Reading Time: 2 minutes
“To see a human being realize their dreams is a marvellous experience. It’s like going to the moon or discovering America: it is the purpose of our existence.”
This is a statement by Tamara Lunger, a young and accomplished mountaineer from Alto Adige, who in February 2016 together with Simone Moro, attempted to climb the summit of Nanga Parbat during winter.
He succeeded, whilst she, at a distance of only 70 metres to the top, quit.
She wasn’t feeling well and she listened to her “internal voice” that told her to descend, knowing fully well that, had she pushed on in the pursuit of glory, she would require assistance descending, potentially endangering her fellow climbers.
But who is this woman, capable of tasks thus far attempted by men only? What drives her to take on such extreme challenges?
This book talks about Tamara’s journey to summit Nanga, simultaneously exploring the world inside her. What emerges from the experience is the writer’s bolstering spirit that, raised in close contact with Nature, tested and proven in sports, uses her passion for mountaineering as a way of discovering herself.
Being a woman in a male-dominated environment has its price: she needs to earn respect at base camp, show she is capable of typically “male tasks”, occasionally having to hold off mountaineers who seemed to act like “sailors just come off a ship after some time at sea”…
Taking all that comes her way in her stride (and perhaps owing to a pinch of insanity in the face of danger,) Tamara sees mountaineering as an opportunity for constant self-improvement; to be at one with the Universe.
For Tamara, the challenge in the mountain exposes a spiritual aspect, it brings her closer to God. It renders her happy. These pages, filled with adventure and at times thought-provoking, make for easy reading that injects pure energy into your spirit.
© 2017 Rizzoli Libri
German edition will be published in September by Athesia.
