“One must conquer, achieve, get to the top; one must know the end to be convinced that one can win the end – to know there’s no dream that mustn’t be dared. – George Mallory, Climbing Everest
The adrenaline-rush of getting to the top is only a small part of the pleasure of the conqueror. It starts with proper training on small mountains, building experience and knowledge, until finally reaching the peak. For the modern-day adventurer, these key elements combine to present the obstacle that must be overcome.
For many celebrated mountaineers, like George Mallory, it is a lifestyle. He does it, “Because it’s there.” Mallory’s mountain, Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is fraught with difficulties. Good training can be undertaken at Mount Kilimanjaro, the less extreme, second highest world peak. Celebrities and heroes, such as Cheryl Cole, Duncan Bannatyne, Ray Lewis, DJ Seth Troxler, and Retired Marine Sgt. Kirstie Ennis, to name a few, have banded together to summit this mountain to raise awareness and funds for charities.
Whomever the climber, whatever the mountain, be it metaphor or real, the surmounting of the challenge is a fundamental, some might say essential, part of humanity. To make the world a better place at the same time gives us faith that any obstacle can be overcome.
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary
