Of late, I have been seeing a lot of documentaries around mountaineering. For some reason, I am hooked into the experiences of these folks whose sole purpose in life is to conquer the mountains of the world. I don’t know if it’s their perseverance to reach the top or their restless energy (adrenaline rush) or their sense or just pure ego that enthralls me. It’s just captivating to see them go against all odds to and beat Mother Nature in her own game.
A recent documentary I watched was around the journey that George Mallory took to summit Mt. Everest in 1929. He was the one who said the most famous three words in mountaineering. When someone asked him why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, he said “BECAUSE IT’S THERE”. He was one of the first climbers to find a way to summit Mt. Everest, even though, till now, no one has conclusively proved that George Mallory reached the summit. His body was found 75 years later a few feet below the summit, surprisingly very well preserved. This movie was about how another mountain climber took the same journey that Mallory took 75 years back to see if he could prove that Mallory did indeed summit Mt. Everest.
While I was watching this movie, the one question that kept coming back to me was “Why would anyone do anything when there is so much risk involved in it?” The reason this journey was so risky was because this mountain climber was trying to use the gears that Mallory used 75 years back to climb the most difficult terrain in the world. I saw with wonder and irritation, how a sense of adventure turned into an obsession for both Mallory and this mountain climber. That’s when I understood why these folks do what they do. It’s not just a hobby for them. It’s just not about passion and love for mountain climbing. It’s not just about adrenaline rush. It’s more than that. It’s about supremacy. There’s nothing powerful than Mother Nature and nothing comes closer to attaining that power than being as closely as in touch with nature and conquering her. It not only gives you a sense of accomplishment, but it also proves to the world and to yourself, that for a moment in your life, a single moment in your life, you have achieved the impossible. The truth is that, they deserve to feel that way, because, the kind of perseverance they need, to summit tallest peak doesn’t come easily. It’s in-born.
I don’t know how it feels to reach the tallest point in the world or say the toughest terrain in the world and I don’t think I will ever know. But, maybe, just maybe, one day, I will at the least get the opportunity to climb a few mountains and if I do, one of my long pending dreams will come true.
