Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - 4 dead on Everest in two days, 10 for the season

Tron_fdc · 05-24-2012, 10:33 AM

I've read loads of books on Everest, and it's fascinating to see the politics behind a summit attempt. To the point that team members have made death threats to each other afterwards if something went wrong.

There are a number of expedition guides that will take you on, depending on how much you want to pay. Obviously, the quality of the guides will affect the price, and it's usually the cheaper ones that have the problems on the mountain. There have been instances where the top groups get together before the summit season, and share the cost to install ropes they intend to use throughout the year. Some of the independants don't share this cost, but still expect to take advantage of them. One year the ropes were taken down, and this was quickly followed by outrage by people who didn't pay into their installation, as it was exposing them to massive risks on summit attempts. This is only one example of the controversy surrounding the mountain, and there are many. Properly prepared camps were being looted by unprepared, desperate climbers, leaving the people who needed their supplies and had made the right prior arrangements for them without necessities, causing even more problems. Imagine coming down from a summit to what you expect to be a stocked tent, only to find it had been ransacked by someone in front of you for your supplies, because they didn't prepare properly.

I don't know if things have changed (hopefully they have) but the mountain was turning into a garbage dump of oxygen cylinders, tents, bodies, and human waste as nothing biodegrades at that altitude. I got the impression people were willing to pay any price to summit, and that included the price of supplies (theirs or peoples around them), as well as the actual price of human life. More than one case exists where climbers ignored struggling climbers either because they're in a different group, or because they had all agreed beforehand that the summit was worth more than someone losing their life.

Just about every book I've read on Everest since 1996's "Into Thin Air" has mentioned concerns over an increasing death toll unless it somehow gets regulated. I doubt that will happen anytime soon though, seeing how much money is made up there. You have to know there's a problem when there's a reality show with a British Supermodel's summit attempt come on the TV.

05-24-2012, 10:33 AM	#38
Tron_fdc In Your MCP Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Watching Hot Dog Hans Exp:	I've read loads of books on Everest, and it's fascinating to see the politics behind a summit attempt. To the point that team members have made death threats to each other afterwards if something went wrong. There are a number of expedition guides that will take you on, depending on how much you want to pay. Obviously, the quality of the guides will affect the price, and it's usually the cheaper ones that have the problems on the mountain. There have been instances where the top groups get together before the summit season, and share the cost to install ropes they intend to use throughout the year. Some of the independants don't share this cost, but still expect to take advantage of them. One year the ropes were taken down, and this was quickly followed by outrage by people who didn't pay into their installation, as it was exposing them to massive risks on summit attempts. This is only one example of the controversy surrounding the mountain, and there are many. Properly prepared camps were being looted by unprepared, desperate climbers, leaving the people who needed their supplies and had made the right prior arrangements for them without necessities, causing even more problems. Imagine coming down from a summit to what you expect to be a stocked tent, only to find it had been ransacked by someone in front of you for your supplies, because they didn't prepare properly. I don't know if things have changed (hopefully they have) but the mountain was turning into a garbage dump of oxygen cylinders, tents, bodies, and human waste as nothing biodegrades at that altitude. I got the impression people were willing to pay any price to summit, and that included the price of supplies (theirs or peoples around them), as well as the actual price of human life. More than one case exists where climbers ignored struggling climbers either because they're in a different group, or because they had all agreed beforehand that the summit was worth more than someone losing their life. Just about every book I've read on Everest since 1996's "Into Thin Air" has mentioned concerns over an increasing death toll unless it somehow gets regulated. I doubt that will happen anytime soon though, seeing how much money is made up there. You have to know there's a problem when there's a reality show with a British Supermodel's summit attempt come on the TV.