It's a climbers' tradition to take some stones from the summit. What for? You just can't
take the whole mountain with you. But you want to. You spent so much energy, health and
money just to reach the summit. And now you are standing here.The infinite world of
rocks, snow and hurricane winds is around. The world where each step takes away more
oxygen and requires more and more strength. The world of blinding sun, wide horizons and
fathomless violet sky. The world of 8,000 meters peaks. The stratosphere.
Your cold and cutting victory is with you. So are its permanent companions - all those
problems that hold out after each ascent. These seven stones from the summit, with so
complicated names, are actually seven episodes from our recent expedition. There are
almost the same number of problems in modern Russian mountaineering.
Are you interested in discussing such problems? |
