# Down's Syndrome kid "Climbs Everest"!!! No he didn't. Fark you, People Magazine and daddy. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 31, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452 "2013-03-31T18:54:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/101 "2013-04-03T05:30:55Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Weird shit happens to you at only 14,000 feet that you don’t experience at 11,000. I’d have to agree getting to 17,600 over 70 miles & 10 days would qualify as a “difficult uphill hike” worthy of accolades, especially when done by someone with a disorder that often affects heart function. Fucking awesome this guy did it, nothing but props. Good luck hauling _my_ fat ass around at those altitudes for that long. No kidding. I flew into Quito at 10,000 feet, and I was winded on staircases, but mostly OK. Went up into the highlands at 12,000 feet and hiked around with a 50 pound pack, no big deal. Went up onto a mountainside at 14,000 feet with no pack, just warm clothes, and got one hell of a headache, my balance went out entirely, and my vision suddenly blacked out, all inside of twenty minutes. Altitude sickness is one hell of a thing. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/102 "2013-04-03T05:47:25Z")
[quote=“curlcoat, post:99, topic:654452”] _Aaaand_, again, I can time my fucking _watch_ to when **curlcoat** enters any thread that hangs it on kids, disabled or otherwise. Nice t’see ya curlie. 😛 Now, for comprehension, read the OP again darls. And yes, the OP has backtracked on the ‘intent’ of the message to some degree, but it’s often one’s opening words that are the most real. Yes, the reporting was sub-par. Yes, it was probably a slow-news day. Yes, the kid _only_ made it to base-camp on Everest. But shit like this: > [@](#): > > He climbed part way up, something anyone with basic fitness can do if they have the cash. You plonk down $15,000 and are escorted part way up the mountain to base camp. Most folks have to earn that $15,000 - this kid was just handed it, and judging by the cotton khakis he’s wearing in the photo, did not even bother to wear proper gear. is inexcusable. How about you and your zimmer-frame get a’honking up the Nepalese Highway **curlcoat** , and see how long YOU last on the way to Everest. I’ll be right behind you on my 4wd scooter. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/103 "2013-04-03T05:48:36Z")
> [@splatterpunk](#): > > HEY, OVER HERE! LOOK AT ME!! l’M TROLLHOUSE LOOKATME! LOOKATME! OVER HERE EVERYONE!!! LOOK AT ME!!! I WON’T BE IGNORED LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME DAMMIT LOOKATMEEEEE!!! Are you in kindergarten? Ok, well i will try it for fun…Look at me,Im splatterpuke, look at me, whee! meh. I guess it was only fun in kindergarten ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/104 "2013-04-03T05:55:18Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Why set a goal of “only going part way up a mountain”, instead of choosing a mountain that the kid could actually summit (and be the first with DS to do)? There are plenty of lesser peaks that the kid could possibly have scaled > > . Still, gotta wonder about the decision to have his big achievement be “doing just part of” a mountain. in reply to one of your questions curlcoat, a few posts ago, where you asked where the op commented on how he should not have gone if he could only climb part way ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/105 "2013-04-03T13:46:03Z")
The reporter and headline writer are eager to exaggerate to generate readership in an otherwise fairly ordinary story. Altitude sickness is an idiosyncratic reaction unrelated to generalized fitness, so it is not particularly impressive (physiologically) that an individual with Down syndrome could accomplish a hike to an altitude of 17,600 feet. I believe at least one other individual with Down’s has already been to Everest base camp, although apparently with less-abled publicists. The father is eager to have his child’s story exaggerated. This furthers significance for the family and child. We are all looking to be special. It is inaccurate to talk about “conquering Mount Everest” or “evading deadly avalanches” or leaving an inference that the boy was “basically like our guide” in the context of a fully supported hike to base camp. It’s a further exaggeration that Down syndrome is not a limitation. Of course it is; that’s the point of the story in the first place. One suspects the father had a role in giving the reporter these impressions, although the reporter may have simply been ignorant. A negative reaction to this story is precipitated mostly by the sense of having been suckered into reading it: [An amazing moment’: 15-year-old Oregon boy with Down syndrome scales Mount Everest](An amazing moment’: 15-year-old Oregon boy with Down syndrome scales Mount Everest Read more: [‘An amazing moment’: 15-year-old Oregon boy with Down syndrome scales Mount Everest](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/ore-teen-syndrome-scales-mount-everest-article-1.1303959#ixzz2PPHsnLYa)) only to find out that the boy did not scale Mount Everest. He hiked to base camp. That this is a misuse of the term “scales Mount Everest” is proved in the article itself, which links to a related story, “73-YEAR-OLD JAPANESE WOMAN SCALES MOUNT EVEREST” in which “scales Mount Everest” means “scales Mount Everest” and not “hikes to base camp.” Because the boy is disabled by Down syndrome, the reader has a further frustration. Complaining about the headline, or being realistic about the relatively ordinary “accomplishment” makes it appear one is making a personal attack. This is unfortunate, but the truth is that what we have here is basically clever marketing on all fronts, and some of us– **CP** included–do find that very irritating (unless it is we who are benefiting from the marketing 😉 ). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/106 "2013-04-03T15:14:30Z")
