The Hillary Step appears to be gone.
Interesting. I hope he survived. Did he summit in May 1996? Was he on Hall’s party? Or Fischer’s? Or another?
What exactly does that mean for climbers on the mountain?
From the article:
I got so caught up in looking at pictures of Hillary Step that I forgot to read the article. :smack:
Plus two more dead.
Hillary Stepmay be still there after all. Weird. It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you could simply overlook on the way up…
I have been binge watching Everest videos. It seems that neither Nepal nor China are limiting the number of climbing permits. Many groups have had to wait up to an hour at the Hillary Step (which is or isn’t gone depending on who is describing it) and that wait, standing still in the cold, is another danger to climbers.
I really don’t care about how many try to summit Everest. Or how many die or lose feet or hands in the attempt. I do care about all the trash that is left behind. A mystical mountain just turned into a cash cow, and screw the locals who revere Everest.
Looks like more are dead.
Well, dead bodies are often left there like so much trash.
But O₂ cylinders aren’t biodegradable… :eek:
Are the bodies biodegradable in that environment?
From what I’ve seen in the news is that the body count this year is 10 so far. Is this accurate?
Green Boots has been there for 21 years now, although he’s now hidden from view. From what I understand, bodies pretty much mummify up there.
Yes. But current conditions are bad near the summit. There may be more.
Nitpick: Into Thin Air.
That book took care of any desire I might have had to climb Everest.
One of the earlier-posted linked articles had two links to supplemental stories, and one said the Step was there, and one said it was gone. And they both used the same picture!
Mallory’s body was there 75 years and was in pretty good shape.
That is what I thought. Cold and dry are good for preserving bodies.
It’s my understanding bodies do not decompose up there so much as they erode away. There are pictures of bare skulls with hair still attached underneath their coat hood. Creepy.
While I am against any further summiting of Everest (the whole thing is an environmental disaster and whatever there was to be proved was proven long, long ago), but I would like to see it in person someday. I doubt I ever will, but that is the extent of adventure I’m up for, and I think that should be good enough for pretty much everyone else. I can look but not touch.