# 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:** 50
**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:** [March 17, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/981 "2024-03-17T02:50:39Z")
I met him a few times when I worked in Cambridge. He was friends with our CEO so he had an office in our building, and I had several chats with him in the hallways. He was charming and very nice. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2024, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/982 "2024-03-17T11:14:53Z")
I never met him but he was very generous in the time of the Into Thin Air disaster, donating many resources of his own project and climb of Everest for the rescue. He was at base camp that day and able to talk with both climbing parties, Rob Hall’s and Scott Fischer’s. 1. Much too young to die. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2024, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/983 "2024-03-17T11:39:08Z")
This should be a gift link to the Boston Globe article. “Mr. Breashears, who summited Mount Everest five times, was the co-director and cinematographer of “Everest,” one of the most viewed IMAX documentaries in history.” > **[David Breashears, climber, cinematographer brought Mount Everest to the...](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/16/metro/david-breashears-dies-everest-climber/?s_campaign=8315)** > > Mr. Breashears, who summited Mount Everest five times, was the co-director and cinematographer of “Everest,” one of the most viewed IMAX documentaries in history. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/984 "2024-03-17T12:55:53Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > 1. Much too young to die. Two months younger than me. 🙁 I didn’t realize we were that close in age when I met him. I just assumed that, being so accomplished, he had to be older. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/985 "2024-03-17T15:49:57Z")
RIP. I met him at the IMAX premiere in San Diego, where he gave a talk and hosted a slideshow of photos from his career and the Everest expeditions. Really nice guy. My girlfriend was so impressed it triggered sort of a mini-obsession with mountaineering. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/986 "2024-04-10T19:08:28Z")
Climbers are in route to Everest Base Camp and should be arriving in the next week. A couple of interesting links: Overview of the start of the trip, from Kathmandu to Lukla: > **[Everest 2024: The Trek to EBC Begins | The Blog on alanarnette.com](https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2024/04/02/everest-2024-the-trek-to-ebc-begins/)** Weekly update: > **[Everest 2024: Weekend Update April 7: Climbers on the Trek | The Blog on...](https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2024/04/07/everest-2024-weekend-update-april-7-climbers-on-the-trek/)** > > Welcome to the Everest 2024 Weekend Update. The Everest spring season is on track. Hundreds of people are advancing towards Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side of the Mountain. The Tibet side remains ---
**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:** [April 22, 2024, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/987 "2024-04-22T10:29:40Z")
100 years after his attempt to scale everest … > **[Cambridge University releases Everest mountaineer George Mallory's letters](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68856540)** > > The letters include the final words George Mallory, who died climbing the mountain, sent to his wife. Letters [here.](https://magdalene.maxarchiveservices.co.uk/index.php/mallory-george-herbert-leigh) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/988 "2024-04-22T19:01:36Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Gives a new meaning to the phrase “Taking a shit”… In my experience almost no one ever “takes” a shit. I always leave mine. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/989 "2024-04-22T21:25:00Z")
Well, that was the joke… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/990 "2024-04-23T09:21:53Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > In my experience almost no one ever “takes” a shit. I always leave mine. “Where’d you leave it this time? Last time the kids didn’t find it until Easter!” - George Carlin ---
**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:** [April 23, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/991 "2024-04-23T13:55:04Z")
Probably good to check your insurance prior to the climb. > **[Insurance foul-up results in China student perishing on Mt Everest climb](https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3259783/money-first-rescue-later-china-student-dies-altitude-sickness-mount-everest-climb-due-insurance)** > > A heated debate has been sparked on mainland social media after a university student from China died while climbing Mount Everest because of confusing advertising about the insurance policy he bought for the trip. ---
**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 9, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/992 "2024-05-09T13:33:25Z")
> **[The Forgotten Hero of the 1953 First Ascent of Mount Everest](https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/everest/everest-hillary-norgay-1953-news/?scope=anon)** > > When Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made history by reaching the summit, a courier named Ten Tsewang Sherpa ran 200 miles to Kathmandu to deliver the news. He died a few weeks later. His story has never been told—until now. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/993 "2024-05-13T10:24:31Z")
I’m hoping his epitaph reads “Suck It, Pheidippides”. ---
