The Art of the Casual Send
A suffer-fest isn’t the only way to enjoy the outdoors – embrace the bugs, eat an extra snack, and go really slow if you want.
Jack Domeika ’23
Author frolicking down a ridge. [Photo] Morgan Sharp
Land of the Ahtna, Dena'ina, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, and Tanana peoples.
The Art of the Casual Send. It’s technically a philosophy, barely a theory, probably followed by adventurers everywhere under different names. I guess it could even be considered a religion if you want to offend as many people as possible. But most importantly, it’s probably followed by adventurers everywhere under different names.
In the simplest terms, it's an idea. An idea of dialing it back, slowing down, and enjoying the journey, while you’re still on it. Groundbreaking, I know. In a world of spectacularly shot and edited films, professional athletes, sponsored expeditions, and tales of derring-do, it’s easy to forget that more casual forms of gnar exist. But they do.
And that is the wonderful thing about the “The Art of the Casual Send,” it runs on a variable scale for everybody. The newcomer to adventure might consider a three-day backpacking trip pushing the envelope, while a world-class mountaineer may not even blink at a week in the hills.
The bar is in a different place for each individual, and the true practitioner of the “The Art of the Casual Send” not only respects but celebrates the difference.
While a technical, hardcore, “full GNAR” expedition might not be the place for loose objectives, changes to the plan, and the occasional extra pop tart or s’mores kit, The Casual Send is. Deciding to jump in a lake, eating lunch on a mountain top, or pausing to look at a cool tree are all hallmarks of a successful Casual Send.
All of this might make it sound as though The Casual Send is throwing in the towel, slacking off, calling it quits, or whatever your preferred metaphor is, and yes, you could see it that way. Truly, however, it is a readjustment of priorities, an acknowledgment that sometimes, the hating-it-until-you’re-home, pedal-to-the-metal style of an intense sufferfest is not what you are looking for (cue shock and outrage from the weirdos who run ultramarathons and other nonsense like that in their free time).
Not every success is a summit, sometimes … it’s escaping the trees. [Photo] Morgan Sharp
Land of the Ahtna, Dena'ina, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, and Tanana peoples.
But even ultramarathoners can embrace The Casual Send! Although for them, it probably looks like not having bloody feet at the end of the day. It is centered in the enjoyment, the raw, pure fun of a casual day out in the hills, on the lake/rivers/stream/trail, being open to changes in the plan, where the objective is enjoyment, so a washed-out trail, a socked-in peak, or a change in weather does not spell failure, just a rethinking of the goal.
The Casual Send is an idea, a feeling, a gut-sense of comfort and confidence — a casual approach. It’s defined by the individual, for the individual, and redefined at every moment
