Who is Mountain Gallivanter?

Every blog has to start with a first post, so here it is.   

Mountain Gallivanter will be a collection of entries documenting the mountain climbing adventures of Scott Wiseman.  Yes, that is me!  I haven't exactly determined if gallivanter is an official English word.  If it is, it is a hardly used word.  This is how www.yourdictionary.com defines gallivanter: "a person who goes off or travels around in search of amusement, fun or adventure."  Mountain Gallivanter is an online pseudonym I gave myself years ago (it is also my Flickr name).  In fact, this blog sat on the internet for at least two years, entry-less, with merely this name.  Because I am one with an unquenchable thirst for "amusement, fun, or adventure" in the mountains, Mountain Gallivanter seemingly fits.

There you have it, the most boring introduction to a blog ever!  I've decided not to get too deep into the philosophy behind climbing mountains just yet.  I figure there will be plenty of opportunity for that later.  Instead, I will briefly introduce myself.

As a child growing up in New Mexico, it was the arid high country and the soaring Sangre de Cristo mountains which gave me my first introduction to the wonder and excitement of the outdoors.  After climbing nearly every mountain in the state over 12,000 feet, I began looking for bigger challenges.  In 2008, I went on a semester with the National Outdoor Leadership School, NOLS, where I had the opportunity to explore the glaciated Chugach Range and explore vast distances of the East Alaska Range.  I also began shifting my climbing focus to Colorado, where I have been to the top of numerous 14,ers (mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation) including Mt. Sneffels, Mt. Blanca, Kit Carson Peak, and Mt. Elbert.  My climbing resume also includes the highest mountain in California, and the contiguous 48 states, Mount Whitney (14,505').  My most proud achievements are my climbs of Mt. Hood (11,239') and Mt. Rainier (14,411'), the highest mountains in Oregon and Washington, respectively.  The summit of Mt. Rainier is not one that presented itself easily to me.  I climbed to 12,300' on the slopes of Mt. Rainier, just over 2,000' shy of the summit, only to be turned around due to exceptionally high avalanche danger.  2011 yielded a successful summit attempt.

The photo posted above was taken on the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mount Rainier on July 20, 2011 at nearly 13,500'.  The beauty of a sunrise on Mount Rainier inspires the soul more than words ever could, and it's scenes like this that can only begin to describe my love for the mountains.

It is in my nature to always look ahead for new and harder challenges.  Next on the horizon is to gather all the training necessary to be an alpine mountain guide.  There's no other profession that seems more enticing to me.  Also, the summer of 2012 will have me returning to the Colorado Rockies, which I will use as my training ground for eventually attempting higher and harder mountains.  I'm unsure day-by-day where my adventures will lead, but this blog will be the place to hear the latest word!