Meditations on the Peaks by Julius Evola

Author:Julius Evola
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy/Outdoors
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: 2012-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

10

The Ascent of Mount Langkopfel

How many more hours to the top?” somebody asks. Looking elsewhere, almost as if it was not worth it to look at the mountain or at the people, the mountain guide answers softly, “Four.”

Four hours is not a long time, and yet, knowing that does not make the peak look any friendlier. The mountain, of a uniform gray color, seems to rest in a narrow basin of frozen snow and then to mushroom into a number of towers and spires that appear to get lost in the distance. Far away lies the peak, invisible to the naked eye. A woman who lives in the mountain shelter says, almost with contempt in her voice, “A lot of people go up there. One evening they brought down somebody who died. Another time they brought back a man with a broken leg. They go up there by themselves, and then, almost always, the mountain guide has to go up there and bring them back down.”

The woman seems to be talking to herself; she leaves as if none of this is her concern. I spontaneously recall the saying, “Men come and go, but the mountain remains.” I look at the spires bathed by the twilight, seeming to ask me a mute question.

The following morning at seven o’clock I leave the shelter. Dense clouds at the horizon dim the light of the rising sun but the sky above is free and clean and the mountain is the color of lead. I patiently climb the scree; this is a task that requires my concentration because I often lose my balance with the frequent slides. I head toward the place where, according to the map, my assault on the mountain face should begin. I have to move to the left because the wall before me is totally vertical. Starting from the left, I need to assault the rock and then travel diagonally toward a little valley located higher up. I press on. For the first few meters I proceed blindly, constantly shifting my four limbs in search of invisible holds. When, after going around the first smooth, protruding boulder, I finally succeed in finding a foothold, I feel I have reached a great vantage point. The rock becomes easier to handle and now I am able to climb it vertically. Farther ahead there is another succession of diagonal ups and downs that leads me to the little valley in the middle. One and a half hours have gone by and we are just a few dozen meters from the base, which looks very distant despite being directly below me, because in between is the very steep wall.

Here I am, on the narrow depression spotted with snow, but we still need to reach the real base of Mount Langkopfel. An icy canal to the left, between the vertiginous mountain walls, seems to be the only possible way. Luckily I have an ice axe with me; it takes strength to carve niches, so I engage in short runs, at the risk of losing balance, in order to gain space and save energy.

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