01-11-13, 09:41 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-11-13, 09:49 PM by nick crisp.)
Yes, I know exactly where you're coming from re. Everest (Chomolungma sounds much more exotic and enticing anyway!). It's just a "tick-list" item for the well-to-do these days, because of the sheer cost of it all. It's a very contentious subject, especially since that disaster some years ago (documented, some say controversially, by Jon Krakauer - which really brought it to public attention). And unfortunately, K2 seems to have followed in it's tracks somewhat, although because of the sheer technical difficulty of the latter, maybe it'll never get so bad as far as commercialism is concerned.
I don't see any reason why experienced climbers shouldn't push new routes in such places, the problem is with the commercial guiding companies, who sometimes seem not to care if their clients are mentally and physically "right" for such a challenge - as a challenge it will always remain while there are storms, avalanches, oxygen deprivation and the risks of oedema, etc - but only seem to be interested in the profits to be made.
For me, it would be more about trekking in those regions, and especially with the camera. I would never pay such a commercial outfit to get to the top. I think Reinhold Messner has a good philosophy on such things - if you are not skilled enough or fit enough to rise to the challenge, what are you doing there in the first place?
Andy Cave - he was the coal miner, wasn't he? A great story. From the deepest depths to the highest heights! My climbing collection is pretty big these days - just bought Savage Arena by Joe Tasker and Sacred Summits by Pete Boardman, 2 of the greatest climbers Britain ever produced, and love to read about that golden age of the Brits headed by such characters as Whillans, Haston , Scott, Bonington etc. Also I read the classics of the pioneers like Whymper, Bonatti, Harrer and others - different times!
But I love the photography people produce too - such deep blue skies, alpenglow on a vast Himalayan peak, precipitous valleys and raging torrents - this is why I would go to such places - to see and photograph all this!
I don't see any reason why experienced climbers shouldn't push new routes in such places, the problem is with the commercial guiding companies, who sometimes seem not to care if their clients are mentally and physically "right" for such a challenge - as a challenge it will always remain while there are storms, avalanches, oxygen deprivation and the risks of oedema, etc - but only seem to be interested in the profits to be made.
For me, it would be more about trekking in those regions, and especially with the camera. I would never pay such a commercial outfit to get to the top. I think Reinhold Messner has a good philosophy on such things - if you are not skilled enough or fit enough to rise to the challenge, what are you doing there in the first place?
Andy Cave - he was the coal miner, wasn't he? A great story. From the deepest depths to the highest heights! My climbing collection is pretty big these days - just bought Savage Arena by Joe Tasker and Sacred Summits by Pete Boardman, 2 of the greatest climbers Britain ever produced, and love to read about that golden age of the Brits headed by such characters as Whillans, Haston , Scott, Bonington etc. Also I read the classics of the pioneers like Whymper, Bonatti, Harrer and others - different times!
But I love the photography people produce too - such deep blue skies, alpenglow on a vast Himalayan peak, precipitous valleys and raging torrents - this is why I would go to such places - to see and photograph all this!