"The alpine world is a world on top of the world." With these words the legendary mountain guide Gaston Releuffat from Chamonix began his book "Between Heaven and Earth", which was published in the nineteen-sixties. Mountaineering has continued to be a sparkling source for tremendous experiences ever since. Whether as a hiker, a climber, a mountain guide or a professional mountaineer, we all seek these adventures and memories which get under our skin - situations which carry a meaning which goes beyond the petty things of our everyday lives. Being outdoors means exposing oneself to the sun and the rain and to experience vulnerability and comfort in alternation. We are irresistibly drawn to these adventures in a mixture of awe and curiosity. Suprises are to be expected! If it were calculable, this game of small and big adventures, ...it would be a game not worth playing. And even if we had climbed every mountain and viewed every horizon, there would still remain the enticement of the unknown. Descending we carry in our hearts and backpacks the pieces of memory of our adventures and experiences. The stone we took to, the bottle we emptied, the rope that joined us. At home everything finds its proper place. We fill cellars , mantelpieces and cupboards with the things that gave us company. And these are many who know that we only take off our backpacks, so that we can put them on again when we set out for our next destination. -deuter rucksaecke
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