# Everest: Just Don't Do It **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397 "2016-05-22T21:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/201 "2019-05-24T05:01:21Z")
The wife and I took a flight around Everest out of Kathmandu once. That’s good enough for us. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/202 "2019-05-24T05:25:36Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > [This](https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/24/asia/everest-climbers-intl/index.html) photo is why I think permits should be limited: 320 people in a “traffic jam” approaching the summit. One person died. You won’t find 320 people in line for a ride at Disneyland, and Everest ain’t Disney. Sure, Nepal is poor and desperate to make money, but I still think raising the fee to four times its current amount wouldn’t reduce the number of applicants by more than 3/4, so Nepal wouldn’t suffer any loss. > > I’m fascinated by Everest, too. I love to read about it, watch documentaries on it, and dream of what it’d be like to summit. But even when I was younger, I wouldn’t have tried to climb it any more than I’d try to break the record for trekking to the South Pole. The mountain is over-climbed. More of us who love it should stay home. That picture is one of the most unnerving I have ever seen. How do you get down through that throng? I think about Seamus Lawless who died last week. Was he trying to descend through a crowd like that when he fell near the summit, I wonder? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/203 "2019-05-24T05:36:47Z")
My unrequested opinion on the deaths both on Everest and Isle of Man mentioned a while ago…at least died doing something they loved. I cant even think of anything I’d love to be ok dying doing it. Unless you count lying in bed in a dark room alone counts. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/204 "2019-05-24T05:42:37Z")
The [Himalayan Times](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=793701&page=5) (often the first to inform on these incidents) is now reporting the deaths of two additional climbers. Ing Landgraf, aged 65, from Austria died on his way back from the summit today. Nihil Bagwan, aged 27, from India died after returning to Camp 4. Maybe after all these many deaths this year we will see some changes. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/205 "2019-05-24T05:46:14Z")
Bad link. Let me try [again](https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/austrian-indian-climbers-die-on-mt-everest-as-death-toll-reaches-16/). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/206 "2019-05-24T09:05:46Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > My unrequested opinion on the deaths both on Everest and Isle of Man mentioned a while ago…at least died doing something they loved. Me, I don’t want to die doing something I love, I want to _live_ doing something I love. > [@Biotop](#): > > Maybe after all these many deaths this year we will see some changes. I don’t think so. Prior deaths, even in years with higher death tolls, changed nothing. People still come in ever greater numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/207 "2019-05-24T14:35:32Z")
Two more deaths: Dhruba Bista, a mountain guide (age not give ) died at Camp 3 this morning. Kevin Hynes, aged 56, died climbing on the Tibet side earlier in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/208 "2019-05-24T16:24:15Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > …at least died doing something they loved. I cant even think of anything I’d love to be ok dying doing it. Unless you count lying in bed in a dark room alone counts. The only thing I love I’d like to die doing is something you _can_ do in bed (although not alone). Although eating a bacon cheeseburger might also be OK.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/209 "2019-05-24T16:37:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Me, I don’t want to die doing something I love, I want to _live_ doing something I love. For a long time, until we die doing it. > [@Colibri](#): > > The only thing I love I’d like to die doing is something you _can_ do in bed (although not alone). Although eating a bacon cheeseburger might also be OK.🙂 Insert Tyrion Lannister’s rather earthy quote about his preferred death situation here 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/210 "2019-05-24T16:53:13Z")
The photo linked to by nelliebly and Ike Witt is incredible to me. I wonder how it feels to have spent so much time, effort and money to accomplish what at one time seemed like such a rare feat, and then, on the verge of completing it, find yourself as part of a throng like that? “See, there I am, 119th in the queue!” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/211 "2019-05-24T17:24:46Z")
It is a Darwinian pursuit. Perhaps an Everest climber should not be allowed to procreate until after they’ve summitted and returned safely? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/212 "2019-05-24T17:38:10Z")
[Yet another interesting article about Everest. This one from 2015.](http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/213 "2019-05-25T13:42:10Z")
