Monday 22 February 2016

Climb Everest! Or just stay home...

.... because the top isn't called the Death Zone for nothing.


Last night we watched the 2015 film Everest; definitely worth watching, by the way.  I didn't realise, at first, that it was a true story, and Him Indoors and I did our usual thing with the plot, ie, saying things like "That one's bound to die, his story is the most moving" and "No, he's the stuff of the miraculous solo descent, saving the one-he-didn't-like-much on the way down", etc etc.  We both agreed that the kooky character played by Jake Gyllenhaal was not long for this world, to be outlived by the bolshy Texan who would, no doubt, grow less bolshy as the film progressed ~ do you do this, too?  Maybe we watch too many films and TV thriller/conspiracy/mystery series, and have grown too plot-cynical!  We're worst with TV whodunnits ~ we see how quickly we can name the killer, sometimes congratulating ourselves on correctly guessing 'he did it' within the first ten minutes of a four part series.  Prime Suspect was hardly worth watching....

Anyway, back to the film.  It is indeed a true account, and very well done it is too.  It's about several parties headed by experienced guides who take nutcases with more money than sense eager adventurers up the world's highest peaks.  First we had to get over the word 'summit' being used as a verb (ouch), after which I was engrossed.  You can read more about Rob Hall, the owner of Adventure Consultants, HERE.

Mountain Goat Rob Hall

Now, I've always been fascinated by polar exploration and have read loads of stuff about Ernest Shackleton in particular.  When I've read and watched documentaries about all the risks he took to go where he felt he must, I've often wondered if, when he and Franks Wild and Hurley were planning the expedition, any of them ever felt, even for one tiny little moment, like saying, "I've got a better idea.  Shall we just not go?"  

....ie, shall we stay here, safe and warm, have long lives with our families, rather than leave them alone and possibly heartbroken?  Shall we feed our hunger for adventure some other, slightly less perilous way?

Shackleton was actually warned that he'd left it too late in the year to go, but did he listen?

Rob Hall of Everest had a pregnant wife.  Okay, so she was a mountaineer too, so presumably she understood his obsession, and, okay, Adventure Consultants was his business, but one thing struck me all the way through the film: just how selfish do you have to be to do Everest when your wife is pregnant?

Josh Brolin as Beck Weathers, Jake Gyllenhaal as Scott Fischer, Jason Clarke as Rob Hall

I know mountaineers and other adventurers have an intense need to risk life and limb and cross terrifying boundaries (I wonder if they ever consider why?), but maybe if you have a spouse and children you should put them first, and come to terms with not being able to do absolutely everything you want in life.  As my husband said, when I was expressing this after watching the film, "Absolutely.  I've had to accept that I will never shag Angelina Jolie.  It's been hard, but I've learnt to deal with it."  


Angelina ~ the peak my husband will never climb

I love reading books and watching films about bravery in the face of great danger and adversity, but those who risk their lives in this way aren't so much brave as a tad foolhardy.  They're not like war heroes or rescue crews.  They don't have to do it.  All that is to be gained is personal satisfaction (and glory...).   They could stay at home and be parents to their children, partners to their spouses, children to their parents.  One of my best friends was married to a mountaineer.  She more or less brought up their son on her own, as hubby was never there.  He's still alive, but the marriage isn't, and I will not go into the problems his absences caused her son.


Perhaps the very bravest thing these reckless adventurers could do would be to sacrifice having the back-up of a family, or consider that they might have to temper personal desires for the sake of those they love.  On the other hand, adventurers and explorers add colour, excitement and discovery to human life.  I dunno.  There are two ways of looking at it, I suppose.  And Rob Hall's wife is still climbing away, along with her daughter ~ you can read about it HERE.  I now have to read the books about it, too; the first one I must get is Into Thin Air. 

(Note 24/2/16: Since writing this I've read Into Thin Air; my review is HERE)
Something he said really stuck in my head, which is that climbing Everest should not be compared or classed with adrenalin buzz giving extreme sports such as whitewater rafting or bungee jumping - it's quite the opposite, and more the ultimate endurance test.)
 
It's a great film; just a shame it's a true story.




26 comments:

  1. Tend to feel the same...if you have a family, you should think carefully before hedonistically pursuing your 'dream' IF it means possible loss of your life. Mind,,,thinking now...this could also apply to members of the armed forces, doctors in warzones...etc..though in their case it is probably more :this is my job. Mind, some of the nutters that do stupid stunts on TV shows almost DESERVE what happens to them! (NB this last comment does not apply to any member of your family.)

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    1. Ha ha - yes, she risked it all by going on Pointless!!!! :)

      Yes, doctors in war zones serve a purpose. Members of the armed forces - well, they serve the purpose of fighting the battles of the world leaders, I suppose...

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  2. I definitely know what you mean to a large extent, especially about going away when he had a pregnant wife. The thing is, at a certain point when they [the big mountaineers] have all this experience they become a bit cocky and don't think the rules of physics apply to them...so they don't think "oh, what if I die on this expedition", they just assume they won't. That's how I imagine it, anyway...

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    1. Yes, I imagine you're right, Anna - and that they will overcome that one risk too far, sadly.

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  3. I'm inclined to agree, TT. My feeling is that we have a choice to make. If it's too dangerous to take children with you and give them the safety and security they need, then stay at home or do something less risky. Or just don't get married and have a family. Having kids doesn't mean you don't have to be adventurous - but there are other ways of stirring up your adrenaline than literally putting your life at risk. All the same, as you say, adventurers provide the stuff of great films and books! Not sure I'd go for this one, though...all that snow and ice..brrrrrrrrrr

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    1. Exactly - don't get married and have a family, if you really must do these things! And yes, there are other adrenalin buzzes. It is a fab film, tho!

