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Humanity has a long and interesting fascination with mountains. They were regarded by ancient people (and still some cultures today) as the realm of the gods. Even though these ancient civilisations didn’t venture onto the peaks, they appreciated their beauty and associated it with heaven rather than earth. When you stand on the summit of a beautiful mountain you can fully appreciate this association.

Meru (the site of BASEClimb 3) is such a mountain. It’s summit is surrounded by a cirque of high peaks, so the view from any perspective you take is stunning, utterly breathtaking. This is why we go mountaineering. Mountain environments such as the Himalaya are not only beautiful, they are remote, quiet and palpably powerful. They are also challenging, dangerous and uncomfortable. This is also why we go mountaineering.

The famous British mountaineer Doug Scott summed up the attraction perfectly when he said Normality eats away at our intuitive faculties and awareness of life. Both of which need not only space but our experience on the edge of things - danger, suffering, simplicity -if they are to survive and without them we are divorced from all that is profoundly satisfying in life.

People often ask “isn’t it too dangerous?”. Too dangerous for what? To justify going? This is an individual thing. It may be too dangerous for those that pose the question, but for those who choose to go, and return again and again, it is worth the risk. For what is life without challenge, without such sublime experience?

A Little Bit of History

Modern mountaineering has its roots in the 18th century when natural philosophers became fascinated with the Alps of Europe. They made field trips for both scientific knowledge and philosophical ponderings. Chamonix in France, was, as it is today a particularly popular region. It offered both accessibility and variety in mountain features, dominated at it is by Mt Blanc and the glaciers of the area.

Mountaineering as a sport probably began with Horace-Bénédict de Saussure a Genevese scientist who visited Chamonix in 1760, took one look at Mont Blanc (4,807 m) which is the tallest peak in Europe and decided he would climb it, or if he couldn’t sponsor someone who could. In 1786, 25 years later his prize money was claimed by Michel-Gabriel Paccard, a french Doctor and his climbing companion Jacques Balmat. Perhaps inspired by their success, de Saussure finally climbed Mt Blanc himself just a year later. A relative frenzy of mountain climbing began, particularly for British climbers who took a patriotic view of the sport, and after1850 successful summits were made of all the highest peaks of Switzerland. The first ascent of the Matterhorn took place on July 14, 1865 by a British lead group. Modern mountaineering was firmly established and the obsession took hold particularly strongly in Britain. There the attention turned to the Himalayas.

Important Modern Mountaineering Firsts

• 1786: Dr Michel Paccard and Jacques Balmat summit Mt Blanc
• 1857: The Alpine Club was founded in London
• 1889: African highest peak Kilimanjaro climbed by Dr. Hans Meyer
• 1892: Sir William Martin Conway explored the Karakoram Himalaya in Pakistan
• 1899 -1908: Mrs Fannie Bullock Workman made ascents in the Himalayas, including one of the Nun Kun peaks (23,300 ft.)
• 1905: Aleister Crowley led the first expedition to Kanchenjunga (the 3rd highest mountain in the world)
• 1950: Annapurna climbed by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal
• 1953: On May 29 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summit Mt Everest. First ascent by a woman was May 16 1975 by Junko Tabei of Japan.
• 1954: First ascent of K2 on 31 July by Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. The first woman to reach the summit was Wanda Rutkiewicz of Poland in 1986.
• 1964: the final 8000m peak to be climbed was Shishapangma (8,013m).
• 1978: On May 8 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler summit Mt Everest without oxygen
• 1988: First woman without oxygen - Lydia Bradey of New Zealand
• 1986: First ascent of all 14 8000m peaks Reinhold Messner between 1970 and 1986

More Information

• Wikipedia
• Everest History

Recommended Reading

• ‘Mountains of the Mind - A History of a Fascination’ Robert MacFarlane.
• Mountaineering Handbook by Craig Connally - an excellent book on modern mountaineering technique and equipment.
• The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest by Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston DeWalt - an alternative view of the 1996 Everest tragedy.
• The Boardman Tasker Omnibus: Savage Arena, the Shining Mountain, Sacred Summits, Everest the Cruel Way by Joe Tasker: a great mountaineering read.
• The physchology of risk - http://www.risktaking.co.uk

Guides & Expedition Support

• Rimo Expeditions for India
• Himex Expeditions for Nepal
• Nazir Sabir Expeditions for Pakistan