Rocking Climbing / Everest

Standing at the bottom of the rock climbing wall, I thought that it would be relatively simple, and enjoyable to accomplish the assigned task. I’ve seen multiple friends, friends who weren’t body builders or athletes, scramble to the top of the wall in a matter of mere minutes. Thus, I was confident that I could do the exact same. As I scaled the rock wall, I chose the easiest one: “a warm up,” I thought. As my feet lifted off the mat, I instantaneously felt the lack of power. No longer were my two feet planted on something stable, I was working against gravity, pushing myself upwards--any false move seemed fatal.

I looked back down, and realized how much I’ve climbed, but equally, how far I am from the thin matting. My brain knew that safety definitely wasn’t a concern; yet, I couldn’t control the thumping in my chest. Although I was higher up, I felt like my entire source of power and self-control was completely drained from my body. The feeling amplified as I forced my way up the wall. My only safety net was the belay that attached me through a pulley and latched around my partner’s waist. My partner down below had complete control over my safety.

It’s interesting because we normally associate “up” with power; however, under my circumstances, I was completely powerless. The only thing that would return my power was if I finished the endeavor and returned to the ground. In the movie Everest, the ultimate goal was to reach the top of the mountain. However, like my experience, although just on a completely different scale, the higher the summiteers went, the more powerless they became, against mother nature’s forces. Mount. Everest ripped away warmth, oxygen, and strength from the summiteers, as a result, by the top of the mountain, all but a few of them were in no physical condition to return to Base Camp. In the beginning of the expedition, Rob and Scott led their men on many 'acclimation' journeys, which meant that they would summit a bit of the mountains and come back down, a little more each day. They were trying to get summiteers to experience the extremities of the mountain, essentially showing them the higher they climb, the more powerless they will become to nature's brutality-so they would have to be very prepared. Seemingly, the only way to regain any strength against nature was to come back down, where the weather was not as harsh.