I’ve always thought this would be an exciting and exhilarating task to accomplish for myself. I have NO climbing experience. Details.
Anyway, is it possible for a person without a lot of experience to successfully complete such a task as this (realistically)?
Any climber Dopers out there? What are your climbing experiences in relation to difficulty of different mountains?
Read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.
You won’t think it’s exciting and exhilarating after that!
Like you’ll see in the book, anyone with a ton of money and the ability to take off 6 months from work could theoretically do it. For the right price, you could find a guide company that will haul your ass up there. But it’s dangerous, very dangerous. The mountain is littered with dead, frozen corpses.
If you got money then the experience needed can be purchased in the form of a capable guide (like Rob Hall and Andy Harris). But another requirement is all you: conditioning, both mental and physical.
I’ve never tackled anything on the scale of the Himilayas so someone else will need to provide some insight there. For me, a once extremely fit, adventurous and daring person, Colorado fourteeners and some lower Alaskan peaks were plenty enough to chew on and provided all the challenge I really cared to endure.
Thanks for the responses.
nyctea scandiaca - I’ll check out the book you mention. Thanks.
I understand completely the danger in climbing a peak such as Everest, and in all likelihood will never have the opportunity to attempt an ascent. I don’t have the time, money, or most importantly, the experience necessary.
I guess my main reason for posting this thread is that there seems to be much focus on climbing and other “extreme” type sports of late. My curiosity as to what kinds of people are able to attempt these climbs has been peaked. FWIW, I’m an average, fairly fit guy, but I don’t know if I’d have the stamina to maintain the focus and strength necessary for an ascent of Everest. In fact, the only “climbing” I’ve ever done is walking up Stone Mountain, in Georgia (yes, I’m well aware that’s not even close to the same thing).
I have much respect for those who are able to summit (or even attempt it) any peak.
It’s an awesome book, you won’t be able to put it down!
As someone already alluded to, Everest has a tourist-trap support system in place which effectively allows anyone with enough time and money to summit with only the briefest of orientations. To do this effectively, however, requires not only a high level of physical fitness, but also a significant amount of directly relevant experience climbing at high altitude.
If you are interested in training yourself to do this, you need to start training both for physical conditioning, and in climbing, self-rescue, team rescue and associated skills, and gradually develop your competency by completing ascents of successively greater technical difficulty.
If you do not already own a copy, purchase “Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills” 7th Edition. This is the de facto standard text/reference book covering all aspects of mountaineering, and is a great place to start learning about the sport and associated skills and equipment. The book by itself is not sufficient to teach you anything, though, so you need to hook up with an experienced mentor who can teach you, or take a series of courses offered by a reputable operator.
Even if you have a course under your belt, understand that THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE. At best, such a course will give you the basic skills required in order to keep you out of trouble as you gain the majority of your knowledge through actually climbing.
I have been active in general mountaineering for fourteen years, winter alpine ascents for six years, and highly technical rock, ice and mixed climbs more recently. Every year I strive to do something more challenging, in order to practice the skills I have, and to increase my level of comfort when pushing my abilities. The 8000 meter peaks in the Nepal Himalaya are a lofty goal, but as yet, even if I could afford the trip, I don’t feel quite comfortable enough to attempt such an ascent without some more high-altitude and multiple-day expeditions under my belt. The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know.
Start with the book, though.
Several of the attorneys I once worked for were climbers. They had scaled Mt. McKinley and several peaks in the Himalayan (sp?) range.
To a man they were not only very, very fit, but also very, very determined and single-minded. “Driven to succeed” at not only climbing, but everything else they did as well. Their intensity in just about everything was a little intimidating.
If you dig on Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, then by all means also read his Into The Wild.
Also read The Climb by Anatoli Boukerev, it’s another look at the disaster detailed in Into Thin Air.
No one, not matter how much money, time, or support staff, is going to climb Mt Everest without being in fantastic physical and mental shape. It is an extremely demanding task with great hardship, danger, and exhaustion. If you meet those criteria then you may be able to climb the mountain without extensive high altitude experience by purchasing that experience in the form of guides. This most certainly isn’t a guarentee, but it will give you a fighting chance.
Keep in mind, for every three people who summit Everest, one person dies on the mountain.
While I’ve only met one person who climbed Everest (he is in Krakauer’s book), I do know several climbers. Because of the need for fitness, and similarity of outlook, they gravitate to my non-geek hobbies.
First, yes they are all very fit. Part of that is the need to be fit, the other part is that climbers tend to have other hobbies requiring fitness, such as bicycling, running, etc. They are all confident in their ability to figure out what is needed for a particular task, and then start putting the pieces together. See Fuji’s post about what he thinks he needs to do. I don’t find them intense, but maybe they are compared to others. They are introverted (in the Meyers-Briggs sense) and like to master a series of skills.
What I find interesting is that they don’t see themselves as risk takers. One friend of mine has climbed peaks like Mt. Logan (near Denali height, but less well known) and Aconcagua (sp?). (None of my friends seem to find Everest appealing. They prefer to earn what they climb, not pay porters to carry everything.) He paraglides in the winter in Summit County CO. He has done a solo bike ride across the country, just to do something in the spring when Summit County has fewer outdoor activities available. He ice climbs, rock climbs, telemarks, etc. I was skiing with him once, and he made a comment along the lines of, “Well, if I was risk taker, I might …”.
