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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many years of experience did the man who led the second British expedition to Mount Everest have?

2. When the CMA granted Messner a permit in the Kanchung chapter, which mountain did the permit apply to?

3. What was the name of the Tibetan who helped the first person who wanted to scale Everest alone enter Tibet illegally?

4. How high was the assault camp established by the 1924 British expedition?

5. What was the name of the journalist that had been living in Kathmandu for over twenty years and knew practically everything about the region?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Messner in the Mount Everest-Fairytale and Reality chapter, what were the primary motives of the Himalayan mountaineer?

2. How did Messner describe the region of Solo Khumba in the early pages of the Mount Everest-Fairytale and Reality chapter?

3. When the climbing team woke up in the Sherpa hut in the early pages of the Mount Everest-Fairytale and Reality chapter, why was the team headed to Syangpoche?

4. What did the British recognize as too difficult a route in the 1920s and 1930s that is still not climbed to this day?

5. How did Captain Finch originally test his bold plan back in England?

6. Describe what the oxygen apparatus of the 1920's looked like.

7. Why did the second person to attempt a solo ascent of Everest decline to use oxygen gear?

8. In the Kanchung chapter, what did the article Messner read in the "Peking Review" state?

9. What was the bold plan for the second expedition to Everest that Captain Finch came up with?

10. According to Messner in the Mount Everest-Fairytale and Reality chapter, why was each hour of each day so precious to the second British expedition to Mount Everest?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Messner believed that true mountaineering meant playing "fair" and not using technological aids.

a. Explain Messner's reasoning behind why using technological aids was akin to cheating.

b. Identify the technological aids Messner did and did not use during his solo ascent of Mount Everest.

c. Did Messner's use of two technological aids make his ascent to the summit of Mount Everest any less impressive?

Essay Topic 2

The mindset of a mountaineer, especially a mountaineer who climbs solo, is different from the mindset of the "average" person. With the danger inherent in mountaineering, a climber's mindset probably has to be different to continue to go up and push the outer limits.

a. Describe the coping mechanisms that mountaineers have in place to help them deal with the enormous stress of their chosen sport.

b. Discuss the coping mechanisms the mountaineers' support teams have to have in place to deal with the enormous stress of their climbers' sport.

Essay Topic 3

Messner visited a number of interesting and unique places as he traveled throughout the land. Pick any three places Messner visited and describe each place in detail. Then, compare these three places that you've chosen in terms of village layouts, talents and skills of the native people, and the characteristics of the inhabitants of each land.

(see the answer keys)

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