Comment by chrisco255

> Mountaineering cannot be described as anything other than a "hobby".

Mountaineering was only ever a hobby because of how dangerous it was and the lack of a payoff (people instead took the valleys wherever possible). People didn't even try to summit the tallest mountains until 19th and 20th century, because it was a waste of resources and the techniques weren't good enough.

Americans spend 81.0% of their retail dollars in brick-and-mortar stores. Does that figure surprise you?