British climber [Robin Fisher](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/25/british-climber-latest-to-die-on-everest-amid-overcrowding-robin-fisher&ved=2ahUKEwjTitf_5rbiAhUhw1kKHWmmC04Q0PADMAJ6BAgEEA4&usg=AOvVaw3wTRcey7673sWYOmqpq-Ao) has died on the way back from the summit. He was 44. Fisher is the tenth death on Everest this month, and the eleventh for the year. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/214 "2019-05-25T14:59:52Z")
I am baffled that anyone could see those photos, and _ **still** _ want to peruse this as a goal. If it was about physical accomplishment any of a dozen or more mountains would fit the bill. If it was about the awesome climb and/or view, again, many mountains would cover it. And if it was really about a personal or spiritual journey, a crowd would entirely kill that vibe. How is climbing past the rapidly multiplying bodies of the recently deceased going to enhance your experience exactly? If it **HAS** to be Everest, nothing else will do? That’s ALL about your ego, clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/215 "2019-05-25T16:02:12Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I am baffled that anyone could see those photos, and _ **still** _ want to peruse this as a goal. > > If it was about physical accomplishment any of a dozen or more mountains would fit the bill. If it was about the awesome climb and/or view, again, many mountains would cover it. And if it was really about a personal or spiritual journey, a crowd would entirely kill that vibe. How is climbing past the rapidly multiplying bodies of the recently deceased going to enhance your experience exactly? > > If it **HAS** to be Everest, nothing else will do? That’s ALL about your ego, clearly. If you tell people you climbed Cho Oyu, you will probably get mostly blank stares. Few dream of climbing Cho Oyu, or had pictures of the mountain in their homes as children. There is not the legend of that mountain, much less the actual common knowledge human history. Cho Oyu was not the answer on a grade school test. Yet the climb is as doable as Everest and at 26,906 feet quite an accomplishment. The views are spectacular and the risks real. The actual achievement is just as great as Everest, but without the traffic jams. But it’s not the tallest. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/216 "2019-05-26T00:27:29Z")
[We have number 10](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/world/asia/everest-death-traffic-jam.html). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/217 "2019-05-26T02:46:35Z")
Back in the day I was fascinated by Everest, to the point where I was lobbying to name our twins Hillary and Mallory. Not anymore, after seeing that Black Friday at the Mall line. Well, not back in '89 when I realized half their classmates would be named Hillary or Mallory. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/218 "2019-05-26T05:50:58Z")
I love mountains but I was never fascinated by Everest, although I am fascinated by the stories of those who climb the most extreme ones. And extreme isn’t just high altitude but can be other factors, namely overall difficulty. Through work I’ve known someone who is attempting to climb all the 8,000m peaks. To date they’ve succeeded at Nanga Parbat, Annapurna I & Daulaghiri I, Kanchenjunga, and K2, and some of the stories are pretty amazing. For example, the ethics high up, when one is preparing for their summit push from the final high camp, but then a struggling person descends from above and their own summit attempt, and they stumble into camp and clearly they’re in trouble and need help — many in that situation just look the other way and proceed with their own summit push because, hey, they’ve invested heavily (time and money and physical discomfort/pain in the death zone) in their own assault upon that mountain and they don’t want to lose their chance. Screw that guy who needs help, he fucked up, so that’s on him. Also, some high altitude rescues they’ve seen. Some truly fantastic stories. It is quite interesting, this pull that the mountains have on them, what Jon Krakauer called “summit fever” in Into Thin Air. I’m convinced this is what ended up killing Rob Hall and Doug Hansen, and perhaps also Andy Harris — it was Doug Hansen’s own summit fever that was a key contributing factor to his own and to Hall’s deaths. That is my own theory, based on what I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/219 "2019-05-26T14:05:04Z")
Robin Fisher [was concerned about the overcrowding and posted about it on Instagram.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/26/asia/mount-everest-warning-scli-intl-gbr/index.html&ved=2ahUKEwidtJHKq7niAhXkRt8KHSnrChMQqOcBMAB6BAgCEAQ&usg=AOvVaw3nEqCIZr2pmBy1T7iK7U9D)He had planned to summit on the 21st, but delayed until the 25th due to his cough and had been sick earlier at Camp 3. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/220 "2019-05-26T14:09:32Z")
**FtGKid2** is starting this week his trip to climb Denali. We are quite worried about this. The company organizing the trip also does Everest ones. They’ve lost some people so the guy who was supposed to lead this trip has been sent to Everest. This is all getting a little too close for us. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=12)