Himalaya
Daniel could remember when he first started- it was at base camp early in the morning. Daniel Jenner and his tiger guide Tenzing Norgay III together breathed sighs of relief when they reached Camp IV, 6,065 metres (19,000 ft.) above sea level. Beyond that, (had days or weeks passed... or months, the wolf thought) there was nothing but cold, awful-tasting rations, and clothes so confining that Daniel would want to tear them off, though he knew full well that a frozen death awaited anyone foolish enough to take off the clothes. A month of stocking up at the bazaars of Kathmandu, a painful yak ride to the Base Camp, of course, the ever-present cold- all would be worth it if Daniel Jenner and Tenzing Norgay III could ascend the top of Everest and assert their reign as kings of the Himalayas. The summit was so close and with a little more perseverance, it would be theirs. The more mundane of individuals would cheat on their spouses, the greedy would cheat on their taxes, these two would cheat death- on an everyday basis.
No successful expedition to the Himalayas has ever been completed without some near-disaster and this was no different. Already, a failed harness nearly caused Daniel to plummet several hundred feet before he by the grace of God clawed, a conveniently-placed phyllite rock and found his way back to the trail, dehydrated and in desperate need of an oxygen tank. He breathed a sigh of relief after that ordeal and that froze almost instantly- this was after all, the Himalayas, the most unforgiving of environments. It was inhabitable but the ones who inhabited it, the Sherpas are not your mundane denizens, a barrel-chested group with extra-size lungs to survive the hypoxic environment and thick fur which did not expose any flesh. The Himalayas would do everything in their power to shake off their status as inhabitable, much like a belligerent horse would try anything in its power to shake off its rider. And yet Tenzing's race knew very well the anger and cruelty and tricks of the mountains and had settled there, with amazing bravery. And Norgay, grandson of the first Sherpa to ascend Everest wanted this expedition to succeed, to honor his family name by conquering Everest.
It is about four o'clock, the hour which Daniel had long ago accustomed to as the time of waking up and if the wolf and tiger were to make the summit of Everest- Sagurmatha, in Norgay's language by nightfall, they would have to begin their ascent in the wee hours of the morning. It had been told and re-told many times in the village how Tenzing's grandfather had many decades ago ascended to the summit of the sacred mountain. The tiger and Jenner had already passed Hilary's Pass- the relatively ice-free passageway to Base Camp IV named after Edmund Hilary, the adventurer who for years wanted to climb to the roof of the world. In 1953, he and the original Tenzing Norgay made that dream a reality- both of the climbers became heroes. For them, the old dream to be free, to be high above the rest of the world, to conquer the mountains, now belonged to them. Many had followed in their footsteps and with advancements in technology, the list of successful climbers had grown steadily. Yet for every success story, the cold, cruel heart of the highest mountains had claimed ten more. Such was the brutal nature of Himalaya, whose name means "sacred goddess of snows".
Himalaya is the wild intoxication of a fight against the roughest elements that nature could serve, and the sobriety of an austere Buddhist cave monastery, thousands of miles above the earth, chanting "Om mani padme hum"- the jewel in the land of snows, a term of reverence for Siddhartha Gautama himself. Buddha's presence was there witnessing along with the monks the curvature of the earth, his superb austerity giving them the strength that allowed them to meditate naked in the cold for days without food and water. The wolf who had spent time at one of the monasteries at Norgay's request, thanked his own deity for his polar expedition clothes, over an extra-thick fur coat seasoned by a year in Kathmandu's cold. This monastery was the highest permanent domicile unit in the world, 13,000 feet up and Jenner knew that while he would soon climb the 29,028 feet, these mountain cats would stay up there, in the thin air and the cold, the austerity of their surroundings hopefully sending them into a state of religious ecstasy. Daniel wanted to feel the excitement and accomplishment that only comes with surviving and conquering the world's tallest mountain but he also knew there was more to the mountains than excitement, there was a divinity in the purifying cold. And the more he climbed up there with his guide, the more the mountain itself would resist with snow-blindness and hypoxia and blizzards
Himalaya is in itself the isolation, and the peace of being in the place where the angels themselves dare to tread. Sure, others had climbed up there before but seldom was there more than one expedition on the mountain at one time. It would be perfect solitude, perfect beauty, perfect whiteness of perfect snow, if only Daniel and his tiger guide would live to see the very top and not succumb to the brutal effects of hypoxia. The snowstorm and the blizzard were the cruel punishments for those who dared tried to defeat Himalaya and they would tear a hole into the intruders, freezing them to their bones. The weather changes faster than emotions and the annihilating wind destroys the foolish climbers instantly. Already, the nightmarish death of a Russian bear who tried and failed two years ago, his frozen body found drowned in hardened bodily fluids, congealed into a sickly shell, had already taken root in Daniel Jenner's mind. Some were driven into madness by the goddess of the snows and threw themselves thousands of feet to their doom. Others simply gave up, doubling back to take the impressive claim of making it up the first 20,000 feet- yet for them, Himalaya had proven too much and so they suffered the castration of defeat.
