Volume 2, Number 12 · July 30, 1964
Excelsior!
By Al Alvarez
Americans on Everest
by James Ramsey Ullman
Lippincott, 492 pp., $8.95
Four Against Everest
by Woodrow Wilson Sayre
Prentice Hall, 322 pp., $5.95
When Hillary got down from the summit of Everest in 1953 he announced the victory in classic style: 'We knocked the bastard off,' he said. Unromantic, disrespectful, and aggressive in a practical way, his statement was not only typical of the tone of modern climbing, it was also essential to it. The few remaining big peaks and vertical faces which are the present goals of mountaineers are too difficult, too technical, and very much too serious to allow room for what the boys in the business used to call 'The Spirit of the Hills.' Mountain mysticism—the belief that slogging up a route or seeing a nice view from the top will promote a Vision of Truth—is a luxury for which there is precious little time on the hard climbs. (When a young English mountaineering mystic went onto the Eiger Wand two years ago, his partner was killed and he himself was saved only by the efforts of two of the toughest realists in British climbing). Romanticism will never get you up a really serious mountain, and mysticism may well be the death of you. What counts is physical skill, power and stamina, good organization, and a driving desire to get the job done. The psychologists call the best climbers 'highly motivated'; among climbers themselves the approving trade name is 'hard men.'
Review, 2065 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |