200 climbers attempted to summit yesterday. 2 died. One was a man from UT who took a fall while taking pictures shortly after he summitted. The other was a woman who died after being delayed by the crowd during her descent.
I'll stay home and avoid the crowds. That doesn't appeal to me in the least. EVEREST

I have no interest in Mt. Everest. No big sheep. No big mulies. Not even a dang goat or ibex. I see no point and rest my case.

i hear tell there's some good money in organizing & dealing with those climbs.
lot's of folks with money wants to engage in the "high" adventure.

I don’t like heights anyway!

I like my Oxygen.

There was an HD picture you could zoom around I saw awhile back. The amount of trash up there is crazy.

I heard a couple of guys died in traffic on their way to work today.

Regardless, Everest does not appeal to me either. It is a high risk tourist trap where they pay guys to drag them up hills.

Not on my bucket list.

They can have it.

DF

Wife lost her cousin on that mountain some years ago. They wrote a book and made a movie about it. He was a guide with a lot of experience, but rich thrill seekers without that experience were his Achilles heel. He's still up there. He left a wife and two kids.

Even Bigfoot does not go Everest any more.

I saw that movie, seemed like a good guy...and a decent flick.

I seen a movie where the guy lived in school bus and played with bears, then one day they ate him.

At least they died doing what they loved.

Yep.

Dropping dead while fishing is one thing........falling 10,500 feet to your death is quite another!

I don't know how long it takes to fall that far, but it's plenty long to think "this was really stupid".

At least I died doing what I looooooooooooooooooo................



and a minute later.......................oooooooooooooooove SPLAT!

people who are in search of excitement can find it on that adventure to the top, if they have the funds to pay for it.

A number of years ago, there was a guy from the Midwest Center of Sport and Culture who made what seemed like a yearly attempt to get to the top. I don't think that he ever made it, but the CR Gazette was completely and totally fascinated with the story.

I just don’t understand the allure Everest holds for “thrill seekers”. Everything is all roped and laddered up, just follow the giant Disneyland line up the mountain. There’s no personal accomplishment other than being able to afford a good guide and walk uphill in an oxygen depleted environment.

The other thing that really grates on me is that most of the people that climb it are of the vegan, liberal-progressive, greenie variety. They’re the type of people that support idiots like AOC and fear that global warming is going to wipe out mankind yet those same people have no problem leaving their trash and feces in what was once a pristine environment. They somehow justify their pollution and the ruination of a mountain that they revere because it suits their agenda. Since they can afford the $20-$50,000+ it costs to hire a guide they justify and excuse their despicable destruction of that sacred place because they can. They’ll come back here to the states and lecture us about their “amazing feat” and how connected to Mother Earth they are while conveniently leaving out the fact that they left hundreds of pounds of crap behind them polluting the mountain forever. They’re the type of hypocrites that believe the ends justify the means ONLY FOR THEM.....everyone else must abide by a completely different set of rules, rules that will be defined by the liberal mountain climbers and foisted upon the masses. Their lectures about the sacredness and beauty of Mt. Everest always conveniently omit their contribution to the destruction of that beauty.

I was recently reading an article about a bunch of mountaineers and Sherpa teams that, with the aid of helicopters, removed several TONS of trash from basecamp alone.

Everest is the highest and certainly very dangerous, but there are plenty of others more dangerous. I've never been into that type of climbing.

I read about another mountain in that area with a 3000' shear face. It took 2 days to get up it in the best of conditions. In the article I read, there were 2 teams climbing it at the same time, Americans and Germans. They were all about 1/2 way up when a nasty cold front came in. The Americans went back down. The Germans bedded down for the night in hammocks. It got super cold and that night the Germans all froze to death.

i'd rather go hunt cape buff or grizzly with a bow

Where I land as well.

Bus - McCandless
Bear - Treadwell

It's an impressive mountain and this is the way I'd like to see it...from a much lower viewpoint.

I’d love to climb Everest! But not under the conditions that exist today. Narrow windows of good conditions driving all the teams to try and summit at the same time. If I were to fail on my own account that’s one thing. But to die because I was in extremis and couldn’t get down because of the lines would be no bueno. And many are in extremis because of the delays getting up.

A great place to chill if nothing else.



One died in a traffic jam, Ive never known anyone who likes traffic jams.

