Pingu the Mountaineer

Overview

Father is cleaning the motorized sled, and asks Pingu to go and find him a clean cloth from the shed. Pingu goes to look and isn’t having much success, but then he comes across an old rucksack. Inside the rucksack he finds a photo of Father and Grandfather in mountaineering gear, in front of a cairn of stones. Pingu drags the rucksack out, shows the photo to Father and asks if he can go up the mountain. Father initially says no, but then remembers how he felt about it and agrees, to Pingu’s delight. They get the gear, Pingu carrying the rope, and Mother waves them goodbye as they set off. Just as the reach the base of the mountain the trailing end of the rope catches between two rocks. Pingu tries flicking the rope in various ways to dislodge it, but it won’t budge. He then pulls on the rope as hard as he can. The rope finally comes free, and Pingu ends up sliding on his bottom right up to the base of the mountain. Father and Pingu rope up, and start to climb, with Father leading. Father is finding the going hard and starts to get very tired. He then realises that the reason he’s so tired is that Pingu has been letting himself be towed up by Father, and is not putting any effort into it himself. Father tells Pingu to do his own climbing. They come to an ice bridge over a crevasse and Pingu doesn’t want to cross. Father crosses and, after overcoming his reluctance, Pingu crosses as well. Father gives Pingu a hug, and points out how much closer to the top they are. When they reach the top Pingu is delighted, and can see their igloo in the distance. Father then takes a photo of himself and Pingu that’s similar to the one that Pingu found of Father and Grandfather.