"[Getting to the top of Everest is] a matter of universal human endeavor, a cause from which there is no withdrawl, whatever losses it may demand."

-Günter O. Dyhrenfurth, German mountaineer and geologist, 1886-1975.

This quote, taken from Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air, describes the primal human need for verticality applied to the tallest mountain in the world.[1] Dyhrenfurth was an influential mountaineer who led a number of expeditions into the Himalaya in the 1930s, and his description of climbing Everest is telling. He describes it as a universal human endeavor, which speaks to the universal need for humans to achieve verticality. This pull is so strong that he is willing to accept whatever losses it may demand.


[1]: Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air. New York: Villard, 1997. 14.