Are Toes Necessary?

Bryant Lymburn

This weeks reading response focused on the adventure of Herzog and the French expedition to summit Annapurna and the other climbs of Himalayan and Karakorum peaks to follow. As we know these were not the first time these peaks were tempted to be summit-ed. From previous readings we have discussed what was the driving factor to climb these peaks, from imperialistic power, national pride, research, and curiosity. Upon reading both of the books there was a shift in attitude over time however. The main question that arose to me was for the drive of the individual climbers, what pushed them to keep going?

In reading Annapurna the climb is seen as on of great nationalistic pride and one that has broken a great climbing boundary in the climbing world. Although 8,000 meters had been reached before no peak above that mark had been summit-ed until this expedition. This accomplishment did not come without its own costs just as previous Himalayan expeditions had experienced before. Previously death was the main source of this cost, but now it is starting to affect the climbers further into their lives. Frostbite. One the Annapurna expedition multiple climbers were affected by it and pain that ensued from it. Worst of all was Herzog who was able to make the summit of the mountain, but at what cost. On the final attack it was mentioned that Herzog and his rope mate knew their feet were beginning to freeze however they pressed on towards the summit. After Herzog lost his gloves on the descent his hands began to freeze as well. Herzog eventually made it off the mountain, but the resulting damage would result in the loss of all toes, all or partial fingers. Yes Herzog was the first man to conquer an 8000 meter peak, but was this really worth it? In my opinion it was not. He may have said that it was, but to loose your greatest passion in life (climbing) what purpose does your heart follow now? He will go down in the history books and be remembered but to loose your drive and passion in life, can diminish a man to nothing. Herzog is not the only case either as we continued to read the second half of Fallen Giants the same situation can be said across multiple climbers. Some may differ based on the circumstances (Chinese Everest expedition), but this drive to reach these summits ignored all risk of appendage lost for many climbers.

Finally a there was shift after World War 2 in the climbing community. First it can be noticed that climbs were taking place after the monsoon was over. Over time it was also seen that the nationalistic side of these attempts were beginning to diminish. More expeditions started to become privately funded ventures with the climbers climbing for themselves more so rather than the country in which they hailed from. Climbing teams also became less extensive as more knowledge of these areas was gained. This was proven effective when a Swiss team of three climbers was able to successfully climb peaks that were only previous thought to be possible with massive siege tactics. This showed smaller less funded groups of great climbers could still conquer these peaks.