When we stand on the summit of a mountain, we have the opportunity to contemplate the daily grind of our lives with more detachment. Everyday absurdities of existence are often seen with more clarity when we are not directly embroiled in their turbulence ourselves. Thus mountaineering can contribute to shifts in the way we live our daily lives. As mountaineers, and more specifically as mountain guides, we should from time to time reverse this process by reviewing our guiding practices, which we use routinely on the mountain, from below to gain more rational perspectives.

This is an English translation of text and captions only (see original German version for pictures and diagrams).