180° South

I recently watched the 2010 documentary "180° South:  Conquerers of the Useless," from director Chris Malloy.  According to the IMDb website (IMDb), "The film follows  the adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia."

If that was it, it would still be an enjoyable film - the scenery is terrific; there's a love story; there are struggles, defeat, and some successes; and it's all bundled around the adventures of a likable main character and his friends.  For me though, it was much more than a retracing of a journey from 40 years in the past, it was the encounter with Chouinard and Tompkins themselves that made the movie. 

The Wikipedia article on Chouinard can be found here:  Y. Chouinard, but if you've ever had an interest in rock climbing, you probably know the name.  A self-taught blacksmith, he started making and refining equipment designs when he was only 19.  His pitons became so popular amongst the Yosemite Valley climbing community that he eventually started his own company.  With a buddy, Tom Frost, he's credited with starting the sport of ice climbing by redesigning the basic tools of the trade:  ice axes and crampons.  But, when he became aware of the impact his steel hardware was having on the rock faces that he loved, he turned his back on the pitons that had created his early success and went on to develop tools for "clean climbing."  Later in life when it was learned that cotton, the primary raw material used by his clothing company, Patagonia, was one of the worst for the environment due to pesticide use, he helped usher in the organic cotton industry in California. 

The Wikipedia article on Tompkins can be found here:  D. Tompkins.  His early claims to fame were his roles in the creation of the companies The North Face and ESPRIT.  Despite achieving huge business success, concerns about the ecological impacts of the industry contributed to his separation from that life in the late 80s and his migration back to South America where he and his pal Chouinard had climbed 20 years earlier.  There, he established the Foundation for Deep Ecology (see Deep Ecology) and The Conservation Land Trust (Land Trust).

When Jeff and his friends finally reach Patagonia and meet Chouinard and Tompkins, what began as a homage to one's heroes becomes a commentary on unintended consequences and the importance of doing something about them.  Earlier in the film during an unexpected sojourn on Easter Island (he had hitched a ride on a yacht and the skipper had to make repairs there after damage to the mast), Johnson first discussed the unintended consequence of deforestation on the ecology of the island.  When the travelers meet Chouinard and Tompkins, land conservation and ecological issues are discussed in light of hydroelectric projects planned for the region. 

Johnson says, "It's easy for us to blindly consume when we don't see the affect it has on other places."  He comments that the electric power consumed by video gamers in the U.S. is equivalent to that consumed by a city the size of San Diego, California.

Chouinard's take is that, "The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life.  It's so easy to make it complex.  What's important is leading an examined life because most of the damage caused by humans is caused unintentionally, I think."

Tompkins argues that the conventional wisdom that "you can't go back" is flawed.  "Well, what happens if you get to the cliff and you take one step forward or you can do a 180-degree turn and take one step forward.  Which way you going?  Which is progress?"

Chouinard replies, "the solution for a lot of the world's problems may be to turn around and take a forward step.  You can't just keep trying to make a flawed system work."

These guys are speaking from experience.  Chouinard had the courage to make 180-degree turns when the consequences of his actions where discovered to have negative impacts.  He killed his piton business and went on the create "clean climbing" and he committed his clothing company to using pesticide-free cotton when he learned of the damage of conventional forms.  Tompkins too turned his back on one path to pursue something completely different.  In so doing, he has helped preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat and ecosystems in a region of the world that he loves.  

Chouinard says that he's a "live for the moment" kinda guy.  But, at the same time both he and Tompkins recognize the importance of paying attention to what you're doing and changing course when it's clear you're screwing up.  That's a valuable lesson we can all stand to learn.