“Afterward, Twight wrote an article for Climbing magazine, entitled “Justification for an Elitist Attitude.” In it he wrote: I’m an elitist prick, and I think posers have polluted mountaineering. They replace skills and courage with cash and equipment. They make the summit, not the style, the yardstick of success. Only marginal minds or true individuals individuals used to discover mountaineering. Lack of social support forced them to be autonomous, to turn climbing into a lifestyle isolated from society. We had community back then. Now I’m embarrassed to call myself a climber, because close on the heels of the admission some dilettante will ask whether I’ve read Into Thin Air or done Everest. Synnott, Mark. The Impossible Climb (p. 136). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Synnott, Mark. The Impossible Climb (p. 136). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ”