# 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:** 48
**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, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/941 "2023-10-12T02:05:59Z")
Okay. American woman. Makes sense. ---
**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 12, 2023, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/942 "2023-10-12T12:52:14Z")
The story is almost absurd. > **[What Happened on Shishapangma: The Climbers Speak Out » Explorersweb](https://explorersweb.com/what-happened-shishapangma-climbers-speak/)** > > Shishapangma climbers are starting to share details of Last Saturday's tragic summit push. They tell a story of toxic competition leading to disaster. ---
**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 12, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/943 "2023-10-12T17:38:17Z")
It hasn’t been as good year for climbing’s image, that’s for sure. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/944 "2023-10-12T18:07:22Z")
That is a textbook definition of “shitshow”. ---
**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, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/945 "2023-10-12T18:22:37Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > That is a textbook definition of “shitshow”… It’s not called Shitshowpangma for nothing. ---
**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 12, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/946 "2023-10-12T18:35:19Z")
I laughed more than I should have … ---
**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:** [December 20, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/947 "2023-12-20T18:27:59Z")
This isn’t about Everest, but was an interesting article about two dead climbers on Aconcagua. I enjoyed the article and think it was accidental…no foul play. It does give you insight into how altitude can fuck with you, particularly without supplemental oxygen. > **[Ghosts on the Glacier](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/09/world/americas/aconcagua-mountain-expedition-photos.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HU0.YsKv.Bh4xTIE-Ityp&hpgrp=c-abar&smid=url-share)** > > Decades after the unexplained deaths of two American climbers in Argentina, a camera belonging to one of them was found in the snow. The film held astonishing images, but the mystery endures. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2024, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/948 "2024-02-08T11:51:48Z")
It’s a start i suppose … > **[Mount Everest: Climbers will need to bring poo back to base camp](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68237123)** > > As complaints of human waste pile up, new rules require climbers to properly dispose of their stools. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/949 "2024-02-08T12:17:34Z")
Something else for the sherpas to carry. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/950 "2024-02-08T14:12:06Z")
From the article: > On average, a climber is thought to produce 250 grams of excrement per day. They usually spend about two weeks on the higher camps for the summit attempt. > > “With that as the basis, we plan to give them two bags, each of which they can use five to six times,” Mr Chhiring explains. You have to reuse the bags? So you’ve got to reopen it, poop in it again, then tie it back up? I’d bring a roll of XL doggie poop bags to avoid that. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/951 "2024-02-08T14:21:20Z")
frozen poop isn’t that objectionable. The carrying it around part will be fun though. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/952 "2024-02-08T14:24:54Z")
Gives a new meaning to the phrase “Taking a shit”… ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/953 "2024-02-08T14:46:29Z")
It doesn’t come out frozen though. And I’m guessing at least some climbers are having digestion issues on the mountain, so they may be reusing a bag before it’s got a chance to solidify. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/954 "2024-02-08T14:48:59Z")
from what i’ve read the end product is not very solid. the job of relining the bucket is not wildly popular. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/955 "2024-02-08T14:49:26Z")
WAG bags contain a powder that coats the poo and gels up. It’s quite effective. Developed by NASA apparently. Some hiking areas in the US where catholes are not feasible require them. Parts of Canyonlands NP, Paria Canyon. > **[The Original WAG BAG®](https://cleanwaste.com/product/the-original-wag-bag/)** > > This is a variable product. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/956 "2024-02-08T14:57:59Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > It doesn’t come out frozen though. And I’m guessing at least some climbers are having digestion issues on the mountain, so they may be reusing a bag before it’s got a chance to solidify I suspect there’s a pretty strong incentive to wait until your poop has solidified and frozen, before opening the bag back up… Speaking from personal experience, when you’ve spent a few weeks in wilderness conditions, shitting into catholes or smearing it on to a sun-facing rock (the preferred method above the timberline, so that the feces dry up and disperse; this is what I was taught at the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1992), your squeamishness quotient tends diminish. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/957 "2024-02-08T15:03:58Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > smearing it on to a sun-facing rock (the preferred method above the timberline, so that the feces dry up and disperse; this is what I was taught at the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1992) Yeah, don’t do this. That may have been a sensible idea in an era when the next person to come along might be in 6 months time, but most wilderness areas are much more heavily used now. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/958 "2024-02-08T20:44:23Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > smearing it on to a sun-facing rock (the preferred method above the timberline, so that the feces dry up and disperse; this is what I was taught at the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1992) > > Yeah, don’t do this. That may have been a sensible idea in an era when the next person to come along might be in 6 months time, but most wilderness areas are much more heavily used now So what then is the currently preferred technique, when you’re on scree or in some place where you can’t dig a cathole? FWIW, my NOLS class was in the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming. Which, while gorgeous and majestic, don’t draw as many tourists or back-country hikers as Yellowstone or Rocky Mountain National Park. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/959 "2024-02-08T20:56:12Z")
Current recommended practice for areas above the treeline is to pack it all out. > **[Human Waste Disposal in the Backcountry: How to pee and poop in the woods -...](https://www.trailspace.com/articles/backcountry-waste-disposal.html#treeline)** > > Bears do it in the woods, and so do hikers, backpackers, climbers, trail runners, and paddlers miles away from a trailhead toilet. For all of us who head outdoors, and away from indoor plumbing, here are the guidelines for taking care of personal... ---
**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:** [February 8, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/960 "2024-02-08T20:59:12Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > frozen poop isn’t that objectionable. The carrying it around part will be fun though. It might come in handy. > [@Eskimo Shit Knife--fact or fantasy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eskimo-shit-knife-fact-or-fantasy/790696): > > Besides being an excellent name for a band, what do you think the likelihood that [it](https://www.google.com/#q=eskimo+shit+knife) actually happened, and would work? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=47) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=49)