# 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:** 29
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/561 "2023-05-25T04:30:23Z")
Pretty cool interactive Mountaineering site. I havnt delved deeply into it, but did check the Hillary Step… > **[\#PROJECT360](https://project360.mammut.com/#route)** > > A mountain experience you’ve never seen before! #PROJECT360 #mountaineering #mammut project360.mammut.com ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/562 "2023-05-25T12:27:10Z")
Sounds like a brand of mattresses. Or caskets. ---
**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, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/563 "2023-05-25T14:27:48Z")
Another missing on Everest. > **[Solo Hungarian climber missing from Everest Hillary Step area](https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/solo-hungarian-climber-missing-from-everest-hillary-step-area)** > > A climber from Hungary has gone out of contact from the Hillary Step area above 8,000m on Mt Everest since yesterday. ---
**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, 2023, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/564 "2023-05-26T12:57:53Z")
Another death today. Five still missing. > **[Canadian dies on Everest taking death toll to 12, five still missing](https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/canadian-dies-on-everest-taking-death-toll-to-12-three-still-missing)** > > A Canadian climber died above Camp III on Mt Everest on May 25, taking the season's death toll to 12, officials said. ---
**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 26, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/565 "2023-05-26T12:59:15Z")
Has anyone ever gone missing and then been found? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/566 "2023-05-26T13:03:26Z")
Beck Weathers in 1996 comes to mind. > **[Beck Weathers](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck_Weathers)** > > Seaborn Beck Weathers (born December 16, 1946) is an American pathologist from Texas. He survived the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, which was covered in Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air (1997), its film adaptation Into Thin Air: Death on Everest (1997), and the films Everest (1998) and Everest (2015). His autobiographical book, titled Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest (2000) includes his ordeal, but also describes his life before and afterward, as he focused on saving his damaged rel We... ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/567 "2023-05-26T13:08:50Z")
Wyoming physician calls off Everest bid due to weather, overcrowding: [https://oilcity.news/community/wyoming-community-2/2023/05/18/dr-mcginley-calls-off-mt-everest-summit-bid-due-to-weather-overcrowding/](https://oilcity.news/community/wyoming-community-2/2023/05/18/dr-mcginley-calls-off-mt-everest-summit-bid-due-to-weather-overcrowding/) “Long lines, changing weather patterns, large groups of unskilled climbers, some unethical behavior of theft at high camps and illness in the team all played a role,” McGinley wrote. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/568 "2023-05-26T13:12:20Z")
I think I’m most stunned by the allegations of “theft at high camps”. I would have thought an extreme place like that to be one of the safest from petty crimes. ---
**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 26, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/569 "2023-05-26T13:18:55Z")
You have a bunch of hyper competitive douchebags whose brains aren’t fully functioning because of low oxygen and they “need” something of yours or they won’t get to attempt the last climb. I believe it. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/570 "2023-05-26T15:11:26Z")
I’ve done hikes that we joked about “being in a conga line” (I’m looking at you Mt. Si), but those pictures look like a literal conga line. Yeesh! ---
**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, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/571 "2023-05-26T15:20:40Z")
My general rule for hiking is to try to find the lengthy remote trail that goes to nowhere and then to go there. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/572 "2023-05-26T15:25:51Z")
That’s my general rule too, and it’s easy to do around where I live. But I used to have to travel to Seattle for work occasionally and I would find hikes to do while I was over there. The first part of that Si hike was great. I went up something called the Kamikaze Falls trail (steep MFer), made my way up to Mt Teneriffe, then did the ridge over to Si. Up till this point, it had been solitary. Not anymore. I’d also spent the night in the very large Si parking lot wondering why it was so huge. On the trail down from Si, I fully understood why. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/573 "2023-05-26T16:30:42Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > I think I’m most stunned by the allegations of “theft at high camps”. I would have thought an extreme place like that to be one of the safest from petty crimes. You are correct that empathy and cooperation tend to increase the further out you go into remote areas. But much of that effect is because there are usually very few people around in remote areas. We all instinctively know that in a small community of people, we need to maintain good relationships. But on Everest I think it’s now crowded to a point that it’s anonymous. With so many people around, a willingness to commit theft is psychologically similar to the reluctance to offer help of the bystander effect. And people have an astonishing ability to rationalize that their want for something is an urgent _need_ that makes stealing it justified. ---
**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 26, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/574 "2023-05-26T20:35:29Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > I think I’m most stunned by the allegations of “theft at high camps”. I would have thought an extreme place like that to be one of the safest from petty crimes. The theft is primarily (exclusively?) oxygen bottles that Sherpas have brought up for their team. People probably rationalize it that there are some extras, and I’ll die if I don’t have more oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/575 "2023-05-26T21:12:31Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > The theft is primarily (exclusively?) oxygen bottles that Sherpas have brought up for their team. People probably rationalize it that there are some extras, and I’ll die if I don’t have more oxygen. But if people were in trouble and trying to get themselves down, oxygen would be given freely. The fact that it has been called “theft” can only mean that people are taking other people’s oxygen _in order to continue upwards_. ---
**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 26, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/576 "2023-05-26T22:01:38Z")
If I get to Camp IV on my summit push and the bottles that were supposed to be waiting for me are gone, I’m calling it theft whether they were taken by people going up or down. The main reasons people don’t have enough O2 is because they didn’t plan, they assumed others would help them, or they kept going up when they should have turned around. That’s theft. ---
**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 26, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/577 "2023-05-26T22:24:48Z")
People also aren’t thinking so good up there; sometimes people just see oxygen bottles in front of them and take them. Not excusing their behavior, but they may not be completely aware of what they’re doing. Many climbers are pretty out of it at altitude and are just responding on instincts or following directions. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/578 "2023-05-27T04:02:59Z")
More on the dead Vancouver doctor: > **[Vancouver man, 63, dies while attempting to fulfil dream of summiting Mount...](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-man-63-dies-while-attempting-to-fulfil-dream-of-summiting-mount-everest-1.6414906)** > > A Vancouver man died while attempting to fulfill his life-long dream of summiting Mount Everest, his family and colleagues confirm. Usual stuff from the family about pursuing his lifelong ambition, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/579 "2023-05-29T13:23:49Z")
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest by Hillary and Norgay. Also the 70th anniversary of the first oxygen theft on Everest. They’ll be partying like it’s 1953. ---
**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 31, 2023, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/580 "2023-05-31T12:03:05Z")
It looks like this season will end with 17 dead as there is little chance any of the missing 5 could still be alive. > **[Climate change to blame for up to 17 deaths on Mount Everest, experts say](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/30/climate-change-to-blame-for-up-to-17-deaths-on-mount-everest-experts-say)** > > Nepal’s head of tourism says variable weather on the mountain has led to one of the deadliest years on record [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=30)