Here is yet another attempt to get to the crux of why some people are driven to push themselves, challenge themselves. The curse or the blessing of the wandering spirit.

Two friends, Katie and Tarka, set off back in September to an expedition in Patagonia, named Rivers of Ice.

A few days before departing Katie tried to articulate what drives them both. Here’s what she said:

“George Mallory described his motivation for reaching the summit of Everest thus,

“For the stone from the top for geologists, the knowledge of the limits of endurance for the doctors but above all for the spirit of adventure to keep alive the soul of man.”

The best way I can describe the ‘why’ is that these are our Olympic finals. We just happened to choose a sport a little less conventional than the 400 metres. No one questions why Olympic athletes are there. It is obvious. They want to push themselves to their limit in a bid to be the best they can possibly be at what they do.

We battle with ourselves both physically and mentally to understand our limits, to grasp what we are capable of and discover parts of ourselves we never knew existed.
We dream and we chase our dreams.
If we fail, we learn from it and try again.
If we succeed, well, the elation and memory will stay with us forever. We will also have something to look back on in 50 years’ time, to know we made the most of our allotted days. This is our ‘WHY’!”

I was glad to see that Katie ended her piece with a poem that I have also mentioned here before: Only a person who risks is free.

Despite not accomplishing their ultimate objective of a full crossing, the Rivers of Ice team successfully achieved the longest crossing of the Southern Patagonian Ice by a British team as well as the longest ever crossing by a woman. They still believe their fast and light approach is an effective way to complete a full unsupported crossing.

Read more about Rivers of Ice here.