Its probably more appropriate to say she died in 'peak' hour ..

"Summit" is one of those nouns turned into a verb that annoys me.

You'd better get used to being annoyed because it's become common usage these days. That's the way it is, you can't change it, so there's no sense in getting ulcers over it.

The fall wasn’t as bad as the landing.

DF

Very true. So common that I don't even blink an eye at the poor grammar any more.

The marketing concerning Everest is very powerful in peoples minds,

I knew a woman who did Everest twice, but died on another much less talked about 8000 + m peak.

The sad thing about Everest is the amount of people that increase the danger,
ie; its not just man against the mountain.

IIRC, Thing she said about Everest, ..."Going up is optional , coming down is mandatory'

Dying doing what you love, eh? We have a 480' bridge here with legal BASE jumping. A couple years ago, a 70+ guy came up with a really great stunt. He had an assistant who was going to light his chute on fire. Then he'd jump, release the burning chute, and pop his good chute. Didn't work as planned. The assistant sprayed the chute with some kind of propellant but it also got on the jumper. When they lit the chute, the flames jumped to the man and he went off the bridge in a ball of fire. He didn't release the burning chute. He just fell. The flames likely would have burned the lines on his good chute anyway.

I've climbed several 14000' peaks here in Colorado. I enjoyed it. I really like looking up the mtn from the hiway& saying I've been to the top of that one.

Some people actually climb because they enjoy it. Many deride activities outside of their own experience,and enjoy it.


mike r

The climbers who want the maximum difficulty should go to K2 if they want to really accomplish something that other climbers can't do. It is much more difficult to climb and they don't call it the "killer mountain" for nothing. No long lines there.

You don't have to travel halfway around the planet to die on a mountain: Mt. McKinley, Alaska, summer of 1967 - the Wilcox Expedition. Seven members reached the top but were caught in a wicked storm on the way down. Never found, they're still up there. I bought the book, "The Hall of the Mountain King", by survivor Howard Snyder, in 1975 and it still resides in my book case.

3 more died up there yesterday. That's 7 for the WEEK. Nepal has issued 400 permits (at $11k each) for this season. There's a big traffic jam at 26k feet and people have to wait for hours in what's called the Death Zone. One of yesterday's casualties was stuck up there for 12 hrs and was exhausted in the thin air. Apparently, they get exhausted climbing up and they can't take the long waits in the thin air to get back down.

Agreed.

Or, perhaps even moreso with Annapurna and Nanga Parbat.

There is a pretty cool Netflix series on Everest. Wonder what it costs? Close to $200K I would guess.

This is what it looked like:

That's crazy.

https://i.iheart.com/v3/re/new_assets/5ce8083441b3e30421a3b702?ops=max(650,0),quality(80)

Rob Hall?

They're freaking nuts.

Looks like that would suck.

Got a chance to talk to a couple guys who climbed Everest on different occasions. One said he initially thought it was great but as the years went by after the climb he began to notice his memory was not what it was pre-climb and figured the time spent in oxygen debt while in the "death zone" did more damage to his brain than he would have liked and was concerned about future dementia issues as he got older.

The other told the tale of spending a night at the last camp before his summit push puking into a cook pot and spewing diarrhea from the other end, his butt sticking out the tent door while 60+ MPH winds lashed his naked tenders and a$$.
Now THAT sounded like fun!

I have no need to prove anything to myself or others.




P

Me neither. Climbing Mt. Everest has absolutely zero benefit to mankind and doesn’t impress me at all. Those that have been of service to their neighbor, friends, church, etc are far more impressive than some liberal taking advantage of an entire culture by appropriating them to be their porters. It’s no longer a feat of epic proportions like it was for Norgay or Whittaker, it’s simply a logistical nightmare that if everything cooperates translates into a long walk uphill in an oxygen depleted environment.

Unfortunately the infusion of western money that’s paid for the privilege of “climbing” the mountain is the largest source of revenue for Nepal and the communities that support the “climbers” so they’ve become dependent upon that for survival. I have a lot of respect for the Sherpas and the life they’ve scratched out in such a harsh and unforgiving environment.

It's a big bonus for Nepal. The permit fees alone this season were $4.4 million. That's 400 climbers at $11k each. Then there's all that money the tourists spend for guides, lodging, transportation, etc. It's a major industry for Nepal for sure.

