# 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:** 47
**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:** [September 25, 2023, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/921 "2023-09-25T22:33:49Z")
… and, did you pack out all your trash? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/922 "2023-09-25T22:41:38Z")
(… including your poop?) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/923 "2023-09-25T23:00:02Z")
The Sherpa thing makes it tricky, as there is now an entire segment of the Nepalese economy depending on Everest tourism, and the alternative is crushing poverty. Maybe they should quadruple the fees and make a quota. I heard one suggestion of forcing climbers to pay a deposit that they don’t get back until they haul down their trash. That video said 100, 000 climbers a year attempt Everest. That can’t be right, can it? I was under the impression it was hundreds. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/924 "2023-09-25T23:10:51Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > That video said 100, 000 climbers a year attempt Everest. That can’t be right, can it? I was under the impression it was hundreds. Hundreds try to summit, but purportedly ~100,000 visit [Sagamartha National Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagarmatha_National_Park) every year. Base camp is apparently a tourist destination in of itself. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/925 "2023-09-25T23:49:10Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > And it’s interesting to see that the average age of those summiting has risen. Thanks for the data @Riemann and @Dorjan . Maybe because you have to be from an older generation to venerate the accomplishment? I’m just barely young enough to consider it a narcissistic and commercial endeavor, and I’m sure the Celtling would just be horrified if anybody under 40 said they’d done it. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/926 "2023-09-26T00:41:55Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Still, it always seems absurd that there are unidentified bodies on the mountain. Doesn’t anyone notice? “Hey, where’s Jim?” “Didn’t he come down? No? Then he’s still up there.” It’s not like anyone can sneak away. So if you’re missing a guy in your group wearing a blue parka, and there’s an unidentified body at 28K feet wearing a blue parka that wasn’t there yesterday, I think we know whose body it is. There really aren’t many. The most famous one, “green boots,” is a person who died during the same disaster that Krakauer wrote about, and which is being discussed - the 1996 disaster where 8 people died. “Green Boots” is known to be one of the members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition, which lost 3 people. He has been identified as Tsewang Paljor. It’s not like people aren’t noticing that someone has died. Sometimes someone just disappears. They may or may not be recognized if they are later found. One of the people who disappeared in 1996 was found the following climbing season, hanging from ropes at the Hillary Step. Others might never be found. Some may turn up after enough time has passed that it’s not immediately obvious who they are. George Mallory’s body was found in 1999, 75 years after he died on 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:** [September 26, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/927 "2023-09-26T00:57:38Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Maybe because you have to be from an older generation to venerate the accomplishment? It’s mostly because of the expense and time away from work. People under 40 (or 50) generally aren’t able to afford it or get the time off. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/928 "2023-09-26T01:09:40Z")
I did grow up in the generation that venerated the accomplishment, went to British schools and remember our teachers speaking with admiration for Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. However, my interest in the rise of the average age of those summiting has no connection to veneration. I don’t think that those summitting nowadays are particularly admirable. I’m looking with interest, and not with admiration, at the phenomenon of richer older climbers becoming more common. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/929 "2023-09-26T02:01:55Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > However, my interest in the rise of the average age of those summiting has no connection to veneration. My point was more that younger people wouldn’t be interested in doing it, because they don’t venerate the accomplishment. Part of me wants to raise funds to hire Sherpas to clean up that trash heap at Camp IV. But it may be the saving of the place. The more people who see the photos of the Disneyesque roller-coaster queues, and the piles of trash, the sooner this whole business will die out. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/930 "2023-09-27T00:19:20Z")
