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Rock & Ice Magazine, 1990-99
Rock & Ice, 1992
Jan 1992, p. 20: Keith, Fred, "Steep Tech: An Interview With Scot Schmidt" *
"Over the past six years, the term 'extreme' (the 'E-word') has taken the ski industry by storm. Clothing and equipment manufacturers, movie-makers and outdoor retailers have all jumped on the extreme bandwagon, eager to identify their products with the concept." Scot Schmidt was one of the skiers most responsible for starting this trend, through his appearances in ski movies made by Warren Miller. Commenting on the "E-word," Schmidt says: "For me it's always been what the Patrick Vallencants and the Jean-Marc Boivins have done--the first descents of steep snow-and-ice routes. Poppin' off cliffs and jumping into chutes--I've never called that extreme skiing. [...] I'm not a real mountaineer. I'm not out to break records. I'm out there to have fun and to be real explosive and dynamic--to use a lot of style in my skiing. [..] I've never done the kind of extreme-ski descents those guys are famous for, although I do get myself in exposed situations quite often."Rock & Ice, 1994
Jan 1994, p. 24: Soles, Clyde, "On Top of the World with Reinhold Messner"
Reinhold Messner discusses wilderness and adventure. Excerpts:"White wilderness is an idea of mine that is growing with like-minded people. At the beginning of this century, the big adventure was to fill in the white spots on the map. I would prefer that we leave the remaining blanks on the map. It is not necessary to go to wild places and create maps or write guidebooks. If somebody goes there, he should not leave any trace and should not describe it in such a way that everybody else can go in. [...] The most important rule today is: leave the wilderness like it was. Otherwise, adventuring will not be possible in the future.""A climber who is historically unaware will never be a trendsetter. The farther you can see backwards into history, the farther you can see forward."
"You are totally wrong if you think that Himalayan climbing is over because 'everything is done.' Nothing is done! And each generation has it to do again and again."
"Being afraid is part of the game. Without fear, it is not adventure. For me it is not important to be the best climber, it is only important to have a good adventure. [...] Adventure is possible only if there is the potentially impossible and the risk of death. If death is not possible, then it is not an adventure, it is a sport."
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