Recently a group of high altitude mountain climbers made their way up K2 the worlds second highest peak. A towering pyramid of rock and ice, K2 is one of the hardest mountains to climb especially in the winter. For the first time ever ten people made it to the summit in the winter, however two people died and three are currently missing. Himalayan mountains are objects or worship to the local people that live around them, to them the mountains are gods. When people die on the mountain it is thought to mean the mountain is angry and exacting a price to pay for climbing on its slopes. For the climber, it is a different kind of worship, a desire to conquer something so dangerous and live to tell the tale. I was thinking of these things while making this painting.
Tomorrow I plan to head out to Mount Royal again, maybe I can reach its summit. But its only 233 meters as compared to the 8610 meters of K2 so I feel pretty good about getting up and down. Mom and Dad and I made it up on bikes and skis (Mount Royal not K2!) years ago.
Rock Worship 9 x 10" cold press, watercolour, February 2021
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