Crowley was Responsible for the Deaths of Several Men
Crowley was multi talented, focusing especially on the arts. He did have a singular proclivity towards rock climbing. Historians have noted that had he not devoted so much of his life to the occult, he would instead be remembered as one of the most talented and successful mountain climbers in history. He began climbing in his early twenties, beginning with local landmarks and eventually finding himself traveling half way across the world for his next challenging adventure. By 1902, Crowley had partnered up with fellow climber Oscar Eckenstein, and the pair were to climb K2, the second highest mountain in the world. This trip was unsuccessful and the pair did not reach the summit. Although unsuccessful, it was still a pleasant trip for Crowley. The same cannot be said for his Himalayan expedition of Kanchenjunga in 1905.
Swiss climber Jules Jacot-Guillarmod asked Crowley to lead the expedition with three other fellow climbers and three Kashmiri porters. Throughout the trip, Crowley continued to butt heads with the other climbers. Crowley claimed them to be wholly inexperienced and even reckless, two attributes that could lead to serious injury and even death. The others disliked Crowley’s dictator like manner, both demanding and overly cautious, causing the group to split from Crowley. This would prove to be a fatal mistake.
Crowley warned the group splitting off that one wrong action could trigger an avalance. The climbers nor the porters listened. Crowley later writes, “I ought to have broken the doctor’s leg with an axe, but I was too young to take such a responsibility. It would have been hard to prove afterwards that I had saved him by so doing”. As Crowley had gravely warned, the climbers did trigger an avalanche. Crowley claimed to have heard their cries, but supposedly did not know they were cries for help. It is obvious that one can hear an avalanche and then deduced that the climbers were in need of dire help. All three porters and one of the European climbers passed away.
Crowley had laid in his tent without offering help to any of the men. Crowley would go on to write, “I was not over-anxious under the circumstances to render help. A mountain ‘accident’ of this sort is one of the things for which I have no sympathy whatever”. He had been right to be very cautious, but his actions were callous and perhaps a good insight into his true character: do not cross him. Since Crowley was the leader of the expedition, he was held responsible for all the deaths the avalanche had caused. After this 1905 expedition, Crowley no longer went mountain climbing, although he was eager to offer his words on mountain climbing throughout the rest of his life.
