As I became a climber and got to know other climbers, however, I realized most of them were rebels against the mainstream culture, and flying a flag that said “Viva Los Fun Hogs” on the summit in place of the American flag was a perfect expression of both the rebellion and the commitment to a sport that at its core had no tangible economic value. The great French alpinist Lionel Terray had succinctly captured that idea when he titled his autobiography Conquistadors of the Useless.
