Find your edge

Natural Health, July-August, 2007 by Mary Bolster

WHILE NOT EXACTLY a thrill-seeker, I find it hard to resist a challenge, especially if it tests me physically I guess that's why, three summers ago, I found myself on the edge of an 8,000-foot glacier in the Canadian Rockies wearing sturdy mountaineering boots and carrying an ice ax.

What had started as a comparatively mild, three-day heli-hiking trip with Canadian Mountain Holidays--getting flown by helicopter into otherwise inaccessible backcountry to hike around with an experienced guide--was now a full-on adventure. Yesterday it had been shorts and a T-shirt Today, I wore a harness, helmet, backpack, boots, and a parka: All this for a girl who had a panic attack 10 feet above the ground the first time she tried to scale an indoor climbing wall.

For the first 500 feet. I fell into a nice rhythm: ice ax on the upslope, heel firmly planted on each step. Then we reached the start of our climb--an ominous jumble of granite--and my stomach dropped.

Despite my fears, I lasted the two hours it took to reach the top. Sure, I clung too tightly to the rock to even notice the scenery on the way up, but once I got there I could enjoy the view: snow-covered peaks rising in every direction, soft clouds floating in a sea of blue sky That vista is seared into my memory, partly because it took so much effort to get there.

A challenge doesn't have to be torture, of course, but getting outside your physical comfort zone cart shake up your life in a positive way. And summer is the perfect time to try something you've never done before, whether that means surfing, rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, or trail running. To get started, see "Brave New Summer on page 62, and have fun playing on the edge.

MARY BOLSTER

EDITOR IN CHIEF

editorinchief@naturalhealthmag.com