Is mountain climbing a heroic or selfish act - Research Paper Example

Mountain Climbing – A Heroic Act Mountain climbing is one of the many adventure sports fraught with risk to life of the mountaineers. The big question is whether it is a heroic or selfish act. Those who consider it a selfish act assume so because of the glory attached to the person only but it should not be forgotten that only brave people can take risks to life and accomplish heroic tasks as climbing unsurpassable mountains. It is a heroic act!While in the process of accomplishing such heroic acts, mountaineers brush death many-a-times, as happened in the case of four Americans, attempting the climb of Rupal Face of the Nanga Parbat mountain range.

One of the mountaineers, a sick man, after the avalanche passed away, told his friends, “I was going to unclip and get it over with,” as they were holding together with just a single ice-screw. Mark Twight, one of the mountaineers of the Rupal Face, like the British mountaineer, Joe Simpson, also shares the same feeling that the sport is for personal and “super-selfish” glory. Success of mountaineers is celebrated in royal way; they are rewarded and awarded in a magnanimous way (Coffey, 2003, p. 68-69).According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a hero is a person who “exhibits extra-ordinary bravery, firmness, fortitude, and greatness of soul in any action.

” Mountaineering presents such heroic opportunities innumerably. Alex Lowe set an example of sheer bravery, fortitude and greatness of soul in rescuing the Spanish climbers; he carried one collapsed climber on his back on the thirty-five degree slopes of ice and snow for hundred vertical feet to deliver the climber to the Park Service although the climber had collapsed. Such herculean tasks can be accomplished by a true hero only (Coffey, 2003, p. 70).Alex Lowe’s extra-ordinary stamina, drive, and capability as a climber were outstanding.

Another name attached to the mountaineering heroism is that of Alison Hargreaves, the only women to climb Mount Everest by her own without oxygen in 1995 (Coffey, 2003).Alison was the second woman to reach Mount Everest without oxygen and on her own; the first legendry woman was Reinhold Messner. Criticism of such heroic personalities is widely attempted by media, as the tragedy pounces upon their lives. The same thing happened to Alison. Successful adventures were glorified beyond limit but as soon as defeat surfaced in the form of loosing the life while performing the adventurous task of mountaineering, the woman was criticized by press for leaving behind two small kids.

Questions were put on her choice of the sport, as The Daily Express did by asking, “As a mother, why would she risk it?” (Gilchrist, 2007).Mountaineering is treading in the death zone where rules are not the same as in actual risk-free world. People like Alex Lowe define the rules by saving the honor of humanity at any cost, proving that human values need to be preserved at any cost, even by sacrificing one’s life. It is heroism of distinct nature. Criticism is easy to do but the practical side proves that men and women can equally touch the heights in bravery by accomplishing such acts as reaching the Mount Everest.

ReferencesCoffey, M. (2003). Where the mountain casts its shadow. St. Martin’s Griffin, New York.Gilchrist, P. (2007). Motherhood, ambition and risk: Mediating the sporting hero/ine in conservative Britain. Media, Culture and Society, 29 (3), pp. 395-414. doi 10.1177/0163443707076182