Why climb?


George Mallory's answer when questioned on why he would want to climb Mount Everest is one of the most famous quotes in mountaineering - 'Because it's there'

Although it seems a simple answer, and to many a ridiculous reason to risk so much, I think it means something different to everyone who is inspired by mountains and the people who climb them. I also think it was an answer given because it cant truly be explained to someone who isn't moved by mountains in the same way.

There's always been something personally inspiring about mountains. The size and the nervous feeling just from looking at pictures, before I knew that people actually stood at the top of them. Everything else seems irrelevant when you're hiking, instead it's the adrenaline and excitement that pushes you on and realising how much further you can go when you've been questioning why you're doing this. The summit views often aren't as impressive as what you've seen on the climb but are always more memorable, even when it's just cloud. The reward of a view that not everyone has seen, and the exhausted but amazing feeling when you make it back down.

I can only imagine what professional climbers and mountaineers, especially back in Mallory's day would have gone through, and what the mountains must have meant to them.





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