**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 13, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/994 "2024-05-13T15:56:31Z")
The first summiteers have reached the top in the last couple days, with more scheduled to attempt it today and tomorrow. Weather has been really good so far with a favorable outlook for the rest of May, which hopefully will allow teams to spread out more and reduce some of the dangerous conditions caused by overcrowding. There was one death so far on a different peak, Makalu, by a Sherpa who reported not feeling well on the descent. > **[Everest 2024: Weekend Update May 13: First Summits | The Blog on alanarnette.com](https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2024/05/12/everest-2024-weekend-update-may-13-first-summits/)** > > The first summiteers on Everest marked the beginning of the climbing rush. The rope fixers summited a few days ago, and over thirty-five climbers summited today.  Two climbers added to their summit c ---
**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 13, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/995 "2024-05-13T16:05:08Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [The Man Who Told the World That Everest Had Been Climbed](https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/everest/everest-hillary-norgay-1953-news/?scope=anon) No matter how stupid one may think climbing Everest and dying is, running 200 miles and dying just to report the news is stupider. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/996 "2024-05-13T17:04:36Z")
If you read the article, there was a lot more to the story than that. He was paid well (for the time and the region) to be a mail runner, and he was good at it. It seems likely that he contracted a lowland (which Kathmandu is compared to Everest) illness that turned out to be fatal, not that the run killed him. There is also a phenomenon that the article alludes to called high-altitude de-acclimatization syndrome (HADAS) which can occur when someone who lives at altitude descends too quickly. It’s not life-threatening, but it may have exacerbated the situation. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/997 "2024-05-13T17:14:11Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’m hoping his epitaph reads “Suck It, Pheidippides”. Pheidippides reportedly ran over 300 miles. He ran from Athens to Sparta, about 150 miles, tried and failed to get the Spartans to send troops to help Athens (they were busy having a festival), then ran back, fought in the battle, then ran the relatively short distance of 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to report their victory. So goes the story, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/998 "2024-05-13T17:14:51Z")
> [@robby](#): > > If you read the article, there was a lot more to the story than that. > > He was paid well (for the time and the region) to be a mail runner, and he was good at it. Yeah, mail running was a pretty vital part of communication in colonial India (and of course in pre-colonial times as well). Immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in [“The Overland Mail”:](https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_overlandmail.htm) > [@](#): > > […] With a jingle of bells as the dusk gathers in, > He turns to the foot-path that heads up the hill— > The bags on his back and a cloth round his chin, > And, tucked in his waist-belt, the Post Office bill:— > “Despatched on this date, as received by the rail, > “Per runner, two bags of the Overland Mail.” > > Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim. > Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff. > Does the tempest cry halt? What are tempests to him? > The Service admits not a “but” or an “if.” > While the breath’s in his mouth, he must bear without fail, > In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail. > > From aloe to rose-oak, from rose-oak to fir, > From level to upland, from upland to crest, > From rice-field to rock-ridge, from rock-ridge to spur, > Fly the soft sandalled feet, strains the brawny brown chest. > From rail to ravine—to the peak from the vale— > Up, up through the night goes the Overland Mail. > > There’s a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road— > A jingle of bells on the foot-path below— > There’s a scuffle above in the monkey’s abode— > The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow. > For the great Sun himself must attend to the hail:— > “In the name of the Empress, the Overland Mail!” ---
**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 14, 2024, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/999 "2024-05-14T12:19:35Z")
This seems concerning: > **[Two Mongolian climbers missing above Everest South Col](https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/two-mongolian-climbers-missing-above-everest-south-col)** > > Two Mongolian climbers who choose to attempt Mt Everest without guides, have gone missing above 8,000m since two days, expedition organisers said. ---
**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 17, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397/1000 "2024-05-17T13:32:27Z")
The season’s first death on Everest is confirmed. > **[Mongolian Climber Dies in Season’s First Everest Fatality](https://www.google.com/url?q=https:%2F%2Fwww.usnews.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Farticles%2F2024-05-17%2Fmongolian-climber-dies-in-seasons-first-everest-fatality&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiHvNPH5ZSGAxU948kDHb7pDCoQxfQBegQICRAI&usg=AOvVaw0jHJpy3q0NmPc9J7r5fquM)** > > US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-just-dont-do-it/755397.md?page=51)