Survival Tip #280

False Summits

A false summit in the hiking and climbing world is when the area you perceived to be the top of the mountain turns out not to be, meaning you have farther to go. They aren’t the end of the world but they can be crippling to morale and make the hike significantly harder if you were mentally prepared to have reached the top. You want to avoid ever thinking you have reached the top of something. This will keep you mentally and physically prepared to keep climbing. You never want to reach a summit in your life but continually be climbing. If you think you’ve reached the top, odds are you are just standing on a false summit while someone else is still climbing.