On Mountain Climbing

I always wondered what kind of person climbs successfully mountainous heights unimaginable and unattainable by most human beings who are happy and comfortable in their own gardens, back yards, homes, or sitting by a lake, enjoying nature. Their idea of adventure is a hike in the woods, riding a horse, sailing, or swimming.

Most people view such difficult mountain climbing as frivolous, narcissistic, grandiose, selfish, and self-aggrandizing, having one’s moment in the limelight.

But to understand what drives a serious mountaineer, you have to be one, and most people have no such desire.

Jon Krakauer, in his 1997 book, Into Thin Air, explained what mountain climbing is, from his standpoint as a climber and journalist. He wrote that “climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain.” And it is not just any pain, but excruciating pain.

He added that the less virtuous motives are those seeking a minor celebrity, career advancement, an ego massage, ordinary bragging rights, and filthy lucre.”

There is something about being able to say, I’ve climbed Chomolungma, and I reached the top. Chomolungma is the name that the Nepalese call Mount Everest. It is how I learned in my primary school geography class, Mount Chomolungma.

Successful professionals or moneyed individuals want to add this climbing feat to their trophy cases. To succeed in climbing such heights, they must train to endure horrific pain and to be willing to sacrifice their lives for this one unique athletic and endurance trial. They have to be tough, driven, and extremely stoic.

To a large degree, ordinary people believe such individuals to be selfish because they abandon their families for months on end in order to satisfy their need and intense desire to climb into the clouds. And if they ever reach the top of Mount Everest, they know then that they have made it to “the roof of the world.”

And it is the “roof of the world” when below you there is nothing but an icy abyss, and you are standing at a height that most large airplanes fly. It is a rarified atmosphere, thin air lacking oxygen, but also an environment that few dare to experience.

It seems that escalating the tallest mountains in the world gives mountain climbers a temporary sense of satisfaction until it wears off and they are searching for the next challenge.

The sad part of climbing Mount Everest is that a marvel of nature is fast becoming a trashed environment in the eagerness of many to leave their mark and to add their names to historical immortality.

Some climbers never leave the mountain - their frozen bodies rest where they have fallen asleep and froze to death, or inside deep crevasses when they tripped and have fallen to their deaths.