{"id":388,"date":"2016-02-09T11:26:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T18:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sintellectual.org\/hstr467\/?p=388"},"modified":"2016-02-09T11:26:52","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T18:26:52","slug":"imperial-ascent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sintellectual.org\/hstr467\/2016\/02\/09\/imperial-ascent\/","title":{"rendered":"Imperial Ascent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imperial Ascent <\/em>shows the development of mountaineering \u2013 where in the mind of climbers it has come from and where modern mountaineering is going.\u00a0 And this is how Bayers sets up his book.\u00a0 I found it hard in the beginning of the book to make the connection of imperialism and masculinity, until the section on Krakauer.\u00a0 Through Frederick Cook, the connection between war and mountaineering is clear.\u00a0 He makes connections about climbing Mount McKinley and calling it one of the severest battle-grounds of nature and in the firing line of the clouds (35).\u00a0 Then the connection between war and masculinity is made, as war was the proving ground for men.\u00a0 But the transition of being in war and becoming a mountaineering shifts to an individual battle.\u00a0 The first mountaineers were climbing for their country, as they still are in some ways today, but not as much compared to the age of imperialism.<\/p>\n

In The Epic, <\/em>Younghusband writes climbing Everest was a way for British citizens to cope with the devastation of the War (82).\u00a0 For the British, summiting Everest would have been a huge stepping stone as an imperial power.\u00a0 Their stamp of the first ascent on Everest would show dominance throughout the world and as a winning success for all the expeditions made to Everest in the past.\u00a0 It would be their<\/em> possession, and I wonder other than being the tallest mountain in the world, why Everest was thought as unclaimed when it was already in the possession of Nepal and Tibet.\u00a0 Just how the American West seemed unclaimed to whites even though Native Americans were living and using the land.\u00a0 But with this accomplishment of the first ascent would come heroism, and during the time a hero was a masculine figure.\u00a0 Bayers addresses Younghusband feminizing Everest; her, bringing out the greatness in man.\u00a0 Another connection could be made of how soldiers fought for their \u201cmother\u201d country.\u00a0 As this was their duty in the same way they fought to the summit feeling some fulfilment and gained patriotism for their country.\u00a0 Though these hero\u2019s, depended greatly on Sherpas, yaks, and the rest of their team.\u00a0 What I did not know until reading this book is that the first ascent was an accomplishment defined under the United Nations, showing the mountain belongs to all.<\/p>\n

In Krakauer\u2019s section he talks about the idea of buying masculinity.\u00a0 Now Bayer shifts from talking about the imperial age of mountaineering to the future of mountaineering.\u00a0 Buying a guided tour is changing the team accomplishment to an individual accomplishment. \u00a0It is disconnecting the team; there is not the same connection between a guide and his\/her clients as there is with climbing partners.\u00a0 Bayer and Krakauer mention that the meaning of climbing Everest has changed.\u00a0 They also seem to be touching on the bigger picture of the modern age of mountaineering and how it is becoming an individual sport with guided tours fueled by the upper class. \u00a0I am not a mountaineer by any means, but I do love climbing, and the whole concept of climbing Everest seems odd to me especially comparing narratives during the early 1900\u2019s and now.\u00a0 Even the feeling of being guided, being a guide, and paying to climb a natural mountain seems odd.\u00a0 It is certainly not as meaningful and satisfying as teaching or mentoring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imperial Ascent shows the development of mountaineering \u2013 where in the mind of climbers it has come from and where modern mountaineering is going.\u00a0 And this is how Bayers sets up his book.\u00a0 I found it hard in the beginning of the book to make the connection of imperialism and masculinity, until the section on…<\/p>\n

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