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Mountaineering
 by excur elevante
http://www.climbingexcursion.com

Mountain climbing just for the fun of it is a fairly modern
idea. Of course, mankind has lived amongst mountains for
thousands of years - lived high on the sides on mountains
and passed over mountains to get from one place to another.
But up until fairly recently humans have treated the very
high mountains with respect and awe.

Mummies found in Peru show how the Inca people worshipped
the high peaks of the Andes. This is because the peaks
brought the faithful closer to Inti, the sun god, but also
because the gods of the mountains were believed to look
after crops and domesticated animals. So far 115
ceremonially important sites have been discovered at over
fifteen thousand feet on 30 different Andean mountains.

Another famous mountain people, the Sherpas of Nepal, lived
for generations at the foot of the world's highest mountain
range without ever climbing to the tops. They too sense the
sanctity of the mountains, and many early Sherpa guides were
unhappy about stepping on the roof of the world.

The Victorian age saw Mountain climbing becoming a pastime
of the elite in England. Servants would then have to carry
table and food to the top of the mountain for a good
English dinner service. This was most common between 1854
and 1884. During this period Alfred Wills climbed the
Wetterhorn and Edward Whymper successfully scaled the
Matterhorn. Thus these highest peaks of the Swiss Alps were
successfully scaled during that period.

The Swiss Alps or for that matter other ranged of the world
are nothing compared to the mighty ranges of Asia. These
ranges were not explored till as late as the twentieth
century when competition brewed amongst the powerful
nations of Europe to try to conquer these peaks. So efforts
increased to conquer the fourteen peaks in Asia that rose
to over eight thousand meters.

It was only after the Second World War that some modicum of
success was reached. France, Germany, Italy and Britain had
tried to scale the heights of Mount Everest but it was a
New Zealander Edmund Hillary and a Sherpa Tensing Norgay
who climbed it in 1953. They were the first men to set foot
on the peaks of Mount Everest!

By 1964 all the '8Ks' had been conquered. The last one was
Shishapangma led by a Chinese party. Rheinhold Messner, an
Austrian is, however, considered the greatest of all
climbers as he has climbed all fourteen peaks and that too
without oxygen.

However, to get to the heart of climbing as sport we need to
go back a little further. One of the most famous men in the
early attempts to make it to the very top of the world was
George Mallory. In 1924 Mallory and his climbing partner
Andrew Irvine tried for the summit of Everest but never
returned. It was Mallory who encapsulated the sport of
mountaineering with an unforgettable response - when asked
why he way going to try and climb such a frightening and
inhospitable peak he replied quite simply "because it's
there".

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