{"id":49547,"date":"2016-04-02T01:05:54","date_gmt":"2016-04-02T01:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=49547"},"modified":"2016-04-02T01:09:01","modified_gmt":"2016-04-02T01:09:01","slug":"on-analogical-mountains-pitons-that-portend-enlightenment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=49547","title":{"rendered":"On analogical mountains — & pitons that portend enlightenment"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron<\/strong> — carrying French mountaineering coals to a mountaineering Frenchman ]
\n.<\/p>\n

As imagination can reach farther than spacecraft, so analogical mountains are at a higher elevation — indeed, a higher octave — than physical ones:<\/p>\n

\"Tablet<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\nRen\u00e9 Daumal<\/strong>‘s brilliant novel Mount Analogue<\/a> was uncompleted, and fittingly so, at his death — the peak of the book’s arduous ascent being by necessity wordless.<\/p>\n

Thete’s nothing non-Eucidean or metaphysical about Chouinard<\/strong>‘s RURP, however — it’s a piton so small that if you dare hang your life on it, you might well expect to achieve enlightenment. I was given mine as a keepsake by a hitchhiker on his way to try the lower slopes of Everest, while I was taking the hippie route through Turkey and Iran to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in the early seventies. And yes, I confess I use it for exclusively analogical mountaineering.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

This DoubleQuote<\/strong> is for my long-time boss and friend Victor d’Allant<\/strong>, who tweeted today:<\/p>\n

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Just reached summit of highest mountain in South East Asia despite low visibility, high winds, snow @BlackDiamond<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UGeObnEck5<\/a><\/p>\n

— Victor d'Allant (@dallant) April 1, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n