Bayers, Imperial Ascent, provided a great insight into the way masculinity has dominated the mountaineering world, through analyzing various books. I’m not particularly a huge fan of “books on books”, as I find they tend to be very dry at times, however, I enjoyed the approach Bayers took and found it to be an interesting read.

For this response though, I am choosing to concentrate on the two articles dealing with women mountaineers, Wanting the Children and Wanting K2 and Sharp End: Off the Map. As a female athlete and particularly one who enjoys extreme adventure, I found myself incredibly intrigued by these readings. Not only because I find the attitude regarding a woman’s place in society extremely disappointing, past and present, but also because I can relate to many of the discouraging comments about being a female in a male dominated sport (hockey). I thoroughly enjoyed Frohlick’s article, although at times it became very repetitive. The attitude that “women are expected to remain at home with their children (Wanting the Children and Wanting K2, p478)” has existed for centuries, and will continue to exist for some individuals. What I find most disconcerting though, is the attitude that society has towards women who attempt to do the very same thing that men get admired for doing. When a man follows his “calling” to the mountains, he is praised and viewed as a hero, while a woman is seen as a “bad mother”. Is the definition of a “bad mother” really one who follows their dreams and seeks adventure? Mallory didn’t get called a “bad father” throughout his attempts at Mt Everest, which eventually led him to never return home to his children. Instead, he was admired for his risk-taking and physical strength, and was seen as someone pursuing a dream and pushing their limits. “[Alison Hargreaves] heroism was conditional upon her safe return to her children”, and, “no such demand is placed upon men—their deaths are the purest symbols of heroism” (p488). Another fact I found unsettling about the negative comments regarding Hargreaves death on the mountain, is “no comparable comments about fatherhood were made in the British press about the four men who died on the mountain the same day (p488)”.

The same hypocritical attitude can be seen regarding Claude Kogan’s death. Her remarkable accomplishments as one of the most famous female climbers, is out shadowed by the label “the leader of the failed ‘womens expedition’ on Cho Oyu—rather than the successful first ascensionist of Nun, Salcantay and Ganesh Himal (Sharp End: Off the Map)”. Although mountaineering was largely male dominated in the past, I personally find it discouraging that very little literature includes the accounts of the daring and adventurous women mountaineers, and when they do, it rarely highlights their achievements and focuses on their failures, particularly as a mother who left their children behind. “Theres still a tendency to treat women’s adventures as a side branch of climbing history, to forget the ways they influenced its overall evolution (Sharp End: Off the Map)”. I personally believe that women and mothers, who choose a life full of adventure should not be scrutinized, but instead should be admired just like any man and father in pursuit of their dreams.