more... STRIPPERS WITH ALTITUDE
Nepal wants to ban nudity on Everest. The irony is that this is where trouserless-peaking started with George Mallory, claims regular naked climber Hank Wangford
At last. Everest has finally been conquered by the Nude Mountaineering Society. But instead of being praised to the skies, it seems to have drawn a deal of mean spirited criticism.
When news broke of a Nepali climber who stripped off last  year on the 29,035ft summit to celebrate his oneness with the elements, the Nepali climbing fraternity didn't like it. "There should be strict regulations to discourage such attempts by climbers," said Ang Tshering, president of Nepal's (Fully Clothed) Mountaineering Association. Everest is a holy mountain to the Nepalese and many felt it had been defiled by the heretical stripper. They haven't seen it as the act of tribute and worship it truly is. The irony is that modern nude mountaineering started on Everest.
I was drawn into the joys of trouserless peaking by the great George Mallory. Mallory was an English hero, an explorer and mountaineer, and a true English eccentric — brave, foolhardy and inspirational. He attempted Everest in the 1920s and may even have been the first to successfully climb the mountain in 1924. He disappeared and his body was discovered 75 years later very close to the summit. He was wearing a tweed jacket. No Gore-Tex, no down jackets. Was he on the way up or down? We may never know.
My inspiration for the Nude Mountaineering Society, and my assumption of presidency, came from an arresting picture of Mallory and his associate at Everest base camp both wearing jaunty trilby hats and rucksacks on their backs. George Mallory is otherwise naked. His friend has a jacket on but no trousers. It is a wonderful picture, bare-assed cheek and all, that could never offend the spirits of the Great Mountain. These two heroic role models transcend all that and their kecks-free frolics are a tribute, a sacrament to the mountain. And we'll never know if Mallory not only got to the summit but also went for the trousers down approach as an ultimate gesture. Just for the craic.
I needed to find out what Mallory was on about. An early nude clamber was with my son, Mat, at 5,200ft in the mists on Maine's Mount Katahdin, the northernmost peak in the Appalachians. I was hooked on high-altitude skinny alpinism immediately. Later we went to Yosemite for some hot weather nude mountaineering action standing high and naked out in white granite dome land, exposed to distances and perspectives across stark bleached monoliths. One exciting strip was at 7,400ft on Piltriquitron, The-Peak-That-Scrapes-The-Clouds, a granite spike down in the Patagonian Andes of Argentina.
Closer to home, in Scotland, by the entrance to Glencoe, it's excellent being naked up on the Great Shepherd of Etive, Buachaille Etive Mhor, and up on the extraterrestrial landscape of the Quiraing in Northern Skye. Not even a sporran.
I've done a lot of nude work in Connemara with strides-free action up many of the Twelve Bens — Ben Corr, Derryclare, Ben Lettery. One day on Tully Mountain, while I was posing for the camera, a fully Gore-Texed man crested into sight. As soon as he saw my arse, he turned on his heel and raced off down the slope fearing he may have stumbled on some hideous mountain sex ceremony.
My first appearance in the press as president was in the Guardian with a photo of myself in snow on the Transylvanian Carpathians. I am wearing a hat, rucksack and boots, all acceptable within the Malloryan tradition.
I understand completely what our Nepali friend was doing and am stunned by his dedication at ten degrees below zero.
There's nothing better than a quick strip down and stride around in the high wide open air and the mountain breezes. Here at the Nude Mountaineering Society, we are dedicated "Strippers With Altitude".
Hank Wangford
September 2007 |
