Man cannot live on bread alone 
Beer makes it better 
Life, Universe & the number 21
Once there was a land inhabited by a sleeping dragon. The dragon was fierce looking and most of the people of the land feared the dragon and stayed away. But the teeth in the dragon’s mouth were reputed to be composed of precious gems and a beauty to behold. Some of the people of the land took courage and went up to the dragon to look into its mouth to see the wonderous teeth for the dragon was known to awaken only once every thousand years. The mouth was truly a beauty to behold from afar and soon more people would venture closer far a even better look by actually climbing into the mouth of the dragon where the precious gems could be seen at first hand.
Most of the people were afraid and voiced their concern for the few who were determined to go into the mouth. They said those who went up to the dragon were fools and those who actually went into the dragons mouth were crazy and taking a chance with their lives for if the dragon were to awaken it would consume them all. Those who entered the dragon’s mouth said the risk was worth the beauty, grandeur and excitement that was found there. After all one thousand years is a long time. Even though no one knew for sure when the dragon was last awake.
We who climb the Winter Mountains and accept the challenge of the rock wall enter the dragon’s mouth. We risk avalanches, snow storms, subfreezing temperatures and crevasses because the gems of grandeur and the beauty we can behold. We take satisfaction in our accomplishments knowing that others afraid to venture where we go. We gain joy from the excitement of having done something dangerous. We strain our bodies, minds and souls whilst attempting to climb a rock wall we have never done before at a grade harder than we have ever tried before, risking our safety for that fleet moment of triumph if we succeed and accepting defeat if we fail. We say it is a matter of self discipline and spiritual development as we discover our true inner selves under the test of fear. We say it is a matter of intelligence and good judgement that we live to tell of the experience. There is little doubt that he who finds beauty, joy and peace where others find boredom, pain and strain must follow a different drummer indeed. It is a matter of personal satisfaction and personal accomplishment and approval from others is not needed or wanted
With the development of better equipment and new techniques we become less fearful of the dangers and over confident of our success. Often we risk death, feeling more secure with a new rope. We feel safer if one companion’s is more experienced and we come to have less respect for the hazards as we finish each climbing session.
When we hear of the experienced mountaineers and climbers who are killed, we wonder at their deaths. Where had they gone wrong? What mistake had they made? Why had their equipment failed them?
When we venture into the mouth of the dragon we must always remember, no dragon sleeps forever