# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/81 "2016-05-25T03:07:32Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > It’s hard to put a price tag on those kinds of risks, especially if the Sherpas don’t have protection for their families, such as life or accident insurance. Should the major breadwinner be injured or killed, it might leave their families destitute. So it seems perfectly fair that they should earn a lot more than the average Nepali. The Sherpas have put a price tag on it, and it’s less than the pay being offered, i.e. “I’ll accept the pile of money you’re offering for me to take you to the summit.” I’m not arguing that they shouldn’t be well-compensated, but a claim has been made that they are undercompensated, and if many times the average annual salary in that country isn’t enough, I wonder how much the claimant feels is an adequate amount. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/82 "2016-05-25T04:18:12Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The Sherpas have put a price tag on it, and it’s less than the pay being offered, i.e. “I’ll accept the pile of money you’re offering for me to take you to the summit.” > > I’m not arguing that they shouldn’t be well-compensated, but a claim has been made that they are undercompensated, and if many times the average annual salary in that country isn’t enough, I wonder how much the claimant feels is an adequate amount. This is years ago (early 80’s) and _not_ a climb up Everest. I met a girl in Kathmandu who had already gone on a trek with a particular Sherpa. She and I hired this Sherpa to carry _both_ our packs for 50 cents a day to get us near EBC. We also paid for his meals at the hamlets along the way. And also for his lodging. He knew which homes offered meals and sleeping quarters. He was heading home to Namche Bazar which is on the way to Everest. He carried our packs for about 15 days. He also served as a guide and interrupter. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/83 "2016-05-25T04:29:21Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > He also served as a guide and interrupter. I had a guide like that once. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/84 "2016-05-26T03:07:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > His name was Phurba Sherpa, and shame on news outlets who don’t say his name as often as the others. Thank you for that, Broomstick. ---
**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, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/85 "2016-05-26T04:42:59Z")
[Two bodies were spotted](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/25/mount-everest-climbers-death-toll-rises-to-five/) a little below the summit, and are believed to be the two missing Indian climbers. There wasn’t really much doubt about the outcome. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/86 "2016-05-26T05:03:13Z")
> [@buddy431](#): > > When you account for that, it’s closer to 1%. Not great odds, but not bad for a life-changing opportunity like that. Yeah, that’s what I always find difficult in threads like this. I can’t quite get my head around this idea. Not to say I’m right and others wrong, but from my skewed perspective I just don’t see anything “life-changing” about climbing Everest. Pretty impressive in some respects, sure. A great and reasonably singular experience, okay. Your most memorable life experience, I totally get. But _life-changing_? What about your life will be different afterwards ( we’re assuming no loss of limbs/digits/loved ones, which really would be life-changing )? Life-changing to me would be winning $100 million ( or whatever ). But would I take a stab at winning $100 million if there was a 1% chance of me dying in the process? Fuuuuuucccccckkkk no. I simply don’t “get” adrenaline junkies on an emotional level. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2016, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/87 "2016-05-26T11:17:13Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I’m not arguing that they shouldn’t be well-compensated, but a claim has been made that they are undercompensated, and if many times the average annual salary in that country isn’t enough, I wonder how much the claimant feels is an adequate amount. It may not be the pay so much as a need for accident and life insurance. If a Sherpa doesn’t get seriously hurt and survives a few seasons on Everest he can “retire” and he and his family may be set for life… but if he dies his first season his family is likely worse off. If he winds up crippled his family may be worse off. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/88 "2016-05-26T14:00:40Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yeah, that’s what I always find difficult in threads like this. I can’t quite get my head around this idea. Not to say I’m right and others wrong, but from my skewed perspective I just don’t see anything “life-changing” about climbing Everest. Pretty impressive in some respects, sure. A great and reasonably singular experience, okay. Your most memorable life experience, I totally get. But _life-changing_? What about your life will be different afterwards ( we’re assuming no loss of limbs/digits/loved ones, which really would be life-changing )? I don’t see the appeal of it, either, but I guess it’s the cachet of knowing you’ve done something that very few others have done. An “I’ve literally stood on top of the world. Beat that” type of feeling. After seeing the dead bodies left on the mountain up close, I know I’d become a lifelong insomniac! > [@](#): > > Life-changing to me would be winning $100 million ( or whatever ). But would I take a stab at winning $100 million if there was a 1% chance of me dying in the process? Fuuuuuucccccckkkk no. I simply don’t “get” adrenaline junkies on an emotional level. The ones I really REALLY don’t get are the ones who BASE jump or snowboard down the mountain. I mean, seriously? What’s next to give you a big enough “high,” spacewalking without a suit? ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/89 "2016-05-26T14:30:54Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > 30,000+ die annually on American roads. Many driving for no practical purpose. Since we are all still mortal why not live life as you desire? How many of them die running around between cars on the highway? Seems like a more apt analogy to me. Everest climbing is basically attempted suicide. I’m not sure “tragedy” is the right word. There is a tragic element in the deaths, but it is more like “their stupidity was so tragic :(”. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/90 "2016-05-26T16:34:51Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > How many of them die running around between cars on the highway? Seems like a more apt analogy to me. > > Everest climbing is basically attempted suicide. I’m not sure “tragedy” is the right word. There is a tragic element in the deaths, but it is more like “their stupidity was so tragic :(”. That’s a bit much, even if you were to say subconsciously they all have a death wish. I can pretty much guarantee that NO ONE who attempts Everest expects to die. They know the risks (or should, at least), but they aren’t there specifically to die tragically, or, according to you, “tragically”. If 6% die attempting to summit, that means 94% don’t die. Do you classify BASE jumpers, wing suiters (or even regular parachutists), free divers, lane splitting motorcyclists, test pilots, astronauts, or 21st century infantry, as all “attempted suicide”? If you do, at least you’re consistent. But you’d still be wrong. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/91 "2016-05-27T00:40:31Z")
