Penguins On Everest

The book is full of mocking references to ‘the trade route’ up Everest, the ‘climbing theme park’, ‘instant ego-expeditions’ which are like ‘geriatric golf courses of mountaineering’ and follow the ‘package holiday expedition model’. No wonder, the Everest expedition industry sees free Alpine-style climbing as ‘irresponsible and indefensible’ because it puts mountaineers in danger. Durkan’s argument is that mountaineering should be all about exploring the unknown and confronting dangers without reducing the mountain to suit the climber’s safety standards.