The Black Mountaneer - an entity from Soviet folklore The Black (or Dark, as I’ll call him later, since it can have wrong associations in English otherwise) Mountaineer is an enduring piece of folklore in many Eastern Bloc countries, a patron/boogeyman of hikers and mountain climbers And I was not able to find any mentions of him in English, so - here. Enjoy the story Appearance: Looks like a climber with black gear and black shadow instead of a face Behavior: Usually helpful, even the “vengeful” version. But still dangerous, and usually encountered in dangerous circumstances The story: In almost all of the stories, he is a restless spirit of a climber There are several main versions of his story: Vengeful. In this version, the Dark Climber was betrayed by his climbing mate and deliberately left for dead. He is still searching for his killer and/or his body (that was never recovered) as a revenant of sorts. During the night, he’d drag climbers out of their tents and peer into their faces, trying to see if they are his killer. Since they aren’t, he leaves them alone after that, although they might find themselves in various weird positions after waking up. This version might also cause disasters to befall the climbers who disrespect him (especially if they joke about the dead climbers) Guardian. In this version, the Dark Climber was the last survivor of a doomed group whose squabbles and lack of preparation led to their demise. He tried desperately to keep them together, but failed, and was the last to die. This version is trying to prevent similar disasters from befalling the other groups, and his appearance signals that they are about to make a grave mistake. He can also lead a lost climber to safety, or appear to give commands to a struggling group Wanderer. In this version, the Dark Climber was left for dead after a tragic accident, as his group was not able to recover him/his body. They eventually had to move on. When he came to, the spirits of the mountain took pity on his plight, and offered to grant him one wish. - Do you want to rejoin your group? - No, they have mourned me already - Do you want revenge? - No, they are punishing themselves already - What do you want then? - To wander the mountains forever And so he did, becoming an ever-wandering spirit. This version tends to also be helpful, but in a more mystical fashion. He’d pretend to be a fellow climber sometimes, and he will test your conduct, asking for food, directions, or seeing if you respect the mountain. You’d better not disappoint him #folklore #hiking #mountaneering