I suggested he try directory assistance for the shop at the bottom of the hill. He called the store, asked for the number of its climbing hot line, then dialed it and told me that conditions were poor at base camp due to clouds. Later that afternoon, I heard another climber raising his partners farther down the mountain on his Motorola TalkAbout two-way radio. But it looks like all the good real estate is taken. The people who get the most out of the sport look at it from a more experience-based goal, plus the humanistic values that they can maintain while climbing.
Relentless drive can easily turn into summit fever.
On the mountain, you can push and sometimes make things happen, and sometimes the mountain doesn't let you make it happen. And for a lot of them, that is a new thing. Some early adopters already know this, of course, and decry the soullessness they see in techreationalists. It's a hard lesson to learn. The Forest Service is aware of only five climbers who reached the peak that day, some crawling on their hands and knees.