Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Mt Everest is busy this time of year

My mistake. I read it wrong. It's a record number of climbers, not a record number of deaths, so far.

Ah.......yes, record number of climbers. And surely a disaster waiting to happen. In 1996, climbers (many arriving late to the summit) descended into that storm......as well as being caught in it up higher. The margins of safety are so small up there, and so many outside influences out of your control.

nepal needs the money. surely that's a factor.

one could say it regulated for safety.

others might say it's not properly regulated.

maybe the climbers aren't sufficiently educated.

more emphasis on building infrastructure at base camp?

The risk of death is one of the appeals of Everest. If everyone lived, what would be the challenge of it?

Many say that Everest has been climbed so many times that people tend to brush off the danger. It's still a very dangerous mountain, largely because of the altitude but also avalanches and other factors. I've read more than once that the average climber up there isn't nearly as well prepared as those who attempt lesser known mountains.

somebody is marketing an adventure?

I haven't heard if they have a wheelchair route open yet.

Of course.......that's certainly part of it. If you followed mountaineering, particularly the Himalayas and the quest for the 14 summits over 8,000 meters, the 1996 tragedy was an eye-opener. Two of the most qualified mountaineers in the world died while leading separate expeditions on Everest. Rob Hall and Scott Fischer were among the very best. Without rehashing the entire episode, at the very least it was instructive in showing that minor mistakes, oversights, and omissions are cumulative. The margin of error is minuscule.

RE: Marketing.....and Krakhauer's book "Into Thin Air" about the 1996 tragedy

Fischer was the one who first suggested that Krakauer write an article for Outside Magazine saying that Krakauer could make the climb because they'd "built a yellow brick road to the summit." Fischer lobbied for Krakauer to make the climb, and originally he was supposed to go with Fischer's guide service. However, plans changed when Rob Hall offered the magazine a better deal. Initially, Fischer was upset at the switch, but when Krakauer encountered him on the mountain, Fischer bore no grudge.

Ya, I'm going to walk over there and kick that black bull square in the nuts because he's there.

The evening news just reported on it. Supposedly the local government is getting blamed for several hiking deaths because they issued so many permits to climb. Ummm.,, ok

I know a guy who made it to the summit and back alive.

He said that it wasn't as tough as McKinley. He also said that the entire area is filthy beyond belief and that he is surprised that more people don't get sick from the mountains of trash and the tons of human waste. If Nepal's economy didn't depend so heavily on mountain climbing tourism, they might make more of an effort to clean up and protect the environment.

Starting to look like San Francisco up there.

what is an acceptable death rate, at the current level of prices required to climb?

we know there's automobile death rates, and it's related to miles traveled.

seat belts has probably helped, everything considered.

is a physical exam required before the adventure?

It appears that there is incentive to take supplies up to the base area and to the higher altitude camps, but no incentive to back-haul the trash, garbage, and human waste so it just piles up. The outfitters never show pictures of the trash/garbage dumps. People seem to forget that Nepal is a poor third world country with many of the usual third world country issues.

There actually just might be some truth in that. Saw this pic on reddit.
200 people waiting in line to summit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/bs5mya/queue_of_200_people_at_the_top_of_mt_everest/

There's also the problem of removing the dead bodies. They don't compost at those temperatures. Supposedly there are over 200 of them up there now that can't be removed by normal methods, whatever that would be.

madness.

381 permits issued this spring season.
41 teams with 378 climbers have permits to climb Everest.

estimated the number of people climbing Everest in 2019 could - after the busy autumn climbing season -
exceed 2018 record of 807 people reaching the summit.

Someone asked earlier what it COSTS to climb Everest, . it can range from a 'budget' $30,000 - up to - $130,000

Depends whether you want a Nepalese,Tibetan or western guide service provider and what level of service you want.

A top end Nepalese service can cost close to 70K, Tibet 85K, and luxury western top-shelf service 130K.


Nepal requires using a local company to organize your permit at a cost of $2,500 for the team, a refundable trash deposit
of $4,000/permit plus a Liaison Officer costing $3,000 per team.
These total $9,500 BEFORE the $11,000 per person climbing permit. So before you hire guides, yaks food or gear you must
come up with almost $20,000 in Nepal.


More extensive details on costs, insurance, evacuation services, etc,.. HERE:
http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/201...ost-to-climb-mount-everest-2019-edition/

I view it as if you wanna climb a big azz mountain and you get injured or die it is NOT the government’s fault.

Actually, there are two lines there......ascending and descending. Not that it makes much difference.........the deaths in that area this year were from people descending after summiting.

Guessing that ratio does not change much. More climbers, more deaths.

I understand the appeal. But that is way too dangerous and expensive for me. I have no problem with those that go. As mentioned above I don't feel sorry for the ones that don't make it, they died doing what they enjoyed. I have always said I want to tip over chasing a big bull around the mountains.