In the article, Climbing Mount Everest: Post-colonialism in the Culture of Ascent, author Stephen Slemon explores the use of mountaineering literature, particularly in the past, as a colonial allegory. Although quite dry and mundane at times, the article picked up speed throughout the middle and sparked my interest while explaining the effects that commercialization has had on Everest.

Slemon starts off the article by providing a basic understanding of Everest and its symbolic meaning throughout the “Golden Age” of mountaineering. Not only was it a vie for control amongst countries, but it also became a “revelation of triumph” (Slemon 54).

One particular subject that Slemon brings forward a couple of times throughout the article, is the immense impact that commercialization has had on Everest and its nostalgic and romanticized notion. Not only has it enabled any “weekend climber” (Krakauer) with enough money to have a shot at the summit, but in the midst of all this, it has lost its sublime appeal that attracted the first mountaineers back in the early 1900’s. Slemon explains the transition of a once inaccessible Everest “into exactly its opposite: Everest becomes a main street, a traffic jam, a ship-of-fools party on the rooftop of the world” (Slemon 62). He argues that the initial inaccessibility of it, is what played an important role in its sought-after beauty. He quotes Unsworth of the Evening News in 1920, saying “some of the mystery of the world will pass when the last secret place in it, the naked peak of Everest shall be trodden by…trespassers” (Slemon 56). Slemon continues to explain that the nostalgic focus of it all has changed with time: “it becomes not so much the mountain that is to be lamented but the mountaineer who attempts to claim it” (Slemon 56).

This raises the question, has the commercialization of mountains such as Everest, had a positive or detrimental affect on not only the mountaineers, but the mountain itself? Has commercialization taken away from the nostalgic and sublime traits of these mountains? With every added step taken onto the summit, will Everest eventually lose its appeal? Even professional guides are starting to desert Everest. Slemon explains that these mountaineering professionals are not necessarily neglecting Everest as a profession as it is still a good source of income, but “their desertion takes place at the level of meaning” (Slemon 62). With professional guides, such as the late Scott Fisher, saying “We’ve got the big E figured out, we’ve got it totally wired” adding, “These days, I’m telling you, we’ve built a yellow brick road to the summit” (Slemon 60). With this attitude, it’s only inevitable that one day Everest will lose a majority of its appeal, if not all. So what is keeping experienced, and unexperienced, people heading for the summit? If it is to join the exclusive club of a select few members who have stood a top the summit, when will this appeal fade as the club becomes not so exclusive? If it is for its sublime beauty, when will this begin to lose its attraction as mounds of garbage litter Everest now a days, giving it a label of “the world’s highest garbage dump”? Whatever the attraction may be, this raises the question of how long it can continue to withstand and last in these commercialized days, and what the future holds for a once untouched Everest?