Nepal/China - 10 People in 9 Days Die on Mt. Everest as 320 pack dense trail "death zone", May 2019

[mickey2942]

How much does it cost to climb Everest

How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest? | Adventure Alternative Expeditions

Just because you have money, that doesn't mean that you have any sense.

I am all about equality for women and older folks, but the truth is that a 55 year old man, really shouldn't be climbing Everest. It was simply an ego trip. I know that no matter how fit you are, you don't have the same stamina at age 55 that a 25 year old has...fact. And I remember the gal who died a few years ago, very tragic. She wanted to "prove" that a vegan can climb Everest. I guess not.

Why not just climb McKinley/Denali? Because it doesn't have the "cachet" of Everest...

 

[Trudie]

Why not just climb McKinley/Denali? Because it doesn't have the "cachet" of Everest...

I think most have, they need a bigger “rush”.
Sounds like the gov’t needs to regulate how many tickets can be sold. However, I don’t see anyone being turned away......imo, one can always hire a private Sherpa.

 

[mickey2942]

I think most have, they need a bigger “rush”.
Sounds like the gov’t needs to regulate how many tickets can be sold. However, I don’t see anyone being turned away......imo, one can always hire a private Sherpa.

Sure, rich folk can just hire someone to haul their oxygen. And why turn away anyone who has $10,000 to spend for an ego trip? Everest is a cash cow for that area, with tourism.

 

[human]

Sure, rich folk can just hire someone to haul their oxygen. And why turn away anyone who has $10,000 to spend for an ego trip? Everest is a cash cow for that area, with tourism.

$10,000? Um no. $45,000 to $90,000

 

[Snoods]

Three more die on Everest amid overcrowding

Crazy! Yet they purchase permits to climb knowing the risks.

This photo is jaw dropping. They are stacking them up like cordwood. There should not be traffic on the top of Everest! I envision them all falling like dominos.

Three more climbers have died on Mount Everest, taking the death toll to seven in a week - more than the total for the whole of last year.

Local tour organiser Keshav Paudel told AFP news agency that Bagwan (who passed away) had been "stuck in the traffic for more than 12 hours and was exhausted".

(Quotes from above articles.)

 

[zecats]

This photo is jaw dropping. They are stacking them up like cordwood. There should not be traffic on the top of Everest! I envision them all falling like dominos.

(Quotes from above articles.)

Truly makes a picture worth a thousand words.

 

[K_Z]

Part of the dilemma we have is how we think about, refer to, and discuss “who” these people are who are travelling to “climb” Mt. Everest, and provide “support services” to those who do. (Everyone other than the indigenous Sherpas.)

Here's some prompts for each of us to work out our own opinions as to "why or why not". I think it's an interesting thought experiment. (Particularly since I have a friend who went to Everest, with the intention of only going to South Base Camp.)

Are they “adventurers”?

Are they “explorers”?

Are they “eco-tourists”?

Are they “athletes”?

Are they “entertainers”?

Are they narcissists? Sociopaths?

Are they privileged, elite, wealthy tourists?

Are they exploiting the poor country, the Sherpas, and the environment?

Should we “admire” those who are “climbing” Everest now, in the modern era? Should we still celebrate them? Make fawning documentaries about them? Pretend that what they have done should be emulated by others? Pretend what they have done once is more celebratory and unique that what the Sherpas do dozens of times in their lifetimes? Sherpas who repeatedly risk their lives, and die, while putting up ropes and ladders for the elite tourist climbers?

Should we shun these tourist “climbers”? Loudly and persistently criticize them for their exploitation of people and places they are happy to help destroy for their own amusement, and then leave? For the eco-disaster they leave behind?

Should we rationalize and justify the Everest climbing industry because Nepal is a poor country with few industries and resources, and they badly need the industry and the money the tourist climbers bring?

Should we feel badly, and collectively mourn when predictable disasters happen and climbers and Sherpas are killed?

Should we consider these tourist climbers as fools?

 

[happyday]

So now apparently 10 climbers have died this week on Mt. Everest! Wow! I wonder if any of these people were attempting to summit without supplemental oxygen? Sounds insane, but it’s supposedly a thing to do that!
Not sure how true it is, but on My Favorite Murder podcast this week they said 1 in 10 climbers die on Mt. Everest. That’s not so great odds.

 

[Trudie]

$10,000? Um no. $45,000 to $90,000

At least. Plus travel, time off from work, years & years spent traveling & climbing in preparation for Mt. E.

 

[Keine Engel]

Years ago the discovery ch had a week long marathon on Sherpa life, it was fascinating. Really offered insight on how dangerous it is atop a mountain. What a way to make a living.

I was hooked watching the Discovery series' 'Everest: Beyond the Limit'
The way it's filmed with cameras on climbers helmets was gripping & terrifying!
But a fantastic show.