I believe thats 2 difffrent movies. Treadwll and I can't recall the others name right now.

Those two with a bow are on my list. Likely the buff won't happen as I have zero desire to ever see Africa in general, though that could change.

The grizz, well I"ll take a brown with a gun first..

And I'd love to climb Denali though I don't see that happening ever. But I am just happy with the chance to see the mountain every day while working. Even about to get ready to leave to take a flight tour with K2 Aviation here in a bit. Hope it clears some, but its my only chance currently.

Everest, I could see that too in a way. But I'd think the folks like me that would like to do a few like that, wouldn't care for how commercial it is now. I'm sure Denali may be similar. I know the climb window is very short. I was amazed that the flights to base camp are only about 600 bucks up to 125 pounds of gear.

I read the book "into thin air", after that I had no desire to try and climb everest. I think one of the movies was based on that book, but the book was 10x better. It's looks like its a bigger CF every year.

26,000 plus feet is not a mild peak.Even if less talked about

Denali. Please. Yep, just a nit to pick.

Scott Fischer. His mom was the salt of the earth and really sort of encouraged Scott in his endeavors. His daughter Katie is a nurse now and I think his son Andy might be in the music business.

The movie was kind of loose with Scott's portrayal. Scott was a VERY skilled climber - one of the best ever. Did the Matterhorn, K2 (which he thought was harder than Everest), and Everest without O2, plus a bunch of others. There's a video on youtube he made a few days before that ascent saying his job was to get his clients to summit and keep them alive. He died doing the latter. He went back and forth between camps and clients. He started getting sick. There were back-ups on the mountain and he was late getting to the top. Weather hit on his way down and that was it. If it was every man for himself above the dead zone, he'd be alive today.

You can get killed much closer to home, true. Three of the world's best alpine climbers were killed on Howse Peak in Alberta last month, they perished in an avalanche.

$65K in 1996

it's an entreprenuerial money making business for risk-takers who are willing to sign climbers on for the adventure who have money in their pockets.

nothing socially beneficial about it, once it was originally climbed. but, it's a fun thing to tell folks you climbed Everest, at least that's what i believe.

I've worked with three people that summited Everest.

Never met anyone that completed the Pac Trail.


I'd rather do the PCT. It honestly seems more impressive.

Excellent post!

Rob in all his climbing experience , gave into the wishes/influences of his client rather than his own better prof. judgement.

When a stranded Rob made radio contact he asked the silly question;' 'Won't somebody come and help me?'...

what's not often mentioned, is that two sherpas [that summited two days before and were exhausted],
did leave camp IV (26,000 ft) in an attempt to assist him down, apparently they got to within 700 ft of
the Sth Summit(28,700 ft) with Robs position just below the Sth summit, but they were forced to turn back.
..they came to within like a couple hundred feet or less of his position. but even had they reached him they
themselves may not have been in an able bodied condition to help him, ..its possible all three could have perished.


Three Sherpas also set off from camp IV toward Scott Fischer and Makalu Gau 1200 ft away...Fischer was found dead
and left on the ledge, while Gau was brought down.

I think regular people can hike the PCT as long as they are in reasonably good health, and are determined enough. I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail a few years ago.

I think climbing Everest would be an enormous challenge and a big personal accomplishment. Even guided it takes good lungs and stamina and courage.

It's cheaper as well to do those

In 1967 it was Mt. McKinley.

People wanna climba mountain.

They ain't botherin anybody else.

Leave em alone.

If the trash on Everest becomes a problem for me, I'll deal with it.

I promise.

Plastics in the oceans is a bigger issue than oxygen bottles and bodies on the mountain. ..

I get a laugh when people say a mountain is 'sacred'.

Where is the official boundary in all that called the Himalayas that separates a sacred rock from the not sacred?

Somehow I just can't feel bad for a vegan libtard , polluting hypocrites dying on Mt. Everest......

And, climbers have to step over bodies of people that have died (and been left) on the mountain. Google "Bodies on Mt. Everest" for some pix.

Here's a You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDQeSoRAjuY

these images are reason enough to not gamble on an ascent!

If those bodies is liberals, I'm gonna book a trip.

There's an estimated 200 bodies up there.

