MJ calls what happened to her in Zion national park “small ‘T’ trauma”. She knows women have experienced worse from their partners. But she still feels the anger of being left behind on a hike by her now ex. “It brings up stuff in my body that maybe I have not cleared out yet,” she said.
Five years ago, MJ and a new partner – he was not exactly her boyfriend, and the pair were not exclusive – traveled from Los Angeles to Utah for an adventure getaway. MJ, who is 38 and works in PR, was looking forward to exploring Zion’s striking scenery; its vast sandstone canyon and pristine wading trails were on the list. But on the morning of their big hike, MJ was not feeling well. She could not shake the feeling that something was “off”; indeed, MJ would learn on this trip that her partner was seeing other women.
As they made their way up Angel’s Landing, MJ’s partner started walking faster than her. “I could tell it was getting on his nerves that I was slow,” she said. “I was like, ‘Fuck it, just go ahead of me.’” He did without hesitation.
When she caught up at the top of the mountain, they took a picture together. Then her partner hiked down the mountain with a woman he had met on the way up, leaving MJ to finish by herself. They broke up shortly after that trip. (MJ asked to be referred to by her initials for the sake of speaking openly about a past relationship.)
Last month, MJ opened TikTok and heard the phrase “alpine divorce”, a label she now attaches to her experience in Zion.
You read the excerpt and then were so enraged by the supposed sexism that you commented at length without even reading the article
Oh like the fucking guy who was convicted of manslaughter after leaving his girlfriend on a hike? A conviction isn’t reliable enough of a report for you?
I definitely wasn’t enraged. You can stop trying to gaslight me. Just say you disagree. Trying to dismiss my arguments because they are ‘too emotional’ is weird.
I think this entire trial and conviction were sexist. Adam Bielecki left Małek on Broad Peak and he wasn’t prosecuted. Élisabeth Revol left Tomasz Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat and she wasn’t prosecuted. No one there claimed that because they were more experienced they were legally responsible for the other climber. In this case they basically claimed that his girlfriend didn’t knew that climbing the highest peak in Switzerland (?) is difficult and she should be prepared. It was her boyfriends responsibility to make all decisions for her and make sure she survives. He wasn’t there as a guide but as a equal partner. They were both ethically responsible for each other but claiming some legal responsibility there was insane. I completely disagree with the negligent manslaughter verdict and I think it’s sexist.
Yeah clearly not upset at all when you first commented /s
I don’t know how you write your comments but I really don’t have to be foaming at the mouth to type ‘fucking’. When I write my comments I sometimes give them some specific tone to better express the idea and the tone doesn’t have to 100% match my emotional state. For example sometimes I will type ‘lol’ without actually laughing out loud. I can also type ‘this is outrageous’ if I’m trying to say I really disagree with it without actually being outraged. I don’t think I’m the only one that does it.
Then it’s not everyone else’s fault that they read a certain tone from your writing. That’s on you.