<photo: doing your business in the open, Gobi Desert>
warning: this page contains disturbing photos of toilets
mountaineers and adventurers are constantly faced with making difficult decisions - when to attempt the final climb to the peak, where to pitch tents for the night, what equipment is needed to descent safely from the summit, and so on. perhaps the most difficult decision to make is whether to pee or not to pee.
there are many factors to consider when faced with this life-threatening decision, including:
- there are no toilets in sight and you think you can hold it;
- there are no toilets in sight, but it's too difficult to take off all the clothes and equipment in order to do it, and you think you can hold it;
- there are no toilets in sight, and modesty dictates that you hold it, even though you don't think you can hold it; and
- there is a toilet nearby but the condition is so bad that you would rather hold it.
<photos: toilets at base camp, Mount Elbrus, southern Russia>
<left: tent toilet in Gobi Desert; right photo: toilet at base camp, Mount Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia>
"great things are done when men and mountains meet." -William Blake, English poet