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Week 7 Response

I found both of these readings from Fallen Giants and Annapurna very interesting and they captivated my attention start to finish. The first point that I found interesting came from the reading that we had to complete from Fallen Giants. This was the idea of the militarization of mountains and how the military and mountains…

Week 7

“Social Climbing on Annapurna” forced me to add an extra dimension to mountaineering that I had not considered, that being that it can not be above political or social discussions. I would prefer to gaze at the Wanderer as the first description, that being one individual above the problems of men and women, only on…

Week 6 The White Spider

The sport of mountaineering is a very individualistic sport.  The reason for climbing mountains and the reason why mountaineers do the things they do is therefore just as individualistic as the sport itself.  Throughout this semester we have tried time and time again to pin down the reason to why people climb, why they risk their…

The White Spider

steering away from the pure historical narrative of mountaineering and its implications of masculinity and imperialism, The White Spider provides us with a two in one punch of a book as it functions as a historical narrative of the Eiger and the many people that tragically died trying to climb this iconic mountain. It functions…

Cliffhangers

I honestly can say that I disagree with much of what Bruce Barcott has to say about mountaineering- that may be because of my personal bias, but I can’t separate it from my opinion on this topic. On the other hand I do agree with some of his generalizations, but I think he tends to…

Cliffhangers and White Spider

Cliffhangers starts right off by quickly pointing out that there is “an absence of actual regret.” among mountaineers who have survived catastrophes such as the 1996 massacre on Mt. Everest. While I thought that the proceeding analogue between mountain climbing and stage acting was very limited, I did see the merit in the observation that excitement in…

Week 5 Response

It is surprising to me that the issue of women mountaineering is even an issue worth debating- in terms of how appropriate it is for them to do so. The article, “Wanting the Children and Wanting K2” was the most surprising to me. i suppose that Alison Hargreaves’ death was in 1995, and the cultural…

Mountains: not just for men

“To pursue, always higher, toward the summit. Fate is thus made.” – Claude Kogan Claude Kogan was the proverbial wrench in the spokes of those traditional gender mechanics that had ruled the alpine world for half a century or more. She and her contemporaries were as determined, hardened and enraptured as any man they climbed beside, and but for…

Week 5, Mountians and Cultural Identity

For weeks we have been stewing over British Imperialism and national pride, when it came to ascension of Mount Everest. The British felt that it would be a national accomplishment to make it to the top of this great mountain. However, mountains being strongly tied with cultural identity was not solely found within the British…

Gender in Mountaineering

Gender in society is a difficult topic for me to express. Since I am a man and don’t have 100% liberal/progressive opinions, my opinion is moot, and counted as chauvinist, bias, and counter-productive to some. That being said, I do believe that given the right circumstances and attitudes, women can compete with men, and in…