1980: The Himalayan Alpine Style and High Altitude Ecology are Born.
We can place the history of ecological movements temporally at the beginning of the 70s of the last century when, both in Australia and in Great Britain between 1972 and 1973, the first organized collectives came forward that claimed a policy of protection. of the environment.
Although already in 1962, through the publication of the
book Silence Spring by
Rachael Carson, which highlighted the danger of the indiscriminate use of pesticides in agriculture, starting to consider that there was in fact a pollution problem, it was necessary to reach the years '80 to see the birth of specific political movements in Europe.
The greens, as the environmentalists were called, did not enjoy great consideration and respect from the authorities as they were seen as a brake on industry, consumption and well-being.
It was not easy to raise public awareness of the growing environmental problems, as they were issues that were rarely talked about, not being able to have reliable information on which to discuss and assess the risks.
The ecological movement looked like a remake of the Hippy movement of the late 1960s but, in reality, the greens or environmentalists were as focused on ecological protection of the world as the Hippies were on themselves and their claimed right to personal freedom.
We had therefore moved on to a socio-political commitment to protect the earth and not to a form of revolt, an end in itself, towards the customs of the time and the conformist way of life.
Just as the Hippy movement had had its champions, especially in the musical and cinematographic fields, the environmental movement also began to assert itself on the thrust of icons who made nature their area of interest.
In the field of mountaineering we have seen a certain similarity to the evolution of social behavior, with the early 60s of the last century in which the great mountains were seen as a land of national conquests, with expeditions of a military nature, organized, well subsidized and with the intent to reach the most other peaks of the planet at any cost and by any means.
The impact of these expeditions on the territory was completely secondary for the organizers and the means used to facilitate the climb were not considered intrusive by public opinion, which was only waiting for the trophy of the conquest as if it were an Olympic medal.
From this mountaineering perspective, however, some climbers began to stand out who questioned this method of invasive approach to the alpine environment, laying the foundations for mountaineering more respectful of natural rules and more loyal, among man's ability to climb the mountain. without affecting it and the mountain itself.
The undisputed spokesperson in the 1980s was Reinhold Messner, who reached the summit of Everest in alpine style and without oxygen, demonstrating to the world that the challenge was not towards the mountains, but towards his own frailties and limits and that the environment it had to be protected by canceling the polluting model of “industrial” shipments.
The concept of the alpine style for climbing the 8000m peaks involves a very small group of mountaineers, without porters at high altitude, with the minimal use of mountaineering equipment and with the commitment not to leave rags from their passage in the mountains.
With this revolutionary climbing system, Reinhold Messner will be the first to climb all 8000 of the earth, launching a challenge to society on the protection of the Alpine environment in all possible forms, as sanctioned by the Biella programmatic manifesto in 1987.
Unfortunately, if on the one hand professional mountaineers followed Messner's example in the following years, on the other hand, between the turn of the 90s and the beginning of 2000, commercial mountaineering began to flourish, made up of organized expeditions. and sold, as tour packages, to climbers who were often lacking in ethics and experience in the field.
This commercial impulse led to an invasion on the walls of the 8000 with serious danger for people, an increase in pollution and waste and the destruction of the efforts of many mountaineers who came after Messner, who saw the other mountains as the last uncontaminated place. on earth.
Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.
Cover photo: LaPresse
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