[USMA:29064] REI brochure

[Harry Wyeth]

Seattle's Recreational Equipment Co., usually known as REI, just sent out their annual dividend brochure.  Inside there is a small ad entitled "Seven Summits", referring to the highest mountains on each of the continents.  There was a small sketch of each mountain, with its elevation in meters only (ranging from 4884 to 8850).  No feet. This is unusual in US mountaineering circles.  Usually we only see elevations in meters only when the discussion is about the fourteen 8000 m plus peaks (all in Asia).   I know many people involved in mountaineering and backpacking, and it is very difficult to get them to relate to metric heights.  We must admit that there is a certain ease to thinking of common backpacking elevations in units of even five hundred or a thousand feet.  Thus, it is easy to think "7000 feet, 7500 feet, 8000 feet" and so on.  On the other hand, the interval between, say, 2000 and 2500 m is rather large.   I wonder if anyone has a suggestion on how to deal with this problem.   HARRY WYETH HARRY WYETH