A series of large (5′ x 6′ feet) black chalk drawings (2015/2016) on white felt of 5 of the deadliest mountains to climb in the world. Mountains, a long held symbol for self-help and motivational posters, inspire a sense of awe through their vastness. We feel small and insignificant in their presence. Ambition and bravery, as well as privilege and status are necessary to summit any of these mountains, a quest to conquer unchartered territory.
Deadliest Climbs: Mt. Fitz Roy, 2016 (During the summer season, a hundred people might reach the summit of Everest in a single day, but this spectacular Patagonian peak is sometimes only conquered just once, or not at all, in an entire year. Mountaineers must overcome sheer granite faces, while weather, and Fitz Roy’s relative isolation, can also pose major problems. It was first climbed in 1952.)Deadliest Climbs: Mt. Fuji, 2015 (Sometimes you don’t have to be a tall mountain to be a lethal one. Take Mt. Fuji, for example. At its base sits the Sea of Trees, a large expanse of cedar, pine, and boxwood trees that was the only area not overrun by lava and ash during a massive eruption in 1707. This forest, know as Aokigahara, has attained cult status among Japanese as the perfect place to die. Rumors about the woods abound: locals speak of magnetic fields that disorient search and rescue operations; the forest’s population is said to consist of snakes, wild dogs, and the occasional demon.Deadliest Climbs: Mt. Fuji, 2015. (With upwards of 700 people a year now reaching the summit of Everest, Stephen Venables, the mountaineer, recently told Telegraph Travel that mass tourism had “devalued” the world’s largest peak. Nevertheless, reaching the top remains a dangerous undertaking. More than 200 have died on its slopes, and hundreds more attempts to climb it have failed.Deadliest Climbs: Matterhorn, 2015 (Found on the border between Switzerland and Italy, the 4,478-metre Matterhorn was one of the last great Alpine peaks to be climbed. The first ascent, in 1865, ended in tragedy when four of the party fell to their deaths on the way down. The north face is considered one of the six “great north faces of the Alps”, along with the Eiger, the Cima Grande di Lavaredo, the Grandes Jorasses, the Petit Dru, and the Piz Badile. The fatality rate is also among the highest of all Alpine peaks, with technical difficulty and the prevalence of rockfall and avalaches to blame.Deadliest Climbs: Eiger, 2015. (This 3,970-metre peak in the Swiss Alps was first summitted in 1858, but no-one completed the toughest ascent, via the north face, until July 24, 1938. Since 1935 at least 64 climbers have perished on the north face, earning it the nickname Mordwand (“murder wall”). It is a technically difficult climb, with regular rockfall increasing the risk.)
