It Is Easy, When You Are Young,

I Think Part Of The Appeal Of Antarctica Is Experiencing Some Sort Of Power, The Forces Of The Natural World.

Having Stumbled Upon A Tolerable Career, For The First Time In My Life I Was Actually Living Above The Poverty Line. My Hunger To Climb Had Been Blunted, In Short, By A Bunch Of Small Satisfactions That Added Up To Something Like Happiness.

This Forms The Nub Of A Dilemna That Every Everest Climber Eventually Comes Up Against: In Order To Succeed You Must Be Exceedingly Driven, But If You're Too Driven You're Likely To Die.

He Was Unheeded, Happy, And Near To The Wild Heart Of Life. He Was Alone And Young And Wilful And Wildhearted, Alone Amid A Waste Of Wild Air And Brackish Waters And The Seaharvest Of Shells And Tangle And Veiled Grey Sunlight.

But Perhaps The Greatest Attraction Of Mormonism Was The Promise That Each Follower Would Be Granted An Extraordinarily Intimate Relationship With God. Joseph Taught And Encouraged His Adherents To Receive Personal Communiqués Straight From The Lord. Divine Revelation Formed The Bedrock Of The Religion.