Why is climbing Mount Everest so dangerous?

[Still Waters]

The recent death of Australian man Jason Kennison after reaching the summit of Mount Everest highlights how dangerous mountain climbing can be.

Details of what went wrong as Kennison descended from the summit have yet to be confirmed by officials.

However, his death – one of several this year on Mount Everest – is a reminder of the challenges mountain climbers face.

Mount Everest – also known as Chomolungma (its Tibetan name) or Sagarmatha (its Nepali name) – is the highest mountain on Earth with a peak at 8,849 metres above sea-level.

May 29 this year marks 70 years since the first successful summit of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary.

https://theconversation.com/why-is-climbing-mount-everest-so-dangerous-206099

[quiXilver]

The whole pursuit of Everest has morphed radically from its origins.  I guess it's to be expected and its natural given humans and their desire to emulate, copy and achieve.

The final ascent to the crest in particular is absurd and surreal to me, in the extreme.

Bodies of former climbers lie along the path, along with myriad discarded oxygen tanks. One can look those pics up if you are curious, I won't share them here due to site's softness rules.

 

On busy days, there's an absurd queue for the ascent.  An ironic mirror of Disneyland or Six Flags.  Your moments at the peak a mix of the stunning view and the stares of the host waiting their turn behind you. 

 

It's also deeply ironic to me, the folks who manage the ascent and their subsequent posturing of having 'conquered the mountain', once.

Meanwhile just out of frame of their summit concquering photos, are the sherpas who climb the peak multiple times a year, while carrying the 'conquerors' gear for them.

One of the sherpas has recently set a new record having made the climb 26 times now, while carrying other people's tents, food, etc.  Oi, talk about endurance.  That guy is a beast of vitality.  My job is demanding and dangerous, but it's all relative.  Compared to this guy, I sit at a keyboard and type letters all day.

Edited May 26 by quiXilver

[Still Waters]

4 hours ago, quiXilver said:

One of the sherpas has recently set a new record having made the climb 26 times now, while carrying other people's tents, food, etc.  Oi, talk about endurance.  That guy is a beast of vitality. 

You mean this guy? 27 times now. He's amazing, all the sherpas are I think.

Something I watched recently 'Finding Michael'. Very little hope I thought after 23 years missing on Everest, but it was very interesting and informative. What stood out to me the most was how incredible and hard working the sherpas were. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26880702/

[quiXilver]

They are really incredible endurance athletes at the highest scale.

They regularly climb it in groups doing maintenance on the line settings and cleaning up after the tourists, prepping for the season etc, taking down the bodies of dead climbers and sherpa...

Incredibly dangerous.  In 2014 many sherpas quit the season sort of en masse.  One quote stood out to me from those among them who stepped down.

“It is just impossible for many of us to continue climbing,” he said. “While there are three of our friends buried in the snow, I can’t imagine stepping over them. We want to honour the members we lost and out of respect we just can’t continue.”

[zep73]

@quiXilver @Still Waters

Aww.... I had a joke ready. I can't tell that now, with all those sob stories.

[+Hammerclaw]

Climbing Everest has gotten pretty damned ridiculous.

[Dejarma]

 why some humans feel a need to do things like this has always baffled me...
It achieves what apart from: 'oow look at me, look what I've done'

so you've climbed a fekin mounting, so what!?

Yet there are many people who dedicate their lives to making life easier for mankind (I guess I'm mainly referring to the medical world here) who never get a mention. no one's heard of them!

[pellinore]

Green Boots:Who is Green Boots? The most famous dead body on Everest! (haydenrue.com)

[quiXilver]

21 hours ago, zep73 said:

@quiXilver @Still Waters

Aww.... I had a joke ready. I can't tell that now, with all those sob stories.

I'm not scared mate, let her rip.

[zep73]

3 hours ago, quiXilver said:

I'm not scared mate, let her rip.

I don't get it. Is that message for me?

[quiXilver]

Yup @zep73 I was encouraging you to tell your joke. 

[zep73]

1 hour ago, quiXilver said:

Yup @zep73 I was encouraging you to tell your joke. 

First time I ever heard that expression, sorry.

The joke was that "of course it's dangerous to be out in the wild and cold when you're high".

It's funnier when it's told spontaneous.

[quiXilver]

My son is going to split a seam when I tell him that one.

 

[Piney]

On 5/26/2023 at 7:32 PM, Hammerclaw said:

Climbing Everest has gotten pretty damned ridiculous.

I think taking any risk without good reason is ridiculous. 

[+Hammerclaw]

2 minutes ago, Piney said:

I think taking any risk without good reason is ridiculous. 

It shouldn't be a tourist destination. That mountain is hard and unforgiving.

[Piney]

13 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

It shouldn't be a tourist destination. That mountain is hard and unforgiving.

There's a lot of places that shouldn't be tourist destinations just because they destroy them. Like that mountain.

Visiting Yellowstone is like visiting the Jersey Shore or Disney now and it's just a mess. 

