Let me end this slightly heavy topic with this beautiful scenery-those people hanging on trees.
After two years of outdoor classes in college, the teacher asked each of us to talk about our feelings about the outdoors in the last class.
Most students are perfunctory, and serious students share their feelings about outdoor natural beauty, team spirit and challenging themselves.
Warm and touching.
Before having an outdoor class, I was an outdoor sports enthusiast and a monitor.
My feelings are slightly different. As usual, I stood in front of a piece of "scattered sand" and made my last speech: "I like outdoor and climbed some mountains since I was a child. I think climbing a mountain is a dangerous thing. I hope that everyone can do what they can, and don't embarrass yourself because of a temporary passion. "
? Many students laughed, but the outdoor teacher reiterated what I said later.
? This is not surprising, and probably no one will take his life to do such a thankless thing.
? "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?"
? "Because, the mountain is there."
? This is the famous answer of legendary mountaineer George Mallory.
? "Because the mountain is there."
This answer may sound a little meaningless, so let's understand the cause and effect of the whole thing.
? George Mallory was born into a pastor's family in the north of England. He has a high value and a good family. He likes poetry and literature. He graduated from Cambridge University and is a rowing expert of Cambridge rowing team.
? Basically, he was the hero in the TV series, but he didn't follow the routine, abandoned his wife and children and died at the top of Mount Everest.
? Mallory's strong curiosity and desire to explore the unknown began to appear from a very young age.
? At the age of seven, he climbed to the top of the church with his bare hands.
? I don't know what unforgettable things you did when you were seven years old. I only remember that I shit my pants in class.
? During his college years, he paid close attention to the actions of world explorers: rushing to the North Pole, then to the South Pole ..... All these deeply inspired Mallory.
? At that time, no westerners had reached 40 kilometers around Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, and Mount Everest gradually became Mallory's goal.
? After graduating from college, Mallory taught at Chatterhouse College and met his wife, Ruth Turner. The couple got married three days before the outbreak of World War I in 19 14, and then he was drafted into the Royal Army.
? During the war, he passed death many times and experienced the bloodiest battle of the Somme at that time.
George watched countless comrades die around him, and he saw the fragility of life.
? What? Is it? What about you? Alive For what?
? The problem is before him.
? After World War I, facing the devastated society, the British government urgently needed an inspiring feat, so it turned its attention to Mount Everest, the world's first peak.
? George was discovered by the Royal Geographical Society of London. They need George's excellent mountaineering skills to achieve the summit plan, and George also needs the support of the Royal Geographic Society to realize his dream.
? After long-term personnel selection and endurance training, George led a 12-person mountaineering team for eight weeks, and finally saw Mount Everest, which fascinated him.
The magnificent scenery and precipitous majesty of the highest mountain in the world deeply shocked the explorer.
After the first climb, the whole team had to descend at an altitude of 8488 meters due to the bad snowfall.
The first failure didn't hurt Mallory's confidence. Less than six months later, he returned to the foot of Mount Qomolangma, ready to try his second climb.
But this time it was followed by huge bad news. An avalanche caused by a snowstorm claimed the lives of seven climbers.
? As the captain, George blamed himself for the death of his mountaineering teammate. After returning to Europe, he wanted to give up climbing the peak and escape from that terrible memory.
In the next two years, George stayed with his wife and children and lived a quiet and happy life.
However, the failure to reach the summit of Mount Everest became his greatest regret.
I think as for it?
George was 38 years old when the third summit plan was completed. He knew this was his last chance, and he didn't want to miss the last attempt.
But his love for Ruth became the last barrier of his determination. Ruth also don't want George to leave her, wrote to him and said:
I love you, and you love me. This is the greatest happiness in my life.
But I need you, and I hope we can be together in this life.
? George Mallory wrote in his diary:
? I'm in a dilemma and I'm in pain. Leaving will be a painful entanglement, and staying will accompany her for a lifetime.
But I have to say to others helplessly: "Go and conquer Mount Everest, I want to stay."
? It was not until 1922 that he was invited to give a speech in the United States. The people who came to hear Mallory's speech were packed.
? Of course, he became a new star of new york Explorers Club and was invited to give a speech at Harvard University, telling all the dangerous and exciting things he experienced on Mount Everest.
? In the speech, when a reporter from The New York Times asked "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest", George gave a widely circulated answer-"Because, the mountain is there!"
This sentence, which is more famous than himself, is a true portrayal of Mallory's deep desire not to give up exploring no man's land:
Mount Everest is still there, but no one has reached it.
So, the dream is still there.
1924, this sentence was bold, appeared as a title in The New York Times, and was later passed down as a much-told story by climbers all over the world, inspiring countless future generations to forge ahead and pursue their dreams.
? Dreams are beautiful, but reality is cruel.
? This time, the climbing partner he found was Andrew Sandy Owen, a 2 1 year-old student in the Chemistry Department of Oxford University.
? Innocent young people.
? The bad weather seriously hindered George's climbing plan, and Owen's altitude reaction was strong, and the team was forced to withdraw to the base camp. In the base camp, two staff members died of physical illness caused by extreme natural conditions.
? The rainy season came, but George still didn't want to give up. In a letter to his wife Ruth, he said:
? It's just silly to keep climbing, but how can I give up this opportunity? There is only one in fifty chance now, but for the sake of our dignity, we still have to try.
? 75 years later, later generations found the body of George Mallory on Mount Everest. Among his relics, there are photos of his wife Ruth and his last words to Ruth:
? Dear Ruth, I can't sleep. A strong cough makes people feel uncomfortable. A violent snowstorm hit our tents and almost blew them away-there is no more stubborn and unforgettable enemy.
? In the last days of his life, there was no poetry, only cold and illness.
? What's the point? For most people, just add a topic after dinner.
? But at least I think it's more than that.
? No matter whether Mallory and Owen finally climb Mount Everest, people like them have tried their best to advance in the unknown and broaden people's horizons. These are the real precious wealth.
? Back to the original question: "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?"
? Everyone has his own answer, but in the final analysis, it is an insistence on truth and an honest response to inner instinct.
? Only in this way can we really feel alive.
? Experience being alive?
? This is a little hard to understand. Are we all dead?
? This may be realized in the movie Death in Alaska.
? A 22-year-old graduate of a famous American school mysteriously disappeared before he was about to enter Harvard Law School for further study.
? Two years later, the hunter found his rotting body on an abandoned bus in the wilderness of Alaska.
? On the bus, Chris wrote the last sentence on the page with the only strength left in his life:
? I don't want love, money, faith, honor and justice, I just want the truth. (real version)
Director sean penn said:
? I want to tell his story to more people, because there is something shining on this child.
In his short life, he has gained such rich life experiences that I envy him very much.
I think this is also the reason why the phrase "the mountain is there" has been circulating.
? Every adventurer who follows his heart must have personally experienced the great happiness and satisfaction that George Mallory and Chris once felt.
? No matter before or now, no matter how the society develops and how advanced the technology is, one thing has never changed-
? Adventurers have the wildest dreams and the bravest souls.
? Where is unknown, the pace of exploration will never stop.
? Again, adventure is really a very dangerous thing. I hope everyone can still do what they can.
? If you are unfortunate enough to be the kind of person who can't chew your teeth, remember not to involve others.