Mountains in the Renaissance
Shunned in Europe
Mount olympus
home of gods, revered by Greeks
Hannibal’s crossing
a roman general first observed the physiological effects of altitude making mountains feared by romans, viewed as obstacles to commerce
Dragons
Represent mountains in China and were worshiped
3rd AD China Mountains
seen as dangerous and places of supernatural power
Hsied Ling-Yun poem
depict Chinese mountains as scenic beauty in 4th century
Human Presence in mountains was ____ years ago
100000 years, archeological evidence
Human Presence in American mountains was ____ years ago
10-11000 years ago
Machu Picchu
home of Incas who worship moon, sun, stars
The Sublime
Mountain aesthetic by Edmund Burke, thrill of confronting untamed nature, supernatural lays beneath surface
First National Park
Yellowstone national park
First Canadian National Park
Rocky mountain national park (Banff), started from Cave and Basin Hotsprings
Writers who talk about sublime spaces
William Wordsworth (The Prelude), John Polidori (The Vampyre), Mary Shelly (Frankenstein), John Muir
What Was Mary Shelly Inspired by?
visit to French Alps Mer de glace glacier in valley of Chamonix during the little ice age
Myth of the Frontier
return to primitive living would cure illness of modern society
Artists who promote myth of the frontier
Kevin Costner (Dances with wolves) and James Cameron (Avatar)
The Alpine Club
in London, first promoters of Mountaineering (climbing) in 1857
Victorian Mountaineering culture
early climbers were from professional urban middle classers
Appinines
in Italy, romans feared these mountains
Mt. Paektu
In Korea, ‘sky god’ or ‘heven like’
Mt. Kailash
In Tibet, revered as sacred, no one can climb
John Muir
described sierra nevada in 1911 as ecstasy evoking
Albert Mummery
died mountaineering on Nanga Parbet from an avalanche
Flow
the right amount of challenge and skill reaches flow. Too much challenge w/o skill gives anxiety and too much skill w/o challenge gives boredom