4 dead on Everest in two days, 10 for the season

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by AltaGuy

I think they should outlaw bottled oxygen on Everest (and the other 8000ers). Would weed out the people who shouldn't be up there, and many people would turn back earlier if their bodies were not acclimatizing.

It's true that a lot of very good mountaineers would never be able to summit, but I think that is ok. I think Reinhold agrees with me, so that's my appeal to authority.

Very true. Oxygen doesn't help with the effects of altitude either. It just makes you feel a bit better but the effects of lower atmospheric pressure are still creating hace/hape problems. The symptoms may be masked long enough for you to get down or sadly, to get up in the first place.

[DownhillGoat]

I hadn't realized no one has climbed it since 2014. Have to wonder if Everest ever gets regulated a little tighter.

[CaptainCrunch]

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

I hadn't realized no one has climbed it since 2014. Have to wonder if Everest ever gets regulated a little tighter.

seems to me that it would be unlikely given the amount of money generated by the climbing permits.

hard to imagine that there are some people out there would have climbed it several times

[Thor]

A friend of mine was on the mountain when the earthquake hit Nepal, its been her life long dream to climb that mountain and she is still really shook up about the whole ordeal. She saw so much devastation and death but the amazing woman she is, she stayed to help rescue and do everything she could to help base camp get people down the mountain.

The climbers have my utmost respect, even if with the guides and how well everything is prepped they still face so much danger.

[troutman]

Why this year has been so dangerous for Mount Everest's climbers

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/28/world...why/index.html

This climbing season's 11 deaths so far, though, are not related to one event but to several factors that have caused overcrowding in the most dangerous areas of the route to the summit.

Victoria man who stood atop Everest recounts heroism in deadly climbing season

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-...limbing-season


Mount Everest cannot become an amusement park

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opin...musement-park/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...adly-climbing/


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/w...st-deaths.html

[Phaneufenstein]

The Current had a guest on today who was saying that while overcrowding doesn't help, the bigger issues are, insufficient training, poor planning, and going with bargain type sherpa companies who will take almost anyone up there. He said the typical cost of a trusted company is about $65k. Some people choose to save and end up paying dearly for it.

[CaptainYooh]

I was listening to this story on CTV this morning. I really don't understand the driving force behind people's desire to do something so dangerous as a leisure activity. Risk (death) and reward (bragging rights) are incomparable. As a society, we overwhelmingly judge and shame people hurting their own health by smoking or doing drugs; yet, we praise and adore those who do these absolutely useless and meaningless achievements while not only putting their own lives at risk but also risking health and lives of their families, rescue workers and their families etc.

P.S. Another story this morning from Maui, where a woman got lost in the jungle for 17 days causing the entire island searching for her; helicopters, volunteers etc. Went on a hike in the dense jungle, wearing yoga pants and a tank-top. You know, connecting with nature, finding her inner spirit and all...

[Hemi-Cuda]

Dare’s determination to climb Mount Everest dates back to nine years ago, when he set a goal to complete the Seven Summits challenge, in which climbers summit the tallest peaks on each continent. Dare is raising money for B.C. Children’s Hospital, and he’s surpassed his goal of raising $8,848 — one dollar for every metre he climbed.

The guy probably spent 10x the amount he raised for charity just mounting his Everest trip. It just seems like such a narcissistic thing to do

[burn_this_city]

I had a teacher in High School who climbed Everest, he was your prototypical braggart. Every conversation had his Everest climb woven into, to the point it was absurd and people were sick of hearing about the stupid mountain. This was 20 years ago when it was still somewhat of a rare feat. He crystallized the idea in me that people do it for the ego and bragging rights.

Edit: Apparently my memory is fading, I talked about this crap 7 years ago when this thread was created.

[Lubicon]

John Krakauer's book 'Into Thin Air' is a fantastic read. It recalls the 1996 Everest disaster which although is quite different than what is happening this year it provides a great description of the climb itself and what happens along the way. Highly recommend this book.

[Fuzz]

I often think this mountain has just gotten stupid, but then I remember that no, it's the people.

[Bigtime]

Have I posted in here before that I am 1000x more impressed with those that take on K2 and succeed? Apparently Everest is pretty tame from a technical standpoint, whereas K2 is the real deal.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Have I posted in here before that I am 1000x more impressed with those that take on K2 and succeed? Apparently Everest is pretty tame from a technical standpoint, whereas K2 is the real deal.

Even then, K2 is probably so much less busy that it becomes much safer.

[holden]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

It just seems like such a narcissistic thing to do

Narcissism at the utmost. Paying a load of money to get your name added to a list of thousands and thousands that have been there, done that, got the selfie.

The truely gross thing is the amount of trash that is left on the mountain and in the region because of these self centered types.

[TheIronMaiden]

https://www.livescience.com/63061-ho...t-everest.html

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Phaneufenstein

The Current had a guest on today who was saying that while overcrowding doesn't help, the bigger issues are, insufficient training, poor planning, and going with bargain type sherpa companies who will take almost anyone up there. He said the typical cost of a trusted company is about $65k. Some people choose to save and end up paying dearly for it.

By trusted company they mean Western with a Western guide.

While cheating out can increase risk the concept that the western companies are inherently better isn’t true. Just look back at the two American companies that killed off most of their guides in one year in the famous year of Everest fatalities.

The western guides are still selling the same false dream. Just spend enough money and our guides will put you on top of the world. If you have enough climbing experience to climb Everest you probably don’t need the expensive guiding industry to put you on top.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Even then, K2 is probably so much less busy that it becomes much safer.

No, crowding or not K2 is a killer compared to Everest.

[OMG!WTF!]

K2 is a lot harder to get to than Everest. At best it's 14 days from Islamabad but usually much longer and much harder to deal with. On the other hand, the longer, more gradual walk is better for acclimatizing. Almost all trekkers get to Everest Base Camp. But less than half get to K2 bc.

K2 basically has one viable route that 75% of climber take. It's a bottleneck like the Everest picture for the majority of the route not just the Hillary Step. One good thing though is that you can't fit a hundred tents at the higher camps on K2 so that thins it out a bit.


The SE ridge on Everest has some room to move around in other parts of the climb. Everest also splits the majority of climbers between two routes that get the majority of attempts.

K2 has worse weather and is much more technical for sure. But you can find a company to take you up if you want. It's a bit more than Everest but what's a few bucks.

There's a video of a Canadian falling down K2 last year. I won't post it because it's so awful. But it really shows the scale of the mountains there and what they can do to you.

[FireGilbert]

Damn, reading through this thread all the old posts are still relevant.

I am the type of person that loves climbing on top of big things to see the view, sometimes disregarding the trip back, but I do not get the appeal of Everest at all. It has become the world's most expensive and deadly guided tour for adventurers looking to pad their Instagram and corporate types looking to pad their resume. There are so many other mountains out there I would be much more impressed with due to the skill required to summit. Then just looking at the coolest factor Chimborazo in Ecuador excites me the most being the furthest point away from the centre of the earth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimborazo

It's obviously up to the locals in both countries but I am going to say shut it down. Not immediately but through a program of education, capping numbers, and using funding to promote other tourist activities. Slowly reduce the numbers over a few decades and then close the mountain.

Also this from The Onion which isn't really even satire:

https://www.theonion.com/world-popul...-on-1835075562

Saying they had no real problem with wealthy thrill-seekers failing in their efforts to scale the tallest mountain on earth, the entire human population admitted Tuesday that they are, in fact, completely fine with rich people dying on Mount Everest.