# 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:** 24
**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:** [April 26, 2023, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/461 "2023-04-26T06:43:02Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > They’re known by their sobriquets, but since they’ve been identified, perhaps it’s more respectful to refer to Green Boots and Sleeping Beauty by their names (Tsewang Paljor and Francys Arsentiev, respectively)? Was Tsewang Paljor confirmed to be his name? I found sources saying it might be him but not confirming it. > [@Kimstu](#): > > > [@Bullitt](#): > > > > dessicated > > I’m a horrible person but: > > [desiccated](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desiccated) > > Edit window long closed now, though. Good to know, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/462 "2023-04-26T11:58:11Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > They’re known by their sobriquets, but since they’ve been identified, perhaps it’s more respectful to refer to Green Boots and Sleeping Beauty by their names (Tsewang Paljor and Francys Arsentiev, respectively)? > > Was Tsewang Paljor confirmed to be his name? I found sources saying it might be him but not confirming it. I was going by @Fluffy_PickleSniffer’s link in post #435. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/463 "2023-04-26T18:50:12Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > They’re known by their sobriquets, but since they’ve been identified, perhaps it’s more respectful to refer to Green Boots and Sleeping Beauty by their names (Tsewang Paljor and Francys Arsentiev, respectively)? My point was about the bodies becoming landmarks. And I really wasn’t talking about the people, I was referring to the bodies/landmarks. Since 1996, people have been referring to Green Boots as a specific point on the climb. Like, “have you passed Green Boots yet?” No one refers to passing Paljor. There has never been any mystery about who Sleeping Beauty was, as far as I know. But Sleeping Beauty is what her body was called. I’m not very sentimental about dead bodies. If I were recounting how the people came to die in those spots, I’d be worried about being respectful. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/464 "2023-04-26T20:03:13Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > They’re known by their sobriquets, but since they’ve been identified, perhaps it’s more respectful to refer to Green Boots and Sleeping Beauty by their names (Tsewang Paljor and Francys Arsentiev, respectively)? I imagine that, for people who are really into Everest, the idea of becoming a corpse landmark is… well, not _desirable_, certainly. But if you’re going to die up there, becoming a part of the experience of climbing the mountain for everyone who comes after has a sort of romanticism about it that is likely appealing to people who want to do the climb. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/465 "2023-04-27T00:45:13Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > They’re known by their sobriquets, but since they’ve been identified, perhaps it’s more respectful to refer to Green Boots and Sleeping Beauty by their names (Tsewang Paljor and Francys Arsentiev, respectively)? > > My point was about the bodies becoming landmarks. And I really wasn’t talking about the people, I was referring to the bodies/landmarks. > > Since 1996, people have been referring to Green Boots as a specific point on the climb. Like, “have you passed Green Boots yet?” No one refers to passing Paljor. There has never been any mystery about who Sleeping Beauty was, as far as I know. But Sleeping Beauty is what her body was called. > > I’m not very sentimental about dead bodies. If I were recounting how the people came to die in those spots, I’d be worried about being respectful I don’t think you, or anyone else, is being deliberately disrespectful when referring to these cadavers by their nicknames; as you say, they’ve been landmarks for years. And there’s probably a certain amount of gallows practicality for climbers in that zone of Everest, an awareness that they could very well become the next famous corpse, and that a pragmatic mindset to life and death is needed to navigate the mountain. But before they were landmarks and salutary warnings, Green Boots and Sleeping Beauty were people. There are also bodies up there who are known by their names - Rob Hall, George Mallory, David Sharp. It seems to me appropriate to begin to reintroduce their actual names; especially when being discussed by nonclimbers such as ourselves. This could be achieved by simply giving their names in addition to their sobriquets: “Alongside the path at the 8500 meter elevation is a small cave that shelters the body of Tsewang Paljor, known as “Green Boots”, whose remains have been a landmark since 1996”. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that important. But it does seem kinder to accord Paljor and Arsentiev the dignity of their names. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/466 "2023-05-02T13:22:55Z")
> **[American mountaineer dies during climb to Mount Everest | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/02/asia/us-climber-death-everest-intl/index.html)** > > A US climber has died on his way to scale Mount Everest on Monday, according to an expedition organizer. ---
**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 2, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/467 "2023-05-02T15:17:21Z")
Thanks for that article, PastTense. That guy was a doctor from Seattle. There are many Everest-related links there, including to this famous photo of the Everest traffic jam in May 2019 taken by Nims Purja that went viral a few years back. [![](https://i.imgur.com/V0Rt58Z.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/V0Rt58Z.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/468 "2023-05-02T15:26:33Z")
This was already posted upthread and discussed in detail. That year there was a very short weather window so everyone had to go up at around the same time or wait until the next year. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/469 "2023-05-02T15:38:19Z")