It gets you as close to that mountain as I KNOW I ever want to be that's for sure

Everest: Beyond the Limit​

"For the first season, a 17-member production crew followed 11 climbers, three guides, and a team of Sherpas up the mountain in April and May 2006.
The first season's six-part series included double-amputee Mark Inglis' ascent and brief footage of British climber David Sharp, who died in the attempt.
The series was shot using high altitude equipment and helmet mounted cameras worn by Sherpas."
Here's the 1st Season trailer:

Everest: Beyond the Limit - Wikipedia

 

[Trudie]

I was hooked watching the Discovery series' 'Everest: Beyond the Limit'
The way it's filmed with cameras on climbers helmets was gripping & terrifying!
But a fantastic show.

That’s the one! Absolutely terrifying. Everyone interested in this case should watch.

I wish the government would limit “ticket sales”, to at least prevent deaths from hurrying up & waiting, sans oxygen.

I’d like to know how many, if any, called off their climb after witnessing a few deaths.

 

[blankenship]

'Delays caused by crowding could be fatal': British climber
shared his worries about overcrowding on Everest hours
before he became the tenth to die on Everest in nine days

 

[mickey2942]

$10,000? Um no. $45,000 to $90,000

Yes, I think it used to be $10,000, probably years ago.

I guess if these folks want to risk death to say they climbed Everest, they have every right to do so. I think that they hire plenty of Sherpas to carry their equipment, and they think that they can get up and back...the issue of being stuck in a line probably never crossed their mind.

I read an article about a man who had altitude sickness, his party left him for dead, because they wanted to reach the Summit. Many other people passed him too, until finally some folks stopped to help him. Those folks did not reach the top. But they saved that man's life. They were the real winners.

 

[Trudie]

It would be an amazing experience, but is it worth the risk?

 

[zecats]

That’s the one! Absolutely terrifying. Everyone interested in this case should watch.

I wish the government would limit “ticket sales”, to at least prevent deaths from hurrying up & waiting, sans oxygen.

I’d like to know how many, if any, called off their climb after witnessing a few deaths.

Also the book Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster is a 1997 bestselling non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer. This was made into a movie, called Everest about the 1996 venture where many died trying to ascend the peak. It was made in IMA format and is chilling to watch. 8 died in that season, including Rob Hall, a guide from NZ who had summited for the fifth time. He actually was able to speak to his pregnant wife from the summit before he died. Last words to her "Sleep well, my sweetheart. Please don't worry too much." His body is still up there, just below the South Summit.

 

[zecats]

So now apparently 10 climbers have died this week on Mt. Everest! Wow! I wonder if any of these people were attempting to summit without supplemental oxygen? Sounds insane, but it’s supposedly a thing to do that!
Not sure how true it is, but on My Favorite Murder podcast this week they said 1 in 10 climbers die on Mt. Everest. That’s not so great odds.

10th death in 2 months reported on Mount Everest amid long wait times to descend

The 10th man apparently fainted while trying to descend. He was giving more O2 but it didn't help. He actually tried to change his plans because he was worried about the crowds. So sad. Is this adventure worth the risk of dying? I suppose that's an individual decision. And most, even though knowing the risks, probably think it won't happen to them.

 

[happyday]

10th death in 2 months reported on Mount Everest amid long wait times to descend

The 10th man apparently fainted while trying to descend. He was giving more O2 but it didn't help. He actually tried to change his plans because he was worried about the crowds. So sad. Is this adventure worth the risk of dying? I suppose that's an individual decision. And most, even though knowing the risks, probably think it won't happen to them.

Yes that is so sad.
I can’t imagine the panic realizing you’re in a fatal traffic jam at the top of the world with not enough oxygen there and no way to get down fast enough.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Mandy Moore Starts Her Climb to Everest Base Camp -- See the Pics!

Mandy Moore has started her next adventure.

The This Is Us star took to Instagram on Wednesday to share new photos from her Mt. Everest adventure. Moore, who summited Mt. Kilimanjaro last year, started her "Everest viewing trek" (as she's calling it, in case her group doesn't make it to base camp) earlier this week.

"I went into this Everest viewing trek relatively blind. Not unprepared, mind you...but I wanted to venture forward into the unknown with an open mind and heart and as free of expectations as possible," the actress wrote...

 

[K_Z]

Yes that is so sad.
I can’t imagine the panic realizing you’re in a fatal traffic jam at the top of the world with not enough oxygen there and no way to get down fast enough.

I was a military airevac flight nurse for a long time (high altitude heavy jets), both active duty, and later in the reserves. As part of our ongoing aerospace training, we were thoroughly educated on the effects of altitude on physiology. One of those measures is called "time of useful consciousness" (TUC). That means, the amount of time without supplemental oxygen that you are able to do things like distinguish colors (rods and cones in the eye are quite sensitive to oxygen levels), and ability to make rational, coherent, logical decisions. We trained regularly in a hypobaric (altitude) chamber, where we had to perform various tasks to become aware of our own reactions to hypoxia.

The summit of Everest is above 29,000 feet. No one is immune to hypoxia above 25,000 feet.

This link explains more, and has a table of TUC at various altitudes.

Time of useful consciousness - Wikipedia

 

[mickey2942]

It would be an amazing experience, but is it worth the risk?

No. People are deluded, thinking that they are healthy enough, and have enough money to buy help. It is a narcissist trip. Especially for a man 55 years old.