Triumph Without Will
In this Full Value story from Alpinist 91, Christopher Elliott interrogates the history of climbing in the Brenta Dolomites, the Nazi preoccupation with mountains and the responsibility of individuals in the face of fascism. He writes:
“The history of alpinism in the Brenta Dolomites is a dramatis personae of characters who ‘achieved’ things that are very comprehensible to me as a climber. But some of these characters also lacked the will and insight to see and do the right thing when it mattered most. In other words, it was possible to both brave the odds and ‘triumph’ and be a coward at the same time…. Had I been on that balcony with Hitler beside me and a mass of marching troops below, what would I have done?”