An article about how climate change has created more dangerous conditions. > **[Climate change is making climbing in the Himalayas more challenging, experts say](https://abcnews.go.com/International/climate-change-making-climbing-himalayas-challenging-experts/story?id=103463876)** > > Climbing in the Himalayas is getting even more challenging due to global warming, experts say. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/931 "2023-10-01T23:23:28Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Hundreds try to summit, but purportedly ~100,000 visit [Sagamartha National Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagarmatha_National_Park) every year. Base camp is apparently a tourist destination in of itself. I’ve known only 1 person who ever climbed Everest but I’ve known at least a dozen who did the base camp. And all of the base camp crowd seemed quite satisfied with that with no need to go further up the mountain. From what I can tell sitting here comfortably at 636 feet about MSL the two experiences are quite different with very different levels of hazard. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/932 "2023-10-02T13:45:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > And all of the base camp crowd seemed quite satisfied with that with no need to go further up the mountain. Going further up the mountain is a $90K+ consideration, so very few people are interested in that. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/933 "2023-10-02T14:57:17Z")
And, it’s a major difference between trekking to EBC and climbing through the Khumbu icefall, which is just above EBC. The handful of people I know who have trekked to EBC have marveled at how thin the air is there. And then I remember Krakauer also marveling about the thin air at EBC and wondering how the hell they were supposed to make it to the summit which is more than 10,000 feet higher than EBC. He later acknowledged the successful process of acclimatization after going up to camps I, then II, then III, each time returning to EBC. After the climb to camp III, when they returned to EBC before their final summit push, the words he used to describe the air at EBC were “thick”, and “sweet”, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/934 "2023-10-06T14:43:19Z")
The porters speak out. > **[Porters on K2 and Broad Peak Speak Out About the Need For Change » Explorersweb](https://explorersweb.com/pakistani-porters-k2-broad-peak-speak-out/)** > > After years of silence, Pakistani porters are speaking out about the need for change in the high-altitude expedition industry. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/935 "2023-10-07T01:10:41Z")
Fascinating article, Spice\_Weasel. This is an indictment of the whole climbing industry. Maybe, just maybe, something will change because of these terrible incidents. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/936 "2023-10-11T23:11:46Z")
I think that this is appropriate here. Two women have climbed thirteen of the fourteen 8k meter plus mountains. They were both, at the same time, trying the be the first woman to climb all of them. Taking two different approaches to the same peak, they died in avalanches. > **[Rival mountaineers killed during final climb of world record attempt](https://www.yahoo.com/news/rival-mountaineers-killed-during-final-142527562.html)** > > Gina Rzucidlo and Anna Gutu lost their lives in an avalanche on Mount Shishapangma alongside their Nepalese guides ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/937 "2023-10-11T23:33:43Z")
probably the best visual representation so far of what was going on … (70 sec. movie) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/w8tVVKkxzMs/hqdefault.jpg "Die Schande am K2: Bergwelten Spezial | Teaser") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tVVKkxzMs) ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/938 "2023-10-12T01:41:02Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I think that this is appropriate here. Two women have climbed thirteen of the fourteen 8k meter plus mountains. They were both, at the same time, trying the be the first woman to climb all of them. Taking two different approaches to the same peak, they died in avalanches. > > [Rival mountaineers killed during final climb of world record attempt](https://www.yahoo.com/news/rival-mountaineers-killed-during-final-142527562.html) I did not read the article, but I thought it had already been done — a woman summiting the 14 8,000m peaks. I looked it up. In 1986, the first man did it. In 2010, the first woman did it. Per wiki, “In 2010, Spaniard Edurne Pasaban became the first woman to summit all 14 eight-thousanders, but with the aid of supplementary oxygen. In 2011, Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to summit all 14 eight-thousanders without the aid of supplementary oxygen.” > **[Eight-thousander](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-thousander)** > > The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and, since 2012, the UIAA has been involved in a process to consider whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountains. All eight-thousanders are located in the Him... ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/939 "2023-10-12T01:56:27Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I thought it had already been done — a woman summiting the 14 8,000m peaks Looks like the recent attempts were for the first **American** woman. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/940 "2023-10-12T01:56:28Z")
I just read more carefully. They were trying to be the first _American_ women to accomplish this. I think it would have cooler for them to have tried to summit together. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=46) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=48)