I am Not A Mountain Climber

            Before reading Peak by Roland Smith, seeing the world from the top of a mountain seemed pretty interesting.  I have been able to have a view of the land from an airplane but from the top of a mountain would be completely different.  I think it would feel like standing on top of the earth.  The book has helped me realized that this is not a trip I would like to take.

            I don’t think I would have enough patience to do the climb properly.  I am a person who likes to move forward trying to reach my goals.  To reach the summit of Mount Everest, Peak climbed up one day, stayed there to acclimate himself to the altitude and then the group had to return to camp for a few days to recovery.  I know this is necessary to do but I don’t know if I would have enough patience to do the climb up and then down repeatedly.

            I can understand the need to adjust to the thinning air because I have been in altitude and felt the thin air.  My family and I went to Colorado to ski.  We skied the Colorado Rockies; the mountain not the baseball team.  After we got off the chair lift, I had a hard time catching my breath.  The summit of Mount Everest is about 29,000 feet above sea level and I noticed the difference at only 1000 feet.  Although the view would be great, Peak has already been working on the climb for 7 weeks and is only at stage four.

            During Peak’s 7 week experience he has already learned a lot about himself and he hasn’t reached the summit.  Peak has learned how to take care of himself since he has spent very little time with his father.  His father had taken responsibility for him to keep him out of jail but then did not help him much during the climb.  Through these seven weeks Zopa’s opinion of Peak’s effort has changed.  Zopa now thinks that Peak will reach the summit.  Since I do not have the patience to be a climber but I am enjoying the experience of reading this book.  Roland Smith’s style of writing is very descriptive and I often have the feeling of being on Mount Everest with Peak and the rest of the climbers.