The REAL Celeste Mountain
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/_-MBKgKhwko
Platformers tend to have basic plots, such as save the princess, stop the evil genius, or, in the case of Celeste, climb a mountain. But there’s a lot more to Celeste than just climbing a mountain, as the story focuses on the depression and anxiety of the main character Madeline. She decides to climb a mountain, without fully knowing why, and while on that journey she grows and learns to deal with the bad parts of herself, which take on a physical manifestation. This is all due to the mountain itself, which brings that part of Madeline out into physical form. That’s not the only peculiar thing about the mountain, as there’s ancient ruins and a hotel run by a ghost all on the mountain. However, is Celeste mountain in the real world, and could you hike up it if you wanted to?
Finding Celeste’s titular mountain wasn’t very hard, as by doing a quick google search I found Mount Celeste. Just like in the game it’s located in Canada, more specifically in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This is also feasible in relation to The supporting character Theo, who could have just come over from Seattle on a ferry for his journey. The mountain stands at about 2,041 meters (6,696 feet), roughly 1,000 meters short of its in game counterpart. However, both mountains have visible forests and bodies of water. Unsurprisingly, there are no ancient ruins, and the hotels on location aren’t cared for by a ghost attendant. No word on if the mountain’s core is able to be explored though.
The fact that it exists is cool as it is, but we can go even farther. What if there’s somebody who wants to go climb Mount Celeste? Would they be able to do it? Well if you ask Jack Horbury and Jock Sutherland, they’d say yes. Those are the first people credited with climbing Mount Celeste, all the way back in 1934. However, even though it’s able to be climbed, not many people seem to do it. In fact, the climbs are so sparse it’s not that easy to find pictures of the summit. However, according to the Canadian Ministry of Environment, it is possible to climb the mountain, as well as camp on it. The website HikeTheIsland.com lists the hike to the summit as 10.5 kilometers (6.5 miles) each way, and talks about 7 hours to go one way individually. Funny, as that’s roughly the amount of time it takes to finish a playthrough of Celeste. This is a full day hike that could go overnight, and is also considered quite difficult. However, just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible. As the first words of Celeste say, You can do this.
Celeste is an amazing game, and that’s definitely helped by its optimistic and relatable message, of facing and overcoming problems such as anxiety and depression. But that can only happen as long as you work towards dealing with the problems and not just pushing them away. People overcome and deal with things like depression in many different ways, whether it be by creating something, or even climbing a mountain. If you’re struggling with depression I implore you to keep pushing through it, because things get better. And for those of you who need a change of pace or something adventurous to do, Mount Celeste is out there waiting for you.
