PeTeR ZuCKeRmAN
Continues from Pg. 20
amazing feats that you can only imagine. When
you read about them it puts you in their shoes. It
compels you to think “What would I do under
similar circumstances?”
What really drew me to the story was that moun-
taineering illustrates a much more universal
problem that we are surrounded with every day,
everywhere. History is always told from the
perspective of the Kings and the Columbus’, not
through the eyes of the help. But mountaineering
demonstrates that this kind of omission can lead
to a disaster. When your life hangs from a knot
you need to know who tied it. you need to know
if it was tied well… For the rest of us who are
not K2 mountaineers, we are kind of in the same
situation. We are also hanging from knots other
people have tied. We have mountains to summit
and we are all surrounded by people that we of-
ten don’t notice… we need to tell those stories.
The Sherpas of every story, the unseen people of
every story, need to be seen for who they really
are because our lives depend on them.
JK: After I finished reading your book I reread
the prologue and I have to say I still couldn’t
answer any of the questions that you pose. Why
do you think that people are driven to take such
risks as they do in this book?
PZ: I think there are a variety of reasons. It
depends on the person. Some people are just
adrenaline junkies. The same reason you go sky
diving; the same reason you just love adventure.
Some people are trying to push themselves to the
limit. They are trying to find out how far they can
push themselves and who they really are. Kind of
like war can reveal who you really are; climbing
can do the same thing.
A lot of climbers are very wealthy and they are
lost. And they love the sense of community. It
can be a great group of people. They love the
sense of purpose and they love something neat to
do that they can come home and impress people
with.
The Sherpas can also have those reasons, but it
can be “I need the money. My family is desperate.
We need to eat. I want my children to be able to
go to school and not have to become mountain-
eers.”
It can be just “I love climbing.”
JK: Are you a risk taker? Clearly you are to a
degree.
Continues on Pg. 55
September 2012
Justout.com
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