> [@splatterpunk](#): > > HEY, OVER HERE! LOOK AT ME!! l’M TROLLHOUSE LOOKATME! LOOKATME! OVER HERE EVERYONE!!! LOOK AT ME!!! I WON’T BE IGNORED LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME DAMMIT LOOKATMEEEEE!!! Wow. That is uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/107 "2013-04-03T15:37:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Fucking one percenters, with their money and birth defects. Seriously… some people get an extra chromosome AND all the breaks… ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/108 "2013-04-03T16:18:35Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > The reporter and headline writer are eager to exaggerate to generate readership in an otherwise fairly ordinary story. … Excellent analysis. My hat’s off to you, sir, you are a far better writer than I. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/109 "2013-04-03T16:27:21Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Excellent analysis. My hat’s off to you, sir, you are a far better writer than I. He may or may not be, either way another posters writing skills, whatever level they are is irrelevant…the point is, this was not the true gist of the op ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/110 "2013-04-03T16:56:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Fucking one percenters, with their money and birth defects. You win the Internet. I just spit chow mein all over my office keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/111 "2013-04-03T17:57:20Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > In any case, it certainly does not cost 15k to get to base camp. My 10 day your of Tibet drove right up to the North base camp and the whole think was something like $900. Nepal may be a little more expensive and you cant drive it, but even the high end REI tours are around 3k. Apparently this “epic ascent” of Everest required a team of eight to accomplish. From the article linked below: _ **“Bundled up against the frigid temperatures, Eli, his father and six others made the journey”** _ > **[Teen Treks to Mount Everest Base Camp to Raise Awareness for Down Syndrome](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/elisha-eli-reimer-elisha-foundation-downs-syndrome-mount-mt-everest/2058445/)** > > A 15-year-old boy with a passion for sports and an infectious smile became the first person with Down syndrome to stand at the base camp of Mount Everest, and he’s returning to Southern California Friday night to what promises to be a jubilant... At 3k a pop, that’s actually $24,000. Wondering why the kid required a support team of 7 other people if he was “basically their guide” as the father claimed. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/112 "2013-04-03T18:10:51Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > … > > Wondering why the kid required a support team of 7 other people if he was “basically their guide” as the father claimed. [The is pretty close to how I imagine the journey](http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Projects/KC265/previews/227216.JPG). ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/113 "2013-04-03T18:19:56Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Apparently this “epic ascent” of Everest required a team of eight to accomplish. From the article linked below: _ **“Bundled up against the frigid temperatures, Eli, his father and six others made the journey”** _ > > [Teen Treks to Mount Everest Base Camp to Raise Awareness for Down Syndrome – NBC Los Angeles](http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Elisha-Eli-Reimer-Elisha-Foundation-Downs-Syndrome-Mount-Mt-Everest-199649501.html) > > At 3k a pop, that’s actually $24,000. > > Wondering why the kid required a support team of 7 other people if he was “basically their guide” as the father claimed. why does it matter to you, one way oranother, how fucken much his trek cost? in regards to how. many people he had with him to help , so fucken what? people like you are like a toxic subsance, something good and positive happens and you bitterly pick it apart looking to find some implied fault with any detail so fucken what, how much money it cost,..so fucken what how many people went with him, so fucken what what type of fabric he wore? it just dawned on me you seem to have nothin positive to contribute yourself so you go out of your way to bring down those who do ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/114 "2013-04-03T18:39:49Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > My 10 day your of Tibet drove right up to the North base camp and the whole think was something like $900. Nepal may be a little more expensive and you cant drive it, but even the high end REI tours are around 3k. > > Base camp is damn high. Curious - did you see many folks wearing heavy cotton khakis or jeans up there? