also appear in Hauptman and Hartemann’s upcoming book Grasping For Heaven: Interviews with Mountaineers. The pair also authored The Mountain Encyclopedia (amazon.com/Mountain-Encyclopedia-Compendium-Concepts-People/dp/1589791614/sr=1-1/qid=1169665657).
"What do you do for a living?" one [climber] asked her as she limbered up a 5.10 line. "Oh," said Boskoff, who had recently topped out on Mount Blanc and the Matterhorn, "I run a travel business."
— Bruce Barcott
RH: Thank you for talking with us; we appreciate it. I know something about mountaineering: its practice, practitioners, and history. I am stunned by your accomplishments. You began climbing just a few years ago, and someone recently called you the greatest female mountaineer ever. Another commentator insists that you are “One of the greatest mountaineers of all time.” How did you manage this extraordinary feat? CB: Well, I started climbing in 1992 and I think what it was, was I found my passion in life and I think what you are going to see with all of these people you interview is that we all have a passion for climbing, the outdoors, adventure, and once you find your passion, you become driven, you become focused and that’s all you want to do. ... I took a two-day rock course and when I climbed to the top I just knew that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And now I just love every aspect of climbing, and every day I go out, I try to improve, I try to get more experience and for me it’s not even just the summit or to climb real difficult peaks, but it’s the people I get to climb with, and just the whole experience of culture when you go to a different country. And then when you just love a sport so much or a lifestyle like this, you try to be the best, and I am a very driven person and I put everything into it. There are some things that I do better than others, for example, high-altitude mountaineering; I am very strong at [it], because my body adjusts very quickly, so I was able to progress really quickly versus something like ice climbing. I am not as strong as I am with maybe rock climbing. But it is mainly finding your passion and when you find your passion, you become good at it.
RH: But you also have to have an inherent skill; my passion might be mountaineering, but I don’t have the ability; I could never do what you have done at the lowest level. ... CB: Well, I think my success is because — and if you ask my mother she would say I am hardheaded — when it came to mountaineering I knew I had to train a lot; I’m really driven when it comes to exercising. When I trained my first time I went to Everest, I would get up at three o’clock in the morning and drive up to one of the local hills just outside of Seattle [in the] pouring rain; I would be carrying a heavy pack and I would do it three or four times, with a 10,000-foot elevation gain, or I would run up Mt Sy — it’s a three- or four-mile run — and I’d do it three times. You’re looking at ... 18 miles for a workout. ... I really work at it. And it’s not like it just comes naturally: I roll off the couch and go and climb. I put a lot of time and dedication into it, and a lot of pain, just having the discipline to get out of bed at three and go and train.