@PastTense Sadly ironic poster name/post material. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/470 "2023-05-02T16:22:05Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > > [@Bullitt](#): > > > > And when a frozen corpse falls off the mountain, as can happen with the changing seasons and strong winds, when their falling bodies hit the mountainside they shatter and explode. > > No, they don’t. The bodies are desiccated and don’t shatter. They would have to be full of frozen water at a much colder temp to do that. I just finished reading a bio of Charles Addams. George Plimpton was asking his friends how they’d like to die, and Addams said listening to some music on a theremin and then shattering into a million pieces. ---
**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 2, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/471 "2023-05-02T16:30:31Z")
YesI remember the discussion. The picture may not have been pasted in line. And, this one is higher res. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/472 "2023-05-02T16:37:33Z")
I have to admit I follow the Everest climbing season every year. I think people are crazy for attempting it, though I wouldn’t mind visiting Base Camp one day. But as for Krakauer’s book, it’s so weird to me the uproar. He admits over and over he was delirious, he had problems up there, it was difficult with the hypoxia, and people are still like “this tiny little detail is inaccurate therefore you are a lying liar that lies!” I mean, try it. Try climbing it and let me know what kind of condition you are in. He did the best he could, and sure he made money of it, I wish I could make money out of my personal tragedies too. At least I would benefit from them! But the trash and the bodies are just part of capitalism and it isn’t even all white Westerners anymore. ---
**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 2, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/473 "2023-05-02T16:52:46Z")
Good analysis. Krakauer also admitted that he wrote the book too soon after the events, when he was still charged with all the emotions. He warned readers to keep that in mind as they read. His anger towards Boukreev was a bit much, but his points there were valid — without bottled oxygen your abilities to guide and help are diminished (and yet his rescue journeys from Camp IV that night were superhuman. He rescued clients and guides. That guy is a stud. Was a stud.). People just gotta hate. We see that in other venues. QB Tom Brady and his successes. Even here on the Dope, outside of the Pit, some people just gotta hate. It’s human nature, for some punks. Krakauer was also an accomplished climber in his own right. Not so much high altitude, which he describes as more like a war of attrition. But his very technical ice climbing accomplishments are impressive. I don’t remember the specifics but Rob Hall did, and that was part of Hall’s pitch to Krakauer to join the expedition. Yes he made money, but people ate up his story. It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback this thing at sea level with your comfy slippers on and a hot cup of joe warming your hands. ---
**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 2, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/474 "2023-05-02T16:53:48Z")
And, jeez, that 1996 disaster was over 25 years ago now. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/475 "2023-05-04T04:49:37Z")
He was also 69 years old, and had a “medical incident” at about 22,000 feet. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/476 "2023-05-04T07:00:09Z")
He was a very experienced climber, successful on many high peaks: > **[American climber dies on Everest; retired doctor remembered as caring, whimsical](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/05/03/american-jonathan-sugerman-dies-on-everest/70178477007/)** > > An American who quit climbing in college, returning to it in his 50s, died on Everest. Jonathan Sugerman's family says it was likely altitude illness. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/477 "2023-05-04T19:09:39Z")
> **[Weather at the roof of the world tells us about climate change](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/04/weather-near-summit-mount-everest)** > > Data from world’s highest weather station shows wind chill plunging to −83C and frostbite possible in less than a minute The scientific article: “Insights from the first winter weather observations near Mount Everest’s summit” [https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.4374](https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.4374) Too cold for me. ---
**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 18, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/478 "2023-05-18T13:44:56Z")
Three more climbers on Everest have died this week, including the first Asian person trying to make it to the top with a pacemaker. Total deaths for the season now stand at 7. > **[Two more climbers die on Everest](https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2573420/two-more-climbers-die-on-everest)** > > KATHMANDU: Two more climbers have died on Everest, expedition organisers said on Thursday, bringing to seven the number of deaths on the world’s highest peak in the spring climbing season. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/479 "2023-05-18T13:53:10Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > first Asian person trying to make it to the top with a pacemaker When you’ve got to get THIS nitpicky with “firsts”, it’s probably time to find other lofty pursuits… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/480 "2023-05-18T16:21:54Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > When you’ve got to get THIS nitpicky with “firsts”, it’s probably time to find other lofty pursuits… I was going to ask if anyone had done it with underwear on their head. Potential first, there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=25)