We were…waiting on a miracle
Tryna find ourselves in the winter snow
–Ed Sheeran, 2020

Everest 78

In 1978, Pierre Mazeaud became the first Frenchman to climb Mount Everest. The event was widely celebrated throughout France and Western Europe, evidenced by the branded sweater on the little girl in these pictures. Her sweater features an embroidered patch of the phrase Everest 78, mirroring the design on the cover of Mazeaud’s 1978 book about his adventure. Next to this patch is another one, the French flag.

I purchased these photographs from a collector in Brussels, Belgium. No details on the subjects or locations were available; however, the photos offer several clues. First and foremost, the branded sweater. Mazeaud reached the top of Mount Everest on October 15, 1978, 25 years after New Zealander Edmund Hillary and 15 years after American James Whittaker. His countrymen heralded him a hero and he became a tremendous source of national pride.

Logically, branded items like the girl’s sweater soon followed. Such items were likely sold in ski shops in the French Alps, which is probably where these pictures were taken. Another European clue is the Ellesse logo on the mother’s ski pants. In 1978, Ellesse was an Italian sports apparel, which sold skiwear. Interestingly, they were one of the first brands to feature their company logo on the outside of their clothes. Soon after, designer jeans would become the rage of many a Gen-X girl. Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, Bill Blass, but I digress.

The sweet girl, with a glorious mound of waist-length hair, appears to be around seven or eight years old. She looks like such a happy girl with great affection for her mère (mother). The medal around her neck is a ski medal, possibly won in some competition. Also, in the picture below she is sporting a cute little rabbit-fur change purse around her belt loop. Those were so popular in the 1970s.

Gateway to the History of Generation X

Old photographs are the gateway to the history of Gen-Xers in the 20th Century. Frame by frame and face by face, they reveal tiny steps in a collective journey toward the bookend of old age. They offer little tokens of a time that now rests only in our minds and memorabilia. A scarf around the neck. Ski pants from the Age of Aquarius. The hint of blue eyeshadow on the lids, long ago erased by snow, fashion, time.

Beyond the few clues these pictures provide, the rich story of this day remains in the hearts of any survivors who may have been present in the Alpine village that day. If they are still alive, the girl would possibly have turned 50 this year and her mother would likely be in her 80s.

Another thing the photos document is the purity of the mountain, not literally, but in essence, as well as the high regard young Gen-Xers had for it. Climbing Mount Everest was a huge deal when I was a kid. Today, it has become an obscene tourist trap, not scaled by explorers, necessarily, but by those who can afford upwards of $120,000 to pay for the thrilling climb. According to National Geographic, humans have adversely impacted the environment on Everest, leaving behind garbage leaking from glaciers, polluted trails, and piles of human waste.

In 2018, Mazeaud gathered with friends to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his climb, of Everest 78. He said this about it:

Everest is here, but is that reason enough to climb it? Isn’t that such gratuitous pride? These are questions inspired by weakness, cowardice … How could we, both of us, have done so much in the mountains, love her so passionately, despite the friends she has taken from us, if it was? only out of pride? There is pride in our approach, yes, but there are so many other feelings, so many other motivations. Only sometimes suffering can make us hesitate. So the memory of our missing comrades reminds us of the realities: they gave their lives, not out of pride but out of love for what they were doing, also out of a taste for risk, also the intoxication of winning … “

The Everest 78 team, © Pierre Mazeaud.

Pierre Mazeaud at the top of Mount Everest, October 15, 1978.

Afterglow

Finally, off-subject, but not, I will leave you with a few lyrics to Ed Sheeran’s recent song, Afterglow, which he announced recently on Instagram:

We were…waiting on a miracle
Tryna find ourselves in the winter snow
So alone in love like the world had disappeared
Oh, I won’t be silent and I won’t let go
I will hold on tighter ’til the afterglow
And we’ll burn so bright ’til the darkness softly clears

Oh, I will hold on to the afterglow…