Everybody has a few one-liners that always crop up in their heads when they鈥檙e out hiking, skiing, climbing, and/or having a good time or bad time outside. I brainstormed a few bits of this advice I鈥檝e remembered over the years from mentors, friends, authors, plus some of my own mantras and a few that Facebook friends sent me. Hope some of these save your ass, or at least put a smile on your face.
- Always bring a headlamp.
- The best place to keep extra batteries for your headlamp is in another headlamp. 鈥
- When you feel low, eat and eat more. When you feel good, slow down. 鈥擵ivian Doorn, advice about 100-mile races
- Don鈥檛 buy gear, buy plane tickets. 鈥擸von Chouinard
- Don鈥檛 try to muscle through anything鈥攋ust keep spinning. 鈥擬y friend Mick, on long-distance bike touring
- Always carry a spoon. You never want to miss out on free food.
- Always take a big bowl or mug on a group trip, or go hungry.
- Ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain. 鈥擴nknown
- Don鈥檛 get in your sleeping bag with damp socks on.
- Don鈥檛 expect a great night of sleep while camping鈥攅xpect a series of naps.
- When you wake up wondering if you should get out of your sleeping bag/tent to pee or if you can get back to sleep without getting up to pee … just get up and go pee.
- Check your knot. 鈥
- A helmet almost always protects your brain more than a stylish hat.
- Pain is just a feeling. 鈥
- Geologic time includes now. 鈥擥erry Roach
- Sometimes eating鈥檚 not about liking. 鈥
- Always make sure the cap is on your water bottle.
- If it hurts to walk and it hurts to run, running will hurt for less time. 鈥
- Commit. 鈥, on ultrarunning
- If you can follow it, you can lead it.
- Sunburns are for amateurs.
- Basically you just don鈥檛 want to fall when leading ice climbs. 鈥擫ee Smith
- It鈥檚 not really a 鈥渄ry suit.鈥 It鈥檚 more like a 鈥渟lowly getting damp suit.鈥 鈥
- Eventually, they all become rock skis.
- Don鈥檛 say 鈥減hotos don鈥檛 do it justice.鈥 Somebody鈥檚 photos do.
- Somebody can ride that on a hardtail.
- Only do one stupid thing at a time. 鈥擲hannon Walton
- Start cold.
- The more you know, the less you need. 鈥擸von Chouinard
- If you鈥檙e going to go ultra-light, make sure you have ultra-experience. 鈥擭icole Dautel
- The odds on very difficult climbs are not in your favor. So there鈥檚 no excuse to show up unprepared, to show up out of shape. 鈥
- When skiing in the trees, don鈥檛 look at the trees, look at the spaces in between.
- There are no bad adventures, just bad company. 鈥擫ibby VandeKamp Littler
- That鈥檚 the thing about goals, they don鈥檛 just fuckin lie down for you. 鈥擩ayson Sime
- There鈥檚 really no such thing as a self-arrest once you get going on a steep slope鈥攜ou really have to stick the landing if you fall. 鈥擫ee Smith
- Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lie down. (The first rule of mountaineering)
- Going one mile an hour with zero breaks is faster than going two miles an hour and stopping to catch your breath every five minutes.
- Most tents are no good without the poles
- Don鈥檛 plan on it not raining.
- There are two easy ways to die in the desert鈥攖hirst and drowning. 鈥擟raig Childs
- Learn how to fix a flat tire and always carry a spare tube.
- Breathe.
- It鈥檚 easier to stay out than get out. 鈥擬ark Twain
- You鈥檒l be fine. 鈥擜lex Honnold/anyone who鈥檚 ever sandbagged a friend
- Pick your partners first, then the objective. 鈥
- Ideal circumstances rarely make for interesting stories. 鈥擲cott Nowacki
- If you wouldn't ski it without your avy beacon, you still shouldn't ski it with your avy beacon. 鈥擯eter Wadsworth
- If you always eat your best food first, you'll always be eating your best food. 鈥擴nknown NOLS instructor
- Never judge the weather from your sleeping bag. 鈥
- Go average, go often. 鈥擱eid Pitman
- If there is a solution to the problem, why worry? If there is no solution, why worry? 鈥擝ill Thompson
- Wear a hat. 鈥擬y mom
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