Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
analysis of his own response to Doug's personal dilemma, Alex reveals a great deal
about himself, which he rarely displayed in conversation.
'I am not the best person to pose a question to, by someone hoping for some
grasp of the underlying confusions that prompt it. My mind does not have the in-
tuition for this. I could sense that Doug was searching for something but what?
Who was I, at twenty-eight, to tell a man with his record when to climb on? I did
not understand Doug's doubts because I had never shared them. I was better at
walking down snow; Doug was better at climbing rock. So what? I would not be
sensitive enough to feel out of sorts if I was holding the team up on the rock. I
would probably demand and expect a rope. Doug, in contrast to all the teaching he
had tried to instil in himself, was unable to see our situation in its overall context.
He could not see his stamina, his experience, his selflessness on the mountain; he
could only worry if he was fit enough to climb with the 'youngsters' (even if this
particular youngster had been the least fit of the team).'
Alex and Roger realised they wanted Doug on the climb. Alex went to Doug's tent
and found he was talking with Elaine. He knew she had the most to gain if Doug
decided not to go on the mountain, as she would have a companion to tour Tibet.
But Elaine had just told Doug that he must stay and climb the mountain. It was
settled.
The expedition was now reduced to Alex, RBJ and Doug as the climbers, with
Nick reconciled to the lesser role of support climber for the other three. Having
dispatched Nyanang Ri, the three lead climbers turned their attention to Pungpa
Ri and made an impressive ascent of the mountain. They were now resting and
about to engage in the main event. In one succinct paragraph Alex sums up his
feeling of angst, explaining his bouts of anger and cross words with other team
members. It stands as an illustration of his state of mind before other major
climbs.
'Alpine-style climbing in the Greater Ranges is not dissimilar to some aspects of
conventional, or perhaps even guerrilla warfare. Long periods of lazy inactivity
lead with an inevitable sense of increasing urgency to a short, frantic, dangerous
engagement on the front line, the mountain wall. The climber enjoys many advant-
ages over the soldier; he is his own general and his own private - the carnage, the
destruction, the imperative of killing does not haunt him. But the same brooding,
electrifying tension is in the air, the same inevitable advance toward the appointed
hour and if in the close proximity of strong minds and tired bodies, tempers be-
come a little short and nerves a little frayed, the context must be understood.'
