About Go Live a Little
My first mountain was Rysy in the Tatras - climbed solo, at night, at 20, without knowing what I was doing. I made it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, and it's not how I approach mountains anymore. But that night taught me something that stuck: the mountains reward preparation and punish ignorance in equal measure.
My name is Arunas Mark. I'm Lithuanian, 40. After Rysy came the Everest Base Camp trek in 2013, and then a long gap - over a decade - with only occasional ice climbing in the Arctic to keep the mountains close.
Then came the Alps. And everything changed.
Why the Alps
We don't have mountains in Lithuania. The closest ones are the Tatras, but the Alps are something else entirely - high enough to feel the altitude, close enough not to require months of expedition planning, and endlessly diverse. Every peak is a different problem to solve.
I'm working through all 82 Alpine 4000m peaks. Not via the easiest routes - after my first season on Monte Rosa, where I went seriously off script and found myself on overhanging gneiss slabs in the rain, I understood that the interesting routes are where the real learning happens. So that's what I look for now.
Who This Is For
This blog exists to share what I've learned - about gear, about planning, about making good decisions in the mountains and bad ones too. No sponsored hype, no gear I haven't used, no routes I haven't been on.
If you're starting out and considering your first mountain - this is for you. If you're already out there and want to compare notes - also for you.
What You’ll Find Here
Real trip reports from the 4000ers project
Practical gear guides
Honest buying advice
And the occasional hard lesson from the mountains
It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.
Let's connect
Questions, trip planning, or just want to talk mountains -
FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM.