Rocky Allure

It was George Mallory, an early mountaineer who perished on a 1924 expedition to Mt. Everest, who was asked by a New York Times reporter, "Why do you climb mountains?" He simply responded, "Because they are there." Adding to the surplus of simplicity found in Mallory's answer, the reputable Sir Edmund Hillary once stated, "...you really climb for the hell of it."

This generic question has been asked many times before, and will surely be asked many more, yet the answers are bound to vary for everyone. Including both complex and simple answers, there's a good chance that there are as many reasons as there are people who long to climb mountains.

Some common justifications range from conquering the technical challenges the mountains present, dabbling in the mystery they exude, enjoying the outstanding opportunities for solitude, recreation, capturing that stunning photograph, testing oneself, or facing both the discernible and covert risks the peaks can bestow. World-class climber Conrad Anker explains more comprehensively how risk is a critical element for his motivation: http://vimeo.com/95029300.

The above photograph is of Mt. Morrison in the Eastern Sierra near Mammoth Lakes. This shot was taken during a science trip to the Mono Lake basin in the high desert on the edge of the Great Basin, an already desolate and austere environment. So what might draw someone to head a dozen miles west with the interest of ascending a landscape of pure rock? More desolation and austerity, of course.

My biology professor informed me that he nearly died on a trip to this mountain when his party began to uproot unusually large boulders while trying to scale the main face. Morrison is notorious for its composition of poor quality rock (choss) that is extremely loose and crumbly. One of the routes is even appropriately named the "Death Couloir".

As harsh as some peaks can be, they veritably accommodate life too, especially for those intrepid seekers of summits. Just take a gander at those rocky peaks and jagged ridgelines and witness the sun rise or set above them. What's not to love? At the very least, perhaps it can leave you humbled.

I gaze at you, Mt. Morrison, and you are there. I ask myself, not why, but when?


"Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb" - Greg Child (Australian-born rock climber, writer for Outside magazine and author)