Slowmindthinking - your perception of your friend as a risk-taker is exactly the sort of thinking that has rendered me completely uninsurable.
In addition to the climbing activities, I also engage in scuba diving (deep mixed-gas wreck penetrations), skydiving, and swiftwater swimming. I have many years (and a not insignificant sum of money) invested in training for and practising all of these activities, and have an entire room full of equipment that is turned over as things wear or are superceded by superior technologies. I examine everything I attempt critically to identify and mitigate possible risks, and often will forgo an activity if conditions, equipment, or other factors render the safety of such an endeavour questionable. I am a mechanical engineer - a very detail oriented person, and a Myers-Briggs INTP. The perceived risk inherent in most of these activities can, with sufficient planning, training, experience, equipment and judgement, be mitigated to the extent that the greatest risk associated with the activity is driving to get there. Despite this, the actions of a very visible minority of participants in so-called “extreme” activities who lack the prerequisites to engage in such activities safely have scared off the insurers.
I find it odd when anyone refers to me as a “risk taker”. I won’t even drive anywhere in the winter without good tires, tire chains, a bag of salt, a shovel, extra clothing, gloves, flares, a tool kit, extra vehicle fluids, a high-visibility vest and some form of communications (cell phone, radio, etc.), and having done a basic inspection of vehicle condition, fluids, etc. This is how I approach everything I do, be that driving, summiting mountains or jumping out of aircraft.
This is precisely the attitude of all my mountain climbing friends. (I’m kind of curious how many are INTP. It seems to me that only INTP and ISTP types make good mountain climbers.) When I pointed out to him that most people considered him a risk taker, he responded similarly to you. (But not quite, we were skiing at the time, and he knows I am of a similar cloth. Just barely “J” in INTJ.)
It is not I who make you uninsurable, my friend. Number one, where did I say mountain climbers actually are risk takers? I would say that in the small (the carrying out of activities) mountain climbers are risk adverse. In the large (selection of activities) they are risk takers. I can’t imagine any of them sitting at home, watching TV, with just sufficient exercise to lower the risk of an early death due to a sedentary lifestyle. It is curious that most people I know who consider themselves “risk adverse” have “safe” daily activities, and risky lifestyles (eat and sit a lot, perhaps drink excessively). I have never taken up most of your hobbies because I have kids using up all of my time, energy and money.
Number 2, it is the insurers (and you) making you uninsurable. They rate your risk by the activity you choose, not by your approach to the activities.
You’re raising children, and yet I’m the risk taker?! :dubious:
Rob Hall’s dead - he was one of the most experienced mountaineers in the world, and he died taking a party up Everest in 1996 {no cites, but a quick Google on “Rob Hall” should turn up all you need to know, including a site for benefit subscriptions for his widow…} That might put your OP in a little perspective.
I’m always amazed at the diversity here on these boards.
Thanks for all the responses, advice and antecdotes. As I’ve already mentioned (or at least inferred), climing for me will most likely manifest in fhe form of books such as those mentioned in several of your posts.
There is much the earth has to offer; perhaps one day I’ll get to participate in a few of her more challenging activities. For now, I’ll stick to the challenging activity of raising 2 children with one on the way.
For those of you who will be up on the mountain at any given time, I wish you luck, good health, and excitement.
I’m a very amateur rock climber, and no - there’s no way you can climb Everest without heaps and heaps of a) experience, b) time, and c) money. Pick any two. In addition, without heaps and heaps of experience, you shouldn’t climb Everest. Amateurs have no business being there, despite what their money is capable of buying.
If you’re interesting in climbing, I suggest you check out any rock climbing gyms you might have near you. Failing that, see if your local college/university/community college has an outdoor group and whether they do any rock climbing. Failing that, fire up your naked lady/Internet machine and see what a search’ll do you. Rock climbing is great fun, and it’s safe as houses. It’s an excellent workout for both brain and body - you conquer your fear, you reason your way through puzzles, and you make it over very large physical obstacles. You’ll love it. However, be sure to get proper training first --> make a number of your first outings with people who are knowledgeable to learn how it’s done.
Good luck to you!
If you want to get a taste of real mountaineering, but don’t want to break the bank with a trip to Asia or a 6-month commitment, you might want to try a 6-day intro to mountaineering course. Sure, you’re ‘only’ climbing Mt Baker (sub 11k feet), but this mountain has everything you’ll generally encounter on almost any mountain - steep slopes, glaciers, crevasses, and ice walls. I highly recommend the American Alpine Institute’s course. You can check it out here:
http://www.mtnguide.com/ProgramDetail.asp?program=4
Hah! Just noticed that the photo on the linked page is of our group when we went 4 years ago. I’m not in the photo, tho.
As is Andy Harris, IIRC. Same storm. Isn’t he the one Jon Krakauer mistakenly thought he saw?
The Man Who Skied Down Everest, is one of the best films I’ve ever seen. If you can get your hands on it, see it. It may, however, make you have some second thoughts about climbing Mt. Everest.