
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Playground of Europe The Playground of Europe
-
A Distinguished Family, a Prosperous Career A Distinguished Family, a Prosperous Career
-
Alpine Sojourns Alpine Sojourns
-
Summit Positions and Modern Climbing Summit Positions and Modern Climbing
-
Musings on Materialism Musings on Materialism
-
Sublime Stereotyping Sublime Stereotyping
-
-
-
-
-
-
8 The Making of Modern Climbing: Leslie Stephen
Get access-
Published:July 2020
Cite
Abstract
This chapter focuses on Leslie Stephen's seminal “The Playground of Europe” as a foundational text of modern climbing. It explains how Stephen's work grapples not only with the aftermath of the Matterhorn disaster but also with the fact that all major Alpine peaks had been scaled by 1865. It also investigates Stephen's philosophical and humorous reflections that move emphasis from a particular mountain to one's own faculties, finding challenge and pleasure in the activity of climbing rather than the conquest of first ascents. The chapter looks into the explosion of high-altitude mountaineering and growing popularity of rock climbing all over the world that lends contemporary currency to Stephen's thoughts. It analyzes Stephen's hints at a decisive future direction of climbing at a time when being the first on top of a major Alpine peak is no longer relevant, and scientific inquiry and romantic searching have faded into the background.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
November 2022 | 4 |
February 2023 | 1 |
April 2023 | 3 |
April 2024 | 2 |
August 2024 | 2 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.