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  4. Brilliant stuff, as ever, TC, and if it wasn't for the comment from 'Im Indoors, I would be forwarding it to our father.

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    1. I bet one of Shackleton's men actually did say that, but the other ones all talked him down.

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  5. Must seek out the film and the book after all this, Terry. Now I'm coming to this a bit left field; if these men go off to kill... er... have themselves an adventure, and they do fall off the mountain, get smothered in snow, lost and never get found, at least the wives get the insurance and presumably next marry a guy who stays home to look after her and the kids. And this is where I deviate; what about all the chaps who carry on living their bachelor life after marriage and an family (and call it 'all in the line of corporate entertainment). Yes, this is a personal gripe; I have to sit and watch this from afar. Luckily, Husband never had to 'do' corporate entertainment - I was/ am enough for him. We sit side by side, even hand in hand, watching films/drama but I'm banned from saying whodunnit/ dies etc (not that it stops me!) And the only worry I ever had about him straying was the fact that he had/still has a crush on Judith Durham of The Seekers and, me being a Judith, was the only reason he asked me out. Needless to say, I watch him very carefully around other 'Judiths' - not that there are many these days. Think I've gone a bit of piste now huh?

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    1. Ha ha, just slightly, but then so did I! As for men who carry on living bachelor life after marriage and kids - plenty of them around, alas!

      I'm currently reading Into Thin Air, it's terrific!

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  6. Yes, you do have a point about 'not having to do it' Terry. But did you see the prog about Mustang Wanted, the Ukrainian climber of bridges, and an English man, who did a back flip at the top of the world's highest bridge, with his eyes closed? Bravery like that is admirable, I think, for its own sake. At my old school Shackleton's boat was always in the Lower Hall - he was an old boy, but don't think he liked the school much. P G Wodehouse was another - they named the library after him.

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    1. Yes, it is a feat indeed, as is climbing mountains. My point, though, was that to put your life at risk simply to satisfy an urge, when you have a pregnant wife and/or young children is a tad self-indulgent. From what I've read about Shackleton he seems like a bit of a ... stubborn so-and-so, shall we say!

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  7. I couldn't do what I do without my daughters. And I make sure they know that!

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    1. I'm sure you do! And I know from your books that you're very careful about safety :)

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  8. What a great post, Terry. I've just bought the DVD (yes, I'm THAT old school!)and plan on watching for our Friday Family Night. I've put off doing loads of stuff as I am a single mum, but I know that most of it I will be able to do with the kids as they get older, or I can set off solo when they are off living their own lives. Certainly gets you thinking. Looking forward to watching the film now! Bring on the popcorn :-)

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    1. Oh, it's great - not exactly 'feel good', it has to be said, but I shall be watching it again now I've read Krakauer's book because it will mean more. I'd love to hear what you think when you've seen it. ;)

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  9. IMO it's not selfish if both spouses agree and are happy. I've come across many men of the type Judith mentions with their 'corporate entertainment' , and I know for a fact the wives only tolerated it so they could keep their fancy lifestyles.

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    1. Oh yeah, there are millions of them all over the world!!

      I know, there are many ways of looking at it ~ but when I read Jon Krakauer's book I learned a little more of the pain and destruction it can cause to marriages and families, and I know from my friend's experience how damaging it can be.

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  10. I recently read Archer's book on Everest, Paths of Glory, in which Mallory's wife refers to the mountain as the other woman. I guess it must feel like that if you're the one left at home. Extreme mountaineering is a hard obsession to understand when in involves such ambition, hardship and of course dicing with death.

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    1. Yes, indeed - it's one of the reasons why I wanted to read Into Thin Air because I wanted to understand more about it, and Jon Krakauer does discuss it. I'd love you to read that book, Deborah!

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  11. Everest is something I have always loved to concur - All though climbing Mount Snowdon nearly killed me off. I'm just not sure that I could A)cope with the fitness regime to get me to a level of fitness to do it B)The cold.

    Sounding morbid when I was younger I always said when I was nearing death that I was going to climb Everest and just sit and die there so that I could stay on the mountain forever and watch the world go by. Apparently there are roughly 200 bodies of climbers who have succumbed to the mountain that are preserved and in the open for the climbers going up to see. Must be very daunting to pass those who have failed and never returned.

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    1. I climbed Snowdon when I was 18!!! If you have Everest fantasies, you ought to read Into Thin Air - it'll put you right off. It's not the fitness or the cold, so much as the altitude. As I said, they don't call it the Death Zone for nothing - it's only humanly possible to stay past a certain level for a very limited time period (like a couple of hours) and the mistake most of them make is being optimistic and overestimating their own capabilities. When you find out all the things that can go wrong at high altitude it'll put you right off - and the book shows how the commercialisation of climbing the mountain means that people who are not sufficiently experienced are giving it a go - which accounts for all those bodies!!! I'd really recommend that book, Stacey, you'd love it :)

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    2. I'll add it to my ever increasing list :-)

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    3. The list, the list... it rules my life!

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  12. I have to admit I loved this film but it does make the blood run cold when you are told that it's a true story.

    With regard to his pregnant wife...yes, he should have stayed at home. Who the hell chooses to have a family and then do something so risky? I know many could say that crossing the road is risk but to purposely put yourself in such a situation baffles me.

    Frankly, I'm just too lazy to do anything more dangerous than turn on the cooker!

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    1. Yes, I loved it too - I actually watched it again yesterday, and it meant so much more after reading the book because I understood the background behind it all, and who each character was. I feel we are singing from the same hymn sheet!

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