Man Alone

Ed Hillary, probably the most famous New Zealander ever, has spoken out about consumer climbing.  I very much agree with some of his sentiments, especially that the ‘attitude towards climbing Mt Everest has become rather horrifying’.  However, I disagree with his statement that the climbers ‘don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress’.

Hillary, who ‘had it in his veins’, was climbing as part of a team.  Most of the current climbers are individuals that just happen to be climbing the same mountain together.  They are generally extroverted folk that are doing it for the back slap and the story, or for commercial gain.  It’s the poor man’s equivalent of paying for a trip into space.  This is very clearly illustrated in Jon Krakauer’s fascinating account of the 1996 climbing season, in Into Thin Air.

When I go tramping, I do so either alone or with friends who are up to the particular challenge.  We are equipped to handle whatever situation may arise and are aware of the consequences and escape scenarios should something go wrong.  We are tramping as a team.  Climbing trips are mostly still conducted in the same manner, as a solo or team adventure.  Everest, on the other hand, is not a mountain climber’s mountain – it is a commercial summit for a tourist’s adventure.  Anyone who heads up there knows this and needs to deal with that fact by being able to get up and down alone. As Krakauer tells us, this mountain ‘deals with trespassers harshly’.

There is enough to feel sorry about, without feeling sorry for a “tourist” who dies after having spent over NZ$100,000 to climb a mountain.  That money is paid as an entry pass, not an assurance.