My Mountain Manifesto Entry 1: Companionship and the Mountain

“Breashears, the fax continued, is safe but is joining the rescue effort.”
-Tim Cahill on page 14 of Everest: Mountain Without Mercy

“Climbing with you was easy as a vow”
-W.H. Auden from his poem “The Climbers”

Tim Cahill wrote one of the first stories in the book Everest: Mountain Without Mercy. He explained his feelings when his friend and colleague, David Breashears, was in possible jeopardy while climbing Mount Everest. He did a good job expressing his feelings, making the tension of wondering if his friend was all right analogous to the feeling you get when you see a child run in front of a vehicle.
Cahill and Breashears held a common interest: their wish to scale Everest and make a movie in the IMAX format of the ascent. Cahill said, “No one had ever attempted this before because everyone knew it was impossible.” Cahill went on to describe Breashears as a “tireless worker, entirely professional”. They worked well together and there was a bond in place, a bond forged by mutual admiration and respect for one another and the tallest mountain in the world.
W. H. Auden wrote many great poems about companionship and love. One of these poems, “The Climbers”, uses scaling a mountain as a metaphor for the arduous journey he and a partner had in their relationship.
The first stance of the poem describes Auden’s escape from the mundane people that live around him. To escape, he must climb “the mountains” of his fears. His fear of being different, recognizing he is not like others, is a vast obstacle to conquer. His journey does not allow for valleys (cols) or water or anything that would make the obstacle easier, especially excuses or victim-hood.
The second stance turns the subject away from his own climb and focuses on a friend who is sharing the task. The first line is so powerful! Vows are easy when you take one for what you believe in. Auden could have also been alluding to a wedding-type vow, but a general vow feels more powerful to me, so I am sticking to my first interpretation.
Cahill showed his strong feelings of respect and admiration, and explained the great stress he felt when there was a possibility that Breashears could have been hurt or killed. They forged their relationship with the obstacle of Mount Everest as a common goal. Auden’s mountain represented the same thing: an obstacle. His mountain also honed a relationship he had with another. Although Auden’s mountain was not a physical height to climb, there were dangers, discomforts and tough points to overcome.


The Climbers

Fleeing the short-haired mad executives,
The sad and useless faces round my home,
Upon the mountain of my fear I climb;
Above, the breakneck scorching rock, the caves,

No col, no water; with excuse concocted,
Soon on my lower alp I fall and pant,
Cooling my face there in the faults that flaunt
The life which they have stolen and perfected.

Climbing with you was easy as a vow;
We reached the top not hungry in the least,
But it was eyes we looked at, not the view,
Saw nothing but ourselves, left-handed, lost;
Returned to shore, the rich interior still
Unknown. Love gave the power, but took the will.

-W. H. Auden