Mountains, please

Unclothed at the peak and finding freedom in the mountains

At my local REI there are stickers on display that read, MOUNTAINS, PLEASE along with a plethora of gear to assist climbers anywhere from light mountaineering to bouldering their next ascent. But what is the obsession with climbing these mythic giants and a more emphatic curiosity, what is the strange relationship we have with nudity and mountains?

For millennia mountains have captivated the human spirit. Mountains are found in songs, poems, books, and films. Every culture and mythology has a place for them, whether revered or feared and for millennia, we have climbed them. Perhaps we did so for migration or war, or to seek guidance from oracles or angels. Maybe we lived on mountains or foraged and hunted on them. Or maybe we have a call to summit a mountain as though this topographic feature is synonymous with an obstacle in our lives, such as a damaged relationship, addiction, or loss, and climbing it can prove there’s still hope for ourselves. Mountains are not just a source for tectonic boundaries, they’re a source for our sacrifices. We’ve sacrificed livestock to our gods on mountains, as well as our own blood, sweat, tears, hardships and heartbreak, and sometimes our very lives are taken by mountains. A timeless history of our human existence captured by ice and rock. And sometimes, we also sacrifice our clothes to them. 

In my last career, I picture-framed photography for artists and some would bring me personal photos to be framed just for them. Sometime in 2009ish, I had a client come into my shop, albeit nervously and looked around to be sure we were alone. Then he pulled a printed photo out of a paper sleeve that was the backside of him on top of a mountain with arms spread wide in valor- completely buck naked. Now, I saw artistic nude photography a lot during that career, but that guy’s photograph stayed in my memory. He and I talked during the design process for framing it- he wasn’t dared by his buddies to show the world his nether regions. He wasn’t an exhibitionist and he didn’t climb the mountain nude. He said he just felt the need to take everything off after climbing the worst mountain he’s ever climbed.

But why?

From the 2013 ski and snowboarding film, Valhalla

This lingering question has haunted me but looking at others’ experiences, may mirror a lot of naturist philosophy. I imagine that when someone pushes themself through every physical obstacle of their body to climb kilometer after kilometer and they finally achieve their goal and summit, they may feel that at that moment of their endorphin high that it is the clothing that becomes a symbol of what’s restricting someone of their relationship between them and the mountain, between their humanity and society.

It is a similar notion that Nick Mayhew-Smith writes about in his book, The Naked Hermit, regarding a supposed historical man who lived naked on Mount Sinai in Egypt for fifty years to be closer to God. He did so by living on a mountain and “...by putting off all trappings of human company and community can one hope to meet with angels”,¹ and so nudity was imperative, and clothing was his sacrifice. To David Fusté Vilella, a free climber in Spain, climbing free from clothing, ropes, shoes, and chalk is necessary for the experience. In his words, “I do this not only for respect to the environment and the rock. ...I feel an energy and need to do this, an energy that takes you there.”²

David Fusté Vilella, EpicTV, 2015.

This need that he speaks of is not unlike the client of mine with the photo who just needed to strip at the top as though there is a near phenomenon of shared nudity on mountains. It appears people who aren’t even nudists push their limits both mentally and physically and remove their layers to define their feelings of liberalization and feelings of connection between the animal and the rock from a precarious edge of physical risk and danger. And sometimes it is for an artsy shot on social media, sure, but it still begs the question as to why they choose to be nude on a mountain for the photo.

Even history reveals climbers who prefer to be in the buff, such as the very first British ascent up Mount Everest in 1922 when George Mallory just wore his boots and his pack, and Howard Somervell preferred to Donald-Duck-it without his trousers.³ In fact, the image capturing this as seen below, inspired the English country singer, Hank Wangford to organize the Nude Mountaineering Society that promotes what he calls skinny gripping.⁴

1922 British Mount Everest Expedition, after fording a stream. From left to right: Howard Somervell, Arthur Wakefield, and George Mallory. Photograph by George Ingle Finch (British b. Australia, 1888-1970)

Freeing as this may feel, however, it can disrupt and offend other cultures whose mountains they belong to. And though George Mallory technically started the tradition on Everest, Nepal banned nudity on the mountain when a Nepali stripped on the 8,850m summit in 2006, believing the act defiled their sacred mountain.⁵ Much like when New Zealand model, Jaylene Cook stripped at the top of the 2,308m Mount Taranaki and offended the local Māori whose mythology includes this mountain.⁶ It is a stark reminder to us that even though the act of nude mountaineering is not meant out of lewdness or sexual in nature, nudity can always be offensive to some, and this should always be considered. 

For myself, one of my favorite life sensations is the dichotomous feeling of immense heat from my core and the chilled sweat on every inch of my skin by the cold mountain air. This, along with the feeling of freedom and sacrifice, is why I always opt for nude mountaineering. I guess because I need to. 🪐

For clarification, this article is not regarding paradoxical undressing which is the serious and terrifying act of removing one’s own clothing on a mountain during the last stages of hypothermia before death.

1. Mayhew-Smith, N. (2019). The Naked Hermit: A Journey to the Heart of Celtic Britain. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: London.

2. EpicTV. (2015). No Rope, No Chalk, No Clothes - The Purest Form of Climbing?  YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIFqpEwCZgU

3. Antosch & Lin. (n.d.) Mount Everest Expedition 1922 Postcard George Mallory Somervell Arthur Wakefield. Item ID: 194578. https://www.stamps-auction.com/mount-everest-expedition-1922-postcard-george-mallory-somervell-arthur-wakefield-for-sale-194578

4. Wangford, H. (n.d.) Strippers with Altitude. Nude Mountaineering Society. http://www.hankwangford.co.uk/nums.html

5. Reed, B. (2007). Nepal to Ban Nudity on Mount Everest. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/sep/27/travelnews.nepal

6. Coffey, H. (2017). Glamour Model Angers Locals by Posing for Naked Selfie on Sacred Māori Mountain. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/glamour-model-naked-photo-sacred-new-zealand-mountain-taranaki-maori-belfie-jaylene-cook-josh-shaw-a7715396.html