What is the use of climbing Mount Everest ? |
In the 1920's George Leigh Mallory set off to climb the highest peak on earth, Mount Everest. He is BEST known for his response to the question: Why do you want to climb Mount Everest? "Because it is there." He was also asked by reporters: "What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?" This is his response. Below are student essays responding to this quote. |
... my answer must at once be, 'It is no use'. There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behavior of the human body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation to some account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it. We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raise food. It's no use. So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for." |
Selected student essays which respond to Mallory's comments will be printed here. Please send complete EDITED essays as attachments or in the text of an email to: SherpaEverest@yahoo.com Please Include Student name (no last names please), Climbing name (if you have played Mount Everest Math Puzzles - not required!) Age, State, and Country. |