There may be an element of self-destructive tendency in some of the climbers/jumpers/other daredevils. Not all of them, but some. Beck Weathers, who survived the 1996 debacle on Everest, even if his nose, both hands, and part of his feet didn’t. He had some interesting things to say about his drive to climb, he near-death on the mountain, and the aftermath, as well as what believed (at the time he wrote his book about the experience) was a form of chronic depression. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/92 "2016-05-28T08:25:43Z")
Just saw an ad for a tabloid TV program here in Aus which is going to be broadcasting the story of the Aussie woman Maria tomorrow night. interviewing her husband who did survive…and she isn’t even warm yet! Frigging vultures they are. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/93 "2016-06-07T13:11:11Z")
Seems to me that the way to get experience climbing Everest would be to not climb it all the first time, and gradually build up more. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/94 "2016-06-08T19:43:36Z")
I always want to jump in and call this behavior (to trek to and climb Everest) as stupid, but I don’t, because I pause and remember that it’s part of the human condition. When I read about people condemning this and things like sports, racing, etc, it drives me utterly bonkers, especially on a site like SDMB. Surely you can concede that we are here – we humans – because these exploits are part of human nature… likely part of our DNA. E.g. we have the liberty to sit in a land that was explored by wackos, while we are typing on laptops and communicating with each other over technologies that probably killed people, to complain that it stinks that we humans have these human tendencies and needs (sports, adventure, exploration, risk, entertainment). Really… this is what people do. Not all of us… but this human need to explore and get a rush from risk for personal gratification is a gift to all of us. ::steps off soapbox:: ---
**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:** [June 8, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/95 "2016-06-08T22:45:27Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Really… this is what people do. Not all of us… but this human need to explore and get a rush from risk for personal gratification is a gift to all of us. Absolutely true and as a species it is almost certainly an adaptive quirk for a minority of the population to be that way - someone has to be the trailblazer. At an individual level, well…I presume most our ancestors bred early enough that by the time Crazy Charlie was devoured by saber-toothed cats at 27 while checking out _just one more cave_ he had probably already passed on his genes :D. But speaking as someone who is completely lacking in that adrenaline-junkie gene ( I don’t even like roller-coasters ), I still find it hard to relate to. It’s like people who actually _want_ to go into politics - what kind of self-destructive freak would do that ;)? ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/96 "2016-06-09T04:59:58Z")
I guess the reason a lot here are saying ‘Why do you even want to climb Everest’ is NOT to put down the adrenaline junkies or thrill-seekers. I think it’s because years ago we all thought climbing Everest would be this wonderful, wild, natural experience (with some risks). Us against the physical world. Very romantic. With what we’ve all seen on film and read about, it seems to be a lot of camping in the dirtiest, most-polluted, most crowded campsites, followed by shuffling along in a line similar to queuing for a nightclub on a busy street (and can still be told, arbitrarily ‘you can’t go’) - for what? 5 minutes at most on the top? Oh, and a certificate. The romance has all disappeared, but the risks and discomfort remain. ---
**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 7, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/97 "2017-05-07T01:18:42Z")
The 85 year-old man trying to regain the title of Oldest Person to Ever Climb Everest just died in the attempt. [Story here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/www.nbcnews.com/news/world/amp/nepal-man-dies-trying-become-oldest-mount-everest-climber-85-n755841&ved=0ahUKEwiK0LCJztzTAhUM1CYKHWGSDlsQiJQBCBwwAA&usg=AFQjCNEjV0W9Be_smHJPedrtbtMiGHMRpA&sig2=p2IV9-cNMUwuY-uuQ299mw). ---
**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 7, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/98 "2017-05-07T04:03:11Z")
OP: Any followup about the vet? ---
**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 7, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/99 "2017-05-07T04:29:51Z")
[According to this article](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/globalnews.ca/news/3432044/record-number-of-mount-everest-climbers-prompts-safety-concerns/amp/&ved=0ahUKEwjpv_6M-NzTAhVQziYKHWWaCkU4ChAWCDIwCA&usg=AFQjCNHALsOalPIYPFNeL7hHoj26WCbwkg&sig2=7nx6oCOIao_EFPKe1F4yWA), there are a record number of people once again trying to reach the summit of Everest. Let’s hope the next three weeks go without more deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/100 "2017-05-07T20:59:54Z")
Makes me think of a Mary Stewart novel, **Wildfire at Midnight**. It involved murder in a group of climbers in Skye in 1953. Characters listened to the wireless every night for news of the attempt on Everest, and the news of the successful summit was a major plot point. Some characters talked about what a shame it was that Everest was conquered. What would they think now? The trash and bodies left behind is greater desecration than the footprints spoken of then. attempts made by inexperienced and less than skilled mountaineers is desecration, too, because it is so disrespectful. Arrogance that’s almost contempt for nature, isn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=6)