SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge It Looks Like the Annual Craziness on Mount Everest is in Full Swing
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| Protect Your Nuts |
As it’s been said- there is little mountaineering involved in climbing certain routes on Everest, but only because the mountaineering is already done. The ladders, ropes, protection, camps, etc are all done for clients. It doesn’t make it any less difficult though from an endurance standpoint, you just don’t have to know how to build anchors and solve technical challenges. The fitness required to successfully do it is extreme, with or without bottled oxygen. The DC route on Mt Rainier has a summit rate of about 50%, which is a “walk-up” route to 14.4k ft. Using round numbers, Rainier is typically done over 2.5 days, and involves about 9,000 feet of vertical gain, the last 4,000 or so over crevassed glacial terrain. It is not Everest, and yet the failure rate is high due to fitness (lack), weather, and conditions. While almost everyone focuses on the death statistics of Everest, the summit stats are about the same as Rainier. The difference is at 14.4k if your fitness, conditions, or weather fails you, you could get seriously hurt or die, but it’s more likely you’ll just have to turn around. If the failure happens above 25k ft, you’re probably going to die. Additionally, without the technical skills you have no way to identify, troubleshoot, or mitigate anything that happens outside of 100% visibility days and no unforeseen circumstances. Just because you don’t have to have two ice tools connected to solid material at all times doesn’t mean it isn’t difficult as fuck. IMO- yeah the guiding companies and government permitting are part of the problem, but the bigger problem is this perpetuated nonsense that anyone with reasonable fitness can SAFELY do a “walk-up” route on a big mountain. I can competently and safely lead WI3/M3 routes, second WI5/M5. During April-Jun I spent about 20 days every year on Rainier, Baker, and in the backcountry areas of Crystal Mountain, and I maintain the appropriate fitness level and technical skill sets to do so. Yet, I do not have the fitness level nor technical skill sets to climb at high altitudes- including Everest. There is no such thing as an easy walk up route on a big mountain. And the people who think so and try it? Well, there’s a reason every other post on MP involves the phrase- yer gonna die. So, if you don’t like it, you can’t do much about the permitting or guiding companies, but you can stop perpetuating this myth that somehow Everest is some stroll in the park that anyone can do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "deserves" ain't got nothin to do with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||
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Get Off My Lawn |
Everest is not a technical mountain, but it is not a walk in the park, not by any stretch of the imagination. Everest has kicked the asses of some of the best mountaineers over the years, and killed some as well. The threat of danger and death is extremely high. The amount of suffering and physical turmoil on the mountain is unmatched by most other sports or activities. "I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965 | |||
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Member |
We all know this already. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a tourist trap now where people pay 80k to have sherpas haul all their bullshit up the mountain. Some of the these tours have expensive wine and Bree at stops up it. It’s a joke. What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone | |||
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| Go ahead punk, make my day |
Just admit that your "walk up a mountain" assertion is bullshit. | |||
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Unhyphenated American |
__________________________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Always remember that others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself. Richard M Nixon It's nice to be important, it's more important to be nice. Billy Joe Shaver NRA Life Member | |||
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| Member |
Much of the blame can be faulted with the Nepalese govt for allowing so many permits, as stated earlier, hard to resist the pay-off, as there's people willing to pay with more money and time than they know what to do with. If anything, they could raise the permit prices the guide services pay then require them to pack-out x-amount of trash and/or, climb the mtn alpine style. It doesn't absolve those climbers/clients from shitty behavior, and leaving their gear behind however, it's a start, need to make it painful in the wallet. | |||
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The Joy Maker |
Do they get their picture with Santa at the top too? If I'm gonna stand in line, a line that I could be killed in because it's freezing, and there's no oxygen, then at the end of that line I best get my dick sucked so hard, I turn inside out. Or, as already noted, I could take that money and buy a sportscar, and get regular blowjobs. 
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| Member |
Great explanation ! And - Rainier kicked my ass.  | |||
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Semper Fi - 1775 |
Posting only because they really went with the "died doing what he loves" bit on this latest death.... http://www.startribune.com/col...t-everest/510483962/ He described his brother as an attorney in his "day job" who was "an inveterate climber of peaks in Colorado, the West and the world over." "He passed away doing what he loved, after returning to the next camp below the peak," Mark Kulish said. ___________________________ All it takes...is all you got. ____________________________ For those who have fought for it, Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ | |||
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Member |
A friend of mine ran into the total d-bag former CEO of my company, who said he was going to Nepal for an "Everest climb scouting trip". This is a person with no redeeming value to humanity or society and I can totally see how he'd want to do this to try and impress people.
