The Life of a Climber “The top! We made it! The six of us cheered and hugged we were the first team of women to reach the summit of Denali the highest mountain in North America (Blum 117),” There were many risky trials and challenges in Arlene Blum’s life, which had consequences. In the biography, Breaking Trail a Climbing Life by Arlene Blum it shows a clear picture of the risks she took and the consequences from her risks. The risks Arlene Blum took throughout her life was in gaining more education, the extreme mountaineering, and the women rights she fought for. Arlene took many risks regarding her education, defying many obstacles as women. Arlene was outraged and quoted in the book Breaking Trail. “Rage of being left out of the fumarole …show more content…
Arlene Blum spoke of her many adventures and risky decisions when climbing, in her book. “I had no choice, but to glissade down the mountain (Blume 10).” At this time in Arlene’s career as a novice climber it was not smart to take the chance of doing such a dangerous act. She later paid for this action in the infirmary, which proved this was not the most intelligent decisions. Furthermore, she explains the hazard of altitude sickness in Breaking Trail a Climbing Life. “When climbing at high altitudes there is a chance of high altitude sickness, which can lead to dizziness, headaches, and numerous more problems (Blum 65).” Every time Arlene went mountaineering she was putting herself in these hazardous scenarios, but this is her passion. She has seen many of her companions experience this, but thankfully rarely experienced the affects. In addition Arlene Blum quotes in clear detail of the trials regarding heath issues in a part of the book Breaking Trail. “I felt so wretched that I didn’t care that I wasn’t climbing, something was very wrong (Blum 129).” Health issues on mountains are unpredictable, and it is a gamble that Arlene Blum takes each time she goes mountaineering. Her desire to climb mountains showed that there could be both good and bad outcomes. Overall, there were many risks that Arlene Blum took in her climbing career, which lead to benefits and
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Show MoreMountain climbing is a very tough activity that includes years of training before someone is ready to complete an exhilarating climb. Looking around the world, there are many amazing places to climb. Although two of the most difficult and intense climbs include the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska and Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on earth. “Everest,” by Erik Weihenmayer and “The Devils Thumb,” by Jon Krakauer have some similarities and some differences in terms of the author’s perspective, organization structure, and tone and word choice. As the two authors wrote, they showed their struggles and feats of every situation through words.
Many of them are inexperienced and would undoubtedly never make it to the top without a guide. The one unifying characteristic shared by all of the climbers is that they have money—enough to shell out $65,000 a piece for their shot at the top. Krakauer spends long chapters giving his best, most educated guesses about why climbers made certain decisions, and what happened to the people who disappeared. This is an exercise that must result in major frustration, as no one can be entirely sure what took place. Many mistakes later, Krakauer manages to piece together an outline of what happened to whom and when during the climb, but the questions he struggles with in almost every situation are "why" and "how".
It was 1996 when Jon Krakauer took a job from the magazine company, Outside, to report on mountain climbing expedition tours which had been raising speculation. Krakauer had a passion for climbing ever since a young age, and he especially had always wanted to climb Everest. He had climbed before, but not altitudes as intense as what he was about to take on. Upon his journey, he found the altitude to be more than challenging. His oxygen intake began decreasing substancially and he could feel himself fading away.
For as long as anyone can remember, people have dreamed of reaching the summit of Mt. Everest. During May of 1996, an expedition set out to Nepal to attempt a climb up Mt. Everest. By the end of this expedition to the top of Everest, many climbers lost their lives due to the brutal weather. In Jon Krakauer’s novel Into Thin Air, he takes readers through the story of the expedition, and he talks about the climbers who died. Among the list of the dead was a man named Doug Hansen.
Throughout the novel Into Thin Air, written by Jon Krakauer, the Everest climbers constantly faced with challenges that came along with their expedition; whether it be lack of oxygen, inability to keep pace with time schedule, weather conditions, etcetera. Every year, every expedition will be unpredictable meaning the outcome of people’s survival is based on the individual’s ability to react appropriately to danger. Since each expedition’s results are uncertain, the guides and clients will be forced to make decisions under pressure when an obstacle obstructs their path. Under pressure, the margin for error begins to decrease. Unfortunately, in circumstances like these, humans are bound to make a mistake since it is a part of human nature.
On the very first day, I injured my ankle, but I refused to back down in spite of the tougher-than-expected terrain. I wedged sticks vertically into my boot to support my ankle, and continued hiking on the unpredictable terrain. On the fourth day, I hiked through hail, high winds, and ice over the optimistically named Blood Mountain. I arrived at the base of the mountain with frost on my clothes, weak legs, and tears on my face, but my resolve didn’t waver. In fact, I didn’t truly consider ending my hike until I hiked all the way to Pennsylvania.