[Alchopwn]

On 5/27/2023 at 10:10 AM, Dejarma said:

 why some humans feel a need to do things like this has always baffled me...
It achieves what apart from: 'oow look at me, look what I've done'

so you've climbed a fekin mounting, so what!?

Yet there are many people who dedicate their lives to making life easier for mankind (I guess I'm mainly referring to the medical world here) who never get a mention. no one's heard of them!

Honestly, the view from the top of a properly tall mountain on a clear day is mind-bending.  Culturally speaking, people in antiquity didn't climb mountains unless they absolutely had no choice, and never aimed to summit.  Climbing to the summit of mountains really begins in the Renaissance, and had actually been described as a dangerous act of hubris by the church.  On the other hand, you can view mountain climbing as a form of pilgrimage, where you test yourself against adversity and come to a better knowledge of yourself, but this is also something that marks the onset of the modern individualist paradigm in European thinking. 

On the other hand, climbing up Everest amongst all the dead bodies and litter doesn't appeal to me at all. 

[simplybill]

On 5/26/2023 at 7:10 PM, Dejarma said:

why some humans feel a need to do things like this has always baffled me...
It achieves what apart from: 'oow look at me, look what I've done'

It depends on the person. There are YouTube and TikTok stars that do crazy things for attention (and sometimes die as a result). Other people enjoy the physical challenge, and others crave the exhilaration that comes at the end. 

Some people need the extreme frightening challenges, like Alex Honnold who free-soloed El Kapitan. Personally, I was satisfied with climbing Angels Landing in Zion National Park. Lol. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done on purpose, and also the most exhilarating. I was on an emotional high for weeks afterwards. 

Alex Honnold:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3-wjmIFlnNo&pp=QAFIAQ%3D%3D

Angels Landing:

 

[quiXilver]

On 5/26/2023 at 5:10 PM, Dejarma said:

 why some humans feel a need to do things like this has always baffled me...
It achieves what apart from: 'oow look at me, look what I've done'

so you've climbed a fekin mounting, so what!?

Yet there are many people who dedicate their lives to making life easier for mankind (I guess I'm mainly referring to the medical world here) who never get a mention. no one's heard of them!

Disagree.

Folks I know sought the experience the process can induce, not a story.   If the stories are shared, it's about conveying a sense of the awe of it, not some shallow brag or a seeking of someone's approval.

It's not about you, or others.  In the midst of it, all else drops away.  That freedom of experience is pretty rare these days.

 

Free hand, rock climbing was a reliable inroad to samadhi for me.  A readily accessible pathway to Moksha. 

The intensity of complete presence and acutely tuned awareness is paradigm shifting, healing and transformative.

I hope you taste it once at least in this life.

[quiXilver]

Sherpas just managed a rare high altitude rescue.

Remarkable. 

Quote

A Malaysian climber narrowly survived after a Nepali sherpa guide hauled him down from below the summit of Mount Everest in a “very rare” high altitude rescue, a government official said on Wednesday.

Gelje Sherpa, 30, was guiding a Chinese client to the 8,849 meter (29,032 feet) Everest summit on May 18 when he saw the Malaysian climber clinging to a rope and shivering from extreme cold in the area called the “death zone,” where temperatures can dip to minus 30 degrees Celsius (-86F) or lower.

source

[Myles]

On 5/26/2023 at 8:10 PM, Dejarma said:

 why some humans feel a need to do things like this has always baffled me...
It achieves what apart from: 'oow look at me, look what I've done'

so you've climbed a fekin mounting, so what!?

Yet there are many people who dedicate their lives to making life easier for mankind (I guess I'm mainly referring to the medical world here) who never get a mention. no one's heard of them!

I disagree.  As I understand it, most do it because it is a great physical challenge.  Good for them.

[Dejarma]

On 6/1/2023 at 6:27 PM, Myles said:

I disagree.  As I understand it, most do it because it is a great physical challenge.  Good for them.

yeah it's a personal thing so why would i want to know about it via the media?

leaving family & friends behind wondering if you're going die just because the individual needs to prove something is pretty fekin selfish IMO!

[bmk1245]

 

PS Everest ain't the hardest mount to climb.

I understand stressing yourself to the limits, but leaving trail of crap after yourself... Nepal should introduce the law  - what you bring in, you bring out.

Effing morons.

[Myles]

17 hours ago, Dejarma said:

yeah it's a personal thing so why would i want to know about it via the media?

leaving family & friends behind wondering if you're going die just because the individual needs to prove something is pretty fekin selfish IMO!

People do all kinds of dangerous thing.  Skydiving, paragliding, repelling.   

[simplybill]

Today (June 3rd) is the 6th anniversary of Alex Honnold’s free-solo climb of El Kapitan in Yosemite National Park. To mark the occasion, here’s a short documentary of Alex free climbing with Norway’s best climber (now retired) Magnus Mitdbo. It’s 34 minutes long, but if you want to skip to the terrifying heart-stopping part, you can skip to the 25:45 minute mark.

 

 

Edited June 4 by simplybill