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/115 "2013-04-03T19:33:46Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > In any case, it certainly does not cost 15k to get to base camp. My 10 day your of Tibet drove right up to the North base camp and the whole think was something like $900. Nepal may be a little more expensive and you cant drive it, but even the high end REI tours are around 3k. > > Base camp is damn high. As a healthy young person who had acclimated in Lhasa for a week, even rolling over in bed at camp could leave me winded. A short flat walk of about a half mile with non pack was rough. Doing 20 miles at an incline is an actual accomplishment. Yes, most healthy people can probably do it, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. > > Anyway, the reporter inflated things, but who really cares about a cute human interest story? What the boy did was pretty cool. Perhaps being born and raised in the Himalayas has jaundiced my perception of “damn high,” but 18,000 is not particularly high from a physiologic perspective. I would say any ordinary individual not susceptible to altitude sickness (which, as I said above, is idiosyncratic and not related to fitness per se) can easily adjust. Of course you get more winded. I’ve climbed to Uhuru Peak on Kili, and spent a fair amount of travel time in the Himalayas recently over 17-18K feet. I’m kind of fat and old, and way too lazy to train. (My personal goal climbing Kili was to be the laziest and most unfit individual to wander all the way up to Uhuru Peak). If I can do it, so can pretty much anyone. Look, sure it’s cool the kid got to hike to Everest base camp. It’s just not particularly noteworthy from a physiological accomplishment perspective. That’s not an attack on the kid. I do hope his Dad doesn’t have him saying, “I climbed Everest.” Everyone wants the boy to feel good about himself, but that’s the kind of thing that will get him derided behind his back. The 73 year-old lady in the story climbed Everest. Not the kid. Misrepresenting that makes a sweet story lame. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/116 "2013-04-03T19:50:14Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > That wasn’t a very uplifting comment. I apologize. That was rude of me. I have Downs Comment and it’s sometimes hard for me to figure out what is proper to say in society and what is not. :o ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/117 "2013-04-03T20:36:58Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I apologize. That was rude of me. I have Downs Comment and it’s sometimes hard for me to figure out what is proper to say in society and what is not. :o ˙ǝɯoɹpuʎs uʍop ǝpısdn ǝʌɐɥ ʇ,uop noʎ ʇsɐǝן ʇɐ 'ןןǝʍ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/118 "2013-04-04T00:46:02Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Curious - did you see many folks wearing heavy cotton khakis or jeans up there? khakis, cotton, who fucken cares… leaves to fnd yawning smilie ---
**Author:** ![OleOneEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f14d63/32.png) [@OleOneEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OleOneEye)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/119 "2013-04-04T01:43:18Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > I do hope his Dad doesn’t have him saying, “I climbed Everest.” Everyone wants the boy to feel good about himself, but that’s the kind of thing that will get him derided behind his back. But it won’t get him derided. If a five-year-old had been brought on this trip and allowed to walk ahead of the group and been told he’d “led” the group, it would get an eyeroll and a knowing laugh. We’ve been deprived of our rightful eyeroll because the handicapped are above criticism. That’s what makes this story so unfair - it puts a muzzle on the audience. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452/120 "2013-04-04T02:48:26Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > But shit like this: is inexcusable. Because the kid wasn’t dressed correctly? Because the “big story” was just a bought and paid for guided safari? If you want agreement on how inexcusable something is, you should be specific. Not everyone thinks the way you do… > [@](#): > > How about you and your zimmer-frame get a’honking up the Nepalese Highway **curlcoat** , and see how long YOU last on the way to Everest. I’ll be right behind you on my 4wd scooter. I don’t have $15,000. Particularly not for something that frivolous. > [@Tollhouse](#): > > in reply to one of your questions curlcoat, a few posts ago, where you asked where the op commented on how he should not have gone if he could only climb part way The OP didn’t say that. He was speaking about what would make more sense given the headlines - if the father wanted a headline that said his kid scaled a mountain, he should have chosen one he could actually, you know, scale. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downs-syndrome-kid-climbs-everest-no-he-didnt-fark-you-people-magazine-and-daddy/654452.md?page=7)