, it is important to note that the characters portrayed in this book are real people. The unique conditions and the weather of the setting forced the climbers to make choices that they could not have made in a different situation. The tough choices made by the climbers and the setting influenced the result of the story. Krakauer’s tone for the most part is respectful toward the guides and climbers, and he narrates as objectively as possible, while including his own concerns and doubts. His tone in the beginning expresses excitement and nervousness, but later turns into
Have you ever felt like you just needed an escape from any situation or you house for a while or have you ever felt like you were being neglected? In the short story “The Ascent” by Ron Rash, the story follows the life of a boy named Jared. Who is in a household where both of his parents are drug users and though to their best efforts do not do the best at watching or raising their kid. Jared has make-believe time in the woods to escape home as he does he stumbles across a crash plane the cops have been looking for and inside he finds a man and woman dead.
Most people in their lifetime have been challenged by the face of adversity. Society regards this face in many ways: a horrendous destructor of tranquility and happiness or, perhaps in hindsight, a firm hand of change that brings the gift of wisdom. The ever popular expression of adversity is the proverbial wall people must climb over to reach new chapters of life, unknowing of the incredible strength they have acquired steadily gaining height. The inspiring force of the heroes who have overcome these challenges embolden others who witness it, bringing courage to more people going through tough times. This holds true in many areas, fictional and real.
On May ninth and tenth 1996, a disaster shook not only the climbing community but the whole world. Those awful days will last forever through the accounts of many climbers who took part in the horrific disaster. Notably, Into Thin Air, written by Jon Krakauer, and The Climb, co-written by Anatoli Boukreev, an excellent climber who was believed to be the best climber on the mountain, have caused much debate. Sides have been taken, but the credibility shown by Anatoli Boukreev outweigh Krakauer's. His credibility can be shown through his character while on the mountain, his goodwill for the reader, but mostly his knowledge and climbing expertise.
Many things could go wrong climbing the highest mountain in the world with an elevation of 29,029 ft. 12 people died climbing Mount Everest. No is responsible for those death. The climbers had chosen to climb the mountain. In the novel it states, “Hall was charging $65,000 a head to guide clients to the top of the world” (Krakauer 35). This shows that a person is willing to pay to go through so much pain, risk and sickness to summit the top of the world.
Noted for her prominence in a number of Colorado’s climbing associations, Agnes Vaille was the first woman to successfully scale the east face of Longs Peak, which ultimately cost her her life. In James Pickering’s section of Western Voices: 125 Years of Colorado Writing, titled “Tragedy on Longs Peak: Walter Kiener’s Own Story,” the tragedy of Agnes Vaille is recounted by her climbing companion Walter Kiener, who had imparted the story to Charles Hewes. Kiener’s tale reminisces the harrowing nature of Vaille’s death on Longs Peak and the struggle to retrieve her frozen body, which resulted in the death of Herbert Sortland, the caretaker at the Longs Peak Inn. However traumatic this story, Hewes had chosen not to include it in his autobiographical journal that was published six years after her death. Detailed in Pickering’s report is the recovery of Kiener’s story, the nature of Vaille’s death, and who was responsible for Vaille and Sortland’s deaths, as well as the controversies surrounding each issue.
Irving’s Depiction of Women Letty Cottin Pogrebin once said, “When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed, it’s tradition.” Washington Irving is at times sanctioned as being a misogynist as a result of his well-known writings such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. While his depictions of women represented in his writings were heinous, I do not believe Irving was a misogynist.
Wolves, when in groups, are universally threatening and recurrently feared. This being known, they are often portrayed as an evil or opposing force. Although, on occasion, they have also been known to be referred to as “noble creatures who can teach us many things.” (http://www.wolfcountry.net/) But consequently, despite the popular interpretation of wolves and their characteristics, each story presents its own interpretation of their many characteristics.
In Maya Angelou’s “Graduation” she spoke about a fictional character named Marguerite Johnson and her eighth-grade graduation. Marguerite was always kinda of lost and selfish at times, and never look at how others seen things. But as the story goes on Marguerite starts to find herself and understand others. “Graduation” isn’t just about how Marguerite pass on to the next grade but how she has grown from a lost girl to a young intelligence woman. In this story the reader is going to follower her on this surprising journey.