I really haven't liked the commercialization of mountaineering, particularly of Mt. Everest. By paying $65,000, you can be conducted to the summit by a couple of good guides.
Interpretation
Hillary expresses concern over the commercialization of climbing, particularly the ethics of paying to reach summits like Everest.
In this quote, Edmund Hillary critiques the growing trend of commercializing mountaineering, especially the ascent of Mount Everest. He highlights how the practice of charging exorbitant fees to guide climbers to the summit detracts from the spirit of adventure and challenge that mountaineering represents, suggesting that it transforms a once-serious pursuit into a mere consumer experience, devoid of the risks and merits that come with true exploration.
In practice
During a presentation on the ethics of adventure tourism, this quote can illustrate the debate on commercialization.
I think I mainly climb mountains because I get a great deal of enjoyment out of it. I never attempt to analyze these things too thoroughly, but I think that all mountaineers do get a great deal of satisfaction out of overcoming some challenge which they think is very difficult for them, or which perhaps may be a little dangerous.
Despite all I have seen and experiences, I still get the same thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb toward it.
I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe.
Even when you're 50, you can make the effort to improve your standards.
Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times.
I am a lucky man. I have had a dream and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.
I welcome all creatures of the world with grace.
What freezings I have felt, what dark days seen,_x000D_ _x000D_ What old December's bareness everywhere!
Earth and sea merged, the sea tossed itself in the air in a fantastic dance, into the shapes of men and horses and tattered banners. I stood in the lee of an overhanging rock and thought of many things.
In the other gardens_x000D_ _x000D_ And all up the vale,_x000D_ _x000D_ From the autumn bonfies_x000D_ _x000D_ See the smoke trail!_x000D_ _x000D_ Pleasant summer over_x000D_ _x000D_ And all the summer flowers,_x000D_ _x000D_ The red fire blazes,_x000D_ _x000D_ the grey smoke towers._x000D_ _x000D_ Sing a song of seasons!_x000D_ _x000D_ Something bright in all,_x000D_ _x000D_ Flowers in the summer_x000D_ _x000D_ Fires in the fall!
what sets wilderness apart in the modern day is not that it's dangerous (it's almost certainly safer than any town or road) or that it's solitary (you can, so they say, be alone in a crowded room) or full of exotic animals (there are more at the zoo). it's that five miles out in the woods you can't buy anything.
Water is the exile, carried back in cans and flasks, the ghost between your hands and your mouth.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.