The last documentary I watched about one guy that fell & died stated that his buddy, while trying to sleep, could hear the fallen comrade moaning & crying out for help all night. For some reason he made no effort to find him.

What a pity to spend so much money and time to get up Everest and have it turn out like that; trash and crowds

Really there’s only one endeavor left on Everest.....

.....the first guy to get laid up there 😎

It's been about 65 years since Hillary made it to the top. I'm guessing that your endeavor was done a long time ago.

I’d not be too critical, the way I understand it, conditions are so surreal up there that the guy who made it back would almost certainly die trying to find the injured guy in the dark and even if he did find him, would be physically incapable of rendering aid.

I do recall though that a few years back two Brits passed on making the summit by opting to save the life of an incapacitated climber instead.

When I moved to Fairbanks in 1976, it was Mt. McKinley, in Mt. McKinley National Park.

It's always been McKinley to me, and ,imely always will.

In '76, Denali was favored by the natural, hippy, crowd.

I guess it's caught on since then.

Further up the thread. You are correct; McCandless (bus; “Into the Wild”.

3 more today. It's up to 10 now this season. That's a record. The latest was a Brit to got to the top, then dropped dead after only 150 meters going back down. This has become an international joke.

I grew up with McKinley as well; always thought that the Denali "insisters" were a bit pretentious. (I could be wrong - I have been before.)

Not sure how 10 fatalities would be considered a record. There were 15 deaths in 1996.......12 in May, and 3 more in September.

The avalanche in the Khumbu Ice Fall killed far more in 2014, as did the Earthquake in 2015.........most in Base Camp.

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.

1 more today. Tally at 11 climbers so far this season. Risk/reward. Hope it was worth it.

I don't really care one way or another so it does not affect me, if someone else does then that is on them.

The picture looks like the line up to see Santa in A Christmas Story.

Is that Ralphie I see halfway up the line!!

regodamndiculous activity and they got what they paid ($100k) for if you ask me but nobody did.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I was a lot more impressed by the guy who climbed El Capitan in Yellowstone without ropes than I would be by 200 dummies standing in line on Everest.

that would be Yosemite, and that was a much more impressive climb. Alex Honnold is his name !

Gotta be a pretty nasty fugging trail
People schitting and pissing everywhere.

Well .....
At least their ain't no flies.....

Everest has become highly romanticised and a 'trophy' achievement.
deaths can be apportioned largely to inexperience of both client and guides,(some clients don't even know how to put on a crampon)
although only A very small percentage attempt it without oxygen, their death rate is much higher.

Seven Summits Co. have 40% of Everest clients. and they have two dead clients on Everest this Year.
the Co. has also experienced three deaths on Makalu and one on Annapurna., so far for 2019,
( clients and sherpas)

So statistically, Everest despite the schittfight up there, aint any worse [if you go with Seven Summits].

below are Himalaya deaths overall for 2019 for some peaks;

Kangchenjunga >
2019, 15 May B.Baidya - Hypothermia
2019, 15 May K.Kanrar -Hypothermia
2019, 15 May R.Vivanco -Missing


Makalu >
24 May 2019 Nima Tshering Sherpa
16 May 2019 D.Ghos Disappearance
16 May 2019 N.Singh Altitude sickness
8 May 2019 R.Hidalgo

Hidalgo dead in his tent 20,669 feet. ... previous day with Sherpa team installing
a fixed line for safety.. climbing without supplemental oxygen.

Annapurna >
3 May 2019 Wui Kin Chin Hypothermia

Lhotse >
17 May 2019 Ivan Yuriev Tomov found dead in his tent after summiting Lhotse without
supplemental oxygen or sherpa support.

Cho Oyu >
1 May 2019 Phujung Bhote Sherpa died after falling into a crevasse while fixing rope near Camp 2.

Nanga Parbat >
24 February 2019 Daniele Nardi
24 February 2019 Tom Ballard

It’s kinda getting on par with hunting in Africa. Rich guy hobby..

10K for the permit and you have to wait in line. Pretty Pathetic

You'd think their permit to summit would only be good for a single day to alleviate overcrowding since they appear to only be able to summit during a two week period. Tough luck if the weather is bad.

Selfish arrogant people could never tolerate that order.

Weather is way too big of a factor to pick a day. Part of the problem seen in the pic, nice day and everybody wants to summit.