--------------------------------------- It's like my brain's a tree and you're those little cookie elves. | |||
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| Member |
I'd be in for putting up a NORCO up there. Think of all the oxygen you could sell. Hell, mark it up 10x the going rate. Some poor bastard that got his bottles stolen or misjudged what was needed would be happy to pay. "And I think about my loves,well I've had a few. Well,I'm sorry that I hurt them, did I hurt you too" I Was Wrong--Social D. | |||
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Festina Lente |
'Passed away doing what he loved': Second American dies on Mount Everest in crowded year https://www.usatoday.com/story...crowding/1256051001/ NRA Life Member - "Fear God and Dreadnaught" | |||
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| Member |
I guess if Mt. Everest was in the US the liberals would be screaming for it to be banned. | |||
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| Member |
That is like a line of death. I am not knocking it but I don't get the desire to do it. If there is a great chance of death while supposedly doing something fun/challenging, count me out. | |||
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| Member |
they knew the job was dangerous when they took it Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency. Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first | |||
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| Member |
The Real Sports segment above is very good. The simple answer is what the government of Nepal keeps stalling on, restrict permits to experienced climbers only. If the gov. official in the segment is right that only about 50% are experienced, that alone would cut the death toll of climbers and sherpas by well over 50%. Half the line and less than half the time spent in the death zone because the only experienced group moves quicker. Less than half the sherpa trips with gear because the experienced climbers won't have all the extra BS. Less risk per sherpa with their climbers because they know what they are doing. “People have to really suffer before they can risk doing what they love.” –Chuck Palahnuik Be harder to kill: https://preparefit.ck.page | |||
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| Ignored facts still exist |
Agreed. Very informative. . | |||
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| Member |
I'd say sort of... I wished they'd provide some perspective as to why Sherpas/porters are necessary to the whole method of expedition climbing. The way programs like to portray it, the Sherpas are simply there to schlep all sorts of ridiculous and odd all over the mtn while getting paid peanuts and treated like dirt. While they do a lot of the heavy lifting, they're also the eyes and ears for many of the services as many are fully invested in the professional climbing business. Spoke to some friends in the industry, some interesting feedback: - The guide services are unregulated nor are the hiring practices for domestic help. The permits apply to the clients but not their staff which includes the Sherpas. - There's a narrow window to summit Everest, the ridiculous photo was taken on the first available day, when many of the guiding services all charged up the mtn. Few waited for the next day. - Too many services utilize the easiest South side route, which is where the bottleneck happened. Other services are now trying to change it up by going up the 2nd easiest Tibet-side. - There's more guiding services, particularly from non-Western countries, which is attracting less-than fit/suitable clients while also hiring inexperienced Sherpas; everyone wants a piece of the pie. There's a limited number of Sherpas with the technical know-how of high-altitude mountaineering, all of them work for the more seasoned services thus, the talent pool for Sherpas capable of working up high is limited. | |||
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| Member |
LMAO. Take everything literally with no sense of humor, no sarcasm if you want to. Your choice. Far cry from the rookie going up the mountain compared to a seasoned veteran climber. “Walking up the mountain” refers to the boatloads of dipshits doing this without the experience to do so. It also refers to all these people who need a bunch of sherpas to haul their shit up for them. You think anyone here on the forum thinks this is a cake walk? My point, that you missed by 1000 klicks, was that way way too many people are going up the mountain that have no business doing so. Guided (sherpas like a mafk) tours with Bree, wine, 4 star cuisine, etc. Don’t be so damn dense. Same damn thing has been occurring on Maui. Dipshits with no business getting on Peahi and dying. Not even a tenth of the experience necessary but they think it’s a great idea and pay for it with their lives. Stupid is as stupid does. What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone | |||
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Member |
I don’t disagree with the above, as there are FAR too many people out on that mountain. However, my grammar and spelling Nazi is out in force. It’s Brie, not Bree. | |||
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