All land has been discovered, all oceans have been sailed, and most mountains have been climbed. It is not easy now earning fame and fortune as a discoverer.
Some years ago a group of French mountaineers were looking for new challenges. They wanted to go where nobody had gone before. And they found a mountain in Greenland for which there were no records of it ever having been climbed. And they decided to be the first to get there.
The planning was meticulous. In the summer they went to Greenland to study the area around the mountain. They talked to the locals and consulted experts to get the right equipment for the particular conditions in Greenland. They had a helicopter fly over the mountain to take a huge number aerial photos.
In the winter, back in Paris, they built a model of the mountain based on the many aerial photos and available maps of the area (this was a few years before Google Earth). They studied all the material carefully and decided on the route to take to the top.
Next summer they were back in Greenland. They arrived by boat at a small settlement which was to be their base for the following weeks. They got all their equipment unpacked and ready and waited for the right weather conditions to make a go for the summit.
After a week of waiting they set out. Everything went well. The first night they set up camp right at the foot of the mountain. The next day they made it to the top. It was a hard climb, but they were all skilled and experienced mountaineers. They were exhilarated and jubilant and they toasted in real French champagne. Before leaving they planted the French flag on the mountain summit.
The way back down was easier as they had ski's with them and could use them some of the way down. They spent the night in their camp at the foot of the mountain and made it back to the settlement in the early afternoon. They had been where nobody had ventured before.
They were allowed to use the small wooden meeting house in the settlement for their celebration. There was food and wine, French cheese and speeches. Spirits were high. When they were at their highest there was a knock on the door. A young man came in. He was wearing sports shoes and an anorak, and was slightly out of breath as if he had been running hard.
"Sorry to interrupt you gentlemen, but you forgot this at the top", he said handing the French flag to one of the French mountaineers.
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Don't know if it is a true story or not. I kind of doubt it. Would anybody climb a mountain with a bottle of champagne in his rucksack? But anyway, it's a beautiful little story.
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