# 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:** 32
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/621 "2023-06-03T20:16:55Z")
I mentioned upthread that the daughter of one of our residents was summiting Everest recently. She apparently made it, and is going to give a talk and slide show on Monday of her adventure. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/622 "2023-06-03T20:25:17Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > For me, it would depend entirely on the value of the achievement, both subjectively to me and historically. I certainly wouldn’t climb Everest _now_ with a 1% probability of death, but if it were 1950 and I had the skills, I’d risk a 20% probability of death to be the _first_. Would you risk death to be the first person to climb Everest directly up the East Face? Nobody has been crazy enough to attempt that, yet. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/623 "2023-06-03T20:35:49Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It’s obviously steep and exposed in places, but all reports say there is really no significant technical climbing at all when the fixed ropes are in place. The biggest challenge is whether your cardiovascular system can cope. You need to be very fit, but there’s a significant innate component to whether your body copes well with high altitude that is independent of acclimatization or fitness training. You see a similar thing on a smaller scale in the far more modest places I’ve been like the Sierra Nevada - some people just don’t do well with high elevation even if they are very fit. I believe you are correct in that Everest is _not_ a difficult climb from a technical perspective. Especially with pre-planned routes, ladder-bridges, ropes, and so forth. The biggest obstacles are the altitude (including weather hazards) and lack of oxygen - the latter of which is sparse enough that its lack will, eventually, kill you if you stay at the peak/in the Death Zone long enough. How long is that? It all depends on your body’s tolerance for high altitude/low oxygen, which is not exactly the same thing as being physically fit or strong. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/624 "2023-06-03T20:51:07Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Would you risk death to be the first person to climb Everest directly up the East Face? I mean, all of this is premised on the counterfactual hypothesis that I were an elite climber with the relevant skills to actually achieve something meaningful. I think a better modern example - Alex Honnold must surely have had a risk of death of at least 5% in his free solo of El Capitan. If I had his skills and aptitude - yes, I’d accept that risk with no hesitation. It’s a monumental achievement. It’s hard to see how it’s not the greatest athletic achievement of any kind, ever. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/625 "2023-06-03T20:52:43Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Also, besides oxygen, what else are they typically packing on their backs? [Kendal Mint Cake !](https://mintcake.co.uk/pages/our-story) > Romney’s Kendal Mint Cake was immortalised in history on May 29th 1953 when it was carried on the first successful summit of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/626 "2023-06-03T21:21:49Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > I wonder if those stats include Sherpas? I believe they do. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/627 "2023-06-03T22:12:30Z")
I saw a tour of their factory on an old episode of _Escape to the Country._ It was the first time I’d ever heard of it, and it looked very unappetizing. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/628 "2023-06-03T22:26:50Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I’m afraid my private reaction to someone discussing their conquest of Everest at a party would probably be mild disdain of their vainglory. I was once offered a pathology job where one of my colleagues would have been Beck Weathers. Don’t know if the subject of his Everest experience would ever have come up in conversation, but I think I’d have kept my opinion of mountain climbing to myself. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/629 "2023-06-03T22:31:12Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I think I’d have kept my opinion of mountain climbing to myself. “Look, Beck, don’t stick your nose into my business and I won’t stick my nose into yours, okay?” ---
**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:** [June 3, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/630 "2023-06-03T22:40:36Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > [Kendal Mint Cake !](https://mintcake.co.uk/pages/our-story) > > > Romney’s Kendal Mint Cake was immortalised in history on May 29th 1953 when it was carried on the first successful summit of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. I wasn’t climbing Everest, but those came in handy hiking in the Lake District. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/631 "2023-06-04T01:23:53Z")
There are increasing problems because of climate change at base camp and last year they said they were going to move it. But now: > **[Why Everest base camp won't be moving anytime soon](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65723447)** > > Nepal will not shift base camp due to climate change, after opposition from Sherpas and mountaineers. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/632 "2023-06-04T02:11:08Z")
Cool! Are you going to attend yourself? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/633 "2023-06-04T02:12:23Z")
I’m assuming this was after 1996? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/634 "2023-06-04T11:14:42Z")
Planning to, yes. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2023, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/635 "2023-06-04T11:53:38Z")
“there’s something wrong here, but I can’t just put a finger on it…” ---
**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:** [June 4, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/636 "2023-06-04T15:28:38Z")
I might say 100% risk of death. Any flake lets go, rockfall from above…dizzy spell, (forgot his route thinking of a TV show at home…I joke) That level of commitment just boggles the mind. I agree though, probably the greatest “planned” athletic achievement ever. Perhaps some poor soul in history did some accidental achievement…falling of a boat and swimming for days etc…Some great docs on Honnold and his mindset and lifestyle. The climb itself Im afraid to watch!! Just gut wrenching. I used to rock scramble in the Sierra Nevadas…but nothing like that sort of thing. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/637 "2023-06-04T15:54:24Z")
(missed edit window) Im not sure how to quantify that level of risk that free climbers like Alex Honnold take? Where any mistake is almost certainly fatal? Similar to perhaps wingsuits or even hang gliding, where small errors lead to catastrophe. I was too too flakey in my youth for those sorts of things, ocean sports are alot more forgiving. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/638 "2023-06-04T16:00:37Z")
A 100% risk of death _if_ anything does wrong or you fuck up. But that gets us to the motivation of many adventurers: beyond, or in spite of, successfully making a historical climb, he knew it could be done and just personally wanted to do it. No way he was going to go on with life without having made the attempt. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/639 "2023-06-04T18:27:41Z")
Beat Vesna’s record and you WILL impress me. > **[Vesna Vulović](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87)** > > Vesna Vulović (Serbian Cyrillic: Весна Вуловић, pronounced \[ʋêsna ʋûːloʋitɕ\]; 3 January 1950 – 23 December 2016) was a Serbian flight attendant who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 m (33,330 ft; 6.31 mi). She was the sole survivor after an explosion tore through the baggage compartment of JAT Flight 367 on 26 January 1972, causing it to crash near Srbská Kamenice, Czechoslovakia. Air safety investigators attributed the explosion to a br... ---
**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:** [June 4, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/640 "2023-06-04T19:15:33Z")
Wow, what a fascinating (and sad) story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=33)