But to survive there would be to prove that one could adapt to anything, to prove Nietzche's uber-mensch theory and that is what the wolf wanted to do. Almost as if drawn by an otherworldly force, Daniel and Tenzing drew closer to the mountain's top- like Edmund Hilary before him Daniel had brought a golden crucifix to pierce the top of the mountain, in the hopes that Tenzing and the Sherpas would be converted by the missionaries at the base camp. ‘So close to the sky, so close to the heavens, so far from God', Daniel thought, the fear of almost losing his life an ever-present danger to the wolf and Norgay as well, before looking at Himalaya, the massive peaks produced by the Indian subcontinent colliding into Asia and pushing the rocks upward and upward, until they reached into the stratosphere dressed in perpetual white robes of snow. These mountains had served as the ultimate proving ground, objects of devotion, and places of unsurpassed beauty. The climbers had plenty of oxygen tanks, as they put one paw in front of the other, sometimes restraining each other from falling. Tenzing had in many ways become the brother that Daniel never had and many times over, they had saved each other's lives.
Many hours passed, and soon they reached the 40-foot tall vertical rock wall known as "Hilary's Step", now outfitted with harnesses and ropes so that those with experience with wall-scaling and rappelling could reach the top. With a belay-on Tenzing began his ascent and as a skilled mountain tiger reached the top very quickly, for the wolf it would be more of a challenge but with dual ice-picks in each upper paw, cleated boots, and a trustworthy rope, within ten minutes he was up there. What followed next was traversing several snow cornices, an easy task for the experienced mountain climber which Daniel was. 28,000, 28,500, 29,000, then finally the beautiful and transcendent Himalaya succumbed to the adventurers but not before 29,028 feet, 5 miles over the earth- a height which placed the duo near the cruising altitude of many airplanes. The wolf and the tiger spent an absolutely wonderful fifteen minutes on the world's frozen roof, before Daniel buried a crucifix inside the snow. From this vantage point, they could see the Earth's curvature, the other mountains, the clouds underneath, each one signifying a snowstorm elsewhere. And they could see Nepal directly beneath them, India to the south, the Indian Ocean disappearing from view even more to the south. Then they would turn and see China over to the northeast, the Hindu Kush to the north, and looking up, nothing but a cold, blue sky and the sun which just moments ago threatened to blind them with snow-reflected light above the cloud layer.
And it was there that the wolf comprehended his own mortality. Daniel knew that he would turn around and head down the north face back home yet the mountain would remain, an unquestionable monument to Nature's strength and beauty, not moved and not besieged by anyone. This mountain had existed for millions of years, some might say that it was a goddess, here since the beginning of the world as the Nepalese had said. It would still be there for generations of young adventurers to test their masculinity, their strength, and their reckless courage. Everest and her cruel yet beautiful sisters would continue to defy all attempts to climb them. But as the two began their trip down the north face back to the base camp (and the worst of the troubles was not over yet), they looked each other in the eyes and exchanged thanks in their languages. Each one knew that without the other, this trip would have been doomed to failure. They knew that without their strength, and the co-operation of a crew that worked from Kathmandu (elev. 5,000) to every camp along the way, even to the Buddhist monasteries, none of this would be possible. For many had made the foolhardy, perhaps drunken vow to ascend the highest mountain only for Everest to crush them mercilessly but to the ones blessed with good luck, plentiful/ working equipment and knowledgeable guides, transcendent success might be a possibility.
After all, these were the Himalayas.
A bonus poem for all of you Furry readers:
At the base camp, it is about four in the morning- so cold that breath freezes instantly.
Himalaya- two men climb the mountain where few have ever gone- the summit is close.
Himalaya is the old dream to be completely free, above it all
Himalaya is the wild rush, the fight against storm and darkness.
Himalaya is the isolation, to be where nobody else is.
Himalaya is where your fears are defeated so close to the sky.
The deadly blizzard- that is the price for those who seek to conquer her frozen heart.
As upward they climb, the wind blows harsher and the reflected sun blinds their eyes.
Suddenly the weather changes and then the storm comes.
Wherever one turns, the mountain remains- it cannot be moved or besieged.
Himalaya is the old dream to be completely free, above it all
Himalaya is the wild rush, the fight against storm and darkness.
Himalaya is the isolation, to be where nobody else is.
Himalaya is where your fears are defeated so close to the sky.
Himalaya, you are the goddess of the snows. Himalaya!