"City Slickers", the classic movie starring Billy Crystal, portrays a man who rediscovers a part of himself during a two-week cattle drive adventure in the rugged American West. His rediscovery arises from the challenge itself, with minimal psychologically oriented discussion or "processing." The belief that such a thing can happen--that, indeed, such self-driven discovery may be superior to an excessively verbalised experience--echoes the famous objection of Outward Bound leader Rusty Baillie, who said, "Let the mountains speak for themselves." Citing aspects of "City Slickers" for illustration, this article questions the efficacy and propriety of certain forms of adventure therapy processing, and offers cautionary notes on attempts to reduce great adventure experiences to words. Topics addressed include the principle of parsimony, the meaning of experiences, learning from experience, processing, training for processing, and the feasibility of relevant research in outdoor education.