# 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:** 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 19, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/301 "2021-05-19T21:29:45Z")
One out every seven that go up Everest don’t return home - and that applies to Sherpas as much as anyone else. As bad as the NFL can be, their fatality rate isn’t quite that high. If the situation in Nepal was such that the only Sherpas working Everest were those that truly desired the work it would be one thing, but poverty is driving some people to take risks they otherwise wouldn’t. I find that a sad situation. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/302 "2021-05-19T21:54:28Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > One out every seven that go up Everest don’t return home - and that applies to Sherpas as much as anyone else. Wait, what? The risk of death is certainly high, but it’s not anywhere near 1 in 7 climbers. What is the context for that number? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/303 "2021-05-19T23:32:25Z")
I suspect that might be one death for every 7 that summit. But the majority of people on the mountain don’t summit. ---
**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 19, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/304 "2021-05-19T23:57:58Z")
Well, staying base camp is relatively safe, but the higher up you go the more risk. So, sure, the base camp Sherpas don’t get killed often - but they don’t get paid as much, either. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/305 "2021-05-19T23:59:58Z")
From a couple years ago. > **[At least 11 people died on Mount Everest last week. But it's just the...](https://www.businessinsider.com/mount-everest-10th-deadliest-mountain-himalayas-2019-5)** > > Last week, at least 11 people died on Mount Everest. But it's far from the deadliest mountain in the Himalayas: Nine others have lower survival rates. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/306 "2021-05-20T00:36:08Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > From a couple years ago. That gives a 4% fatality rate for Everest, but even that is misleading. They are comparing the number of people who _successfully_ summit to the number who die. If you want to talk about people who go to Everest and don’t come home, the valid comparison is number of people _attempting_ to summit versus deaths. And even that number can be misleading, because many of the climbing Sherpas aren’t attempting to summit and stop at one of the lower camps. But their deaths are still included. But really, trying to assign fatality rates or your odds of returning isn’t too useful. It’s a really dangerous endeavor and Sherpas bear an outsized and unappreciated risk. The numbers distract from that main point. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/307 "2021-05-20T14:25:17Z")
I just read an article about a cancer survivor, who is at basecamp and wants to be the first mother-daughter combo to summit. Oh by the way, she has asthma. Now I don’t really care, but I wonder at the financial aspect. She just survived intensive (and probably expensive) cancer treatments, and now they’re paying probably $200K for this adventure. I think I picked the wrong career, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/308 "2021-05-20T15:33:43Z")
what nobody talks about is the risks the underpaid natives take alongside their selfish entitled climbers who force them to take (without insurance) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/309 "2021-05-20T18:36:57Z")
Actually, it gets talked about quite a bit. ---
**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 20, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/310 "2021-05-20T22:40:31Z")
Yes. My last several post in this thread were on that very topic. ---
**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, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/311 "2021-05-24T15:44:45Z")
Wong Dorchi Sherpa has died near the South col. > **[Sherpa climber dies, Russian climber evacuated from Everest](https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/sherpa-climber-dies-russian-climber-evacuated-from-everest)** > > Sherpa climber dies, Russian climber evacuated from Everest - ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/312 "2021-05-25T13:30:17Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > what nobody talks about is the risks the underpaid natives take alongside their selfish entitled climbers who force them to take (without insurance) Ironically, of the 15 posts that preceded this one in this thread, 12 referenced Sherpas and the risks they take. ---
**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, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/313 "2021-05-25T14:41:09Z")
> **[Zhang Hong becomes first blind Chinese man to scale Everest](https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/zhang-hong-becomes-first-blind-chinese-man-to-scale-everest)** > > At 9:30am today, 46-yearold Zhang Hong became the first blind Chinese mountaineer to have climbed Mt Everest on his first attempt with the assistance of his mountain guide Qiang Zi and three sherpas — Lhakpa Sherpa, Dawa Wongchu Sherpa, and Samden... Zhang Hong is the third blind man to climb Everest. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/314 "2021-06-25T18:08:43Z")
For people who find the topic interesting, I just finished _The Next Everest: Surviving the Mountain’s Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again_ by Jim Davidson. It’s very much a first-person account of climbing the mountain, not a lot of analysis of why something went wrong or the “big picture”. He was attempting to climb during the 2015 earthquake and had to be evacuated by helicopter from Camp 1, then returned to try again in 2017. I’m not a big fan of human interest stories, so some of the passages about wrestling with the decision to climb again, his family dynamics, and dealing with past tragedies dragged a bit for me. But he is an excellent chronicler of the entire process down to the gnat’s ass. He covers the preceding year of training, how one gets from Kathmandu to Base Camp, the entire acclimatization process, what you eat, where you sleep, how you pee and poop, what gear you use. He describes going through the Khumbu ice fall step by step, what the terrain is like between each camp, and how to climb between them. I’ve heard about the camps, the South Col, the Balcony, all that stuff before, but this is the first book that gave me a good picture of them in my head. > **[The Next Everest: Surviving the Mountain's Deadliest Da…](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53137969-the-next-everest)** > > One of Atlas & Boots' Top 10 Adventure Travel Books of … ---
**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:** [April 16, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/315 "2022-04-16T16:18:37Z")
The first Everest death of 2022 has already occurred. > **[Nepali climber dies on Mount Everest](https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/950678-nepali-climber-dies-on-mount-everest&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiIkteg_Zj3AhUfrHIEHWNcCmAQxfQBegQIBBAC&usg=AOvVaw0smlhm4eQLwDUenF78dkut)** > > KATHMANDU: A Nepali climber who summited Mount Everest several times has died on the peak, expedition organisers said Friday, the first fatality on the world’s highest mountain this climbing... ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/316 "2022-04-16T16:38:05Z")
Longer article with more information: > **[Nepali Climber Dies On Mount Everest, Was Found In A Sitting Position](https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nepali-climber-ngimi-tenji-sherpa-dies-on-mount-everest-was-found-in-a-sitting-position-2890496)** > > A Nepali climber who summited Mount Everest several times has died on the peak, expedition organisers said Friday, the first fatality on the world's highest mountain this climbing season. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/317 "2022-04-16T17:26:22Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Zhang Hong is the third blind man to climb Everest. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0cZr8hWy5sI/hqdefault.jpg "He's gay he's blind") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cZr8hWy5sI) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/318 "2022-04-16T17:32:04Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > but this is the first book that gave me a good picture of them in my head. Does he cover how much it costs to have so much fun? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/319 "2022-04-16T17:39:04Z")
For those that are doing it, what is the mystery behind your climb? 🥾🪢🏔🏔🌄🌌 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/320 "2022-04-17T00:02:01Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Zhang Hong is the third blind man to climb Everest. Oh, nevermind! Gilbert is rolling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=17)