The Everest of Tree Climbing? 8 Months, 4 Weeks ago
Something to consider:
Following the death of Sir Edmund Hillary a week ago, I was pondering the following question: Can the first ascent of Hyperion in 2006 be compared to the first ascent of Everest in 1953?
Obviously from a courage and physical achievement perspective it would be ridiculous to compare jugging up a 380ft mast to climbing a 29000ft mountain.
However, could one argue that being the first human to reach the top of the tallest living thing on the planet has a similar significance to being the first human to reach the top of the tallest mountain on the planet?
An argument against this might be the temporary nature of trees: Hyperion may only remain the world's tallest tree for decades or centuries at most before another Redwood or even a Douglas Fir surpasses it, whereas Everest will remain the highest point on the planet for at least tens of millions of years before another point on the Earth's crust is pushed higher.
(It is also worth remembering that the achievments of Sir Edmund Hillary's Himilayan Trust working with the Sherpa People of Nepal and the continuing research of Professor Stephen Sillett and his colleagues are both far more important contributions than the climbs themselves.)
Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
Michael
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