Mount Everest

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Anyone else been following the news about Mount Everest? 11 people have died in the past week because of "traffic jams" at the summit. The photos coming out look terrifying. I was reading that to read the summit it takes 8 weeks. I think they need to cap the number of people climbing but I am sure that they won't because it is a tourist trap. It is really sad as tourists should never be doing that, only professional climbers.


 

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Yes!! It's truly shocking!! When I saw the photos, I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing! This is such a great article https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/the-cost-of-glory-climbing-mount-everest/
I honestly don't understand why people with no experience at all would do such a thing. For between 20,000 - 40,000 USD Travel agencies will provide a Sherpa who will do absolutely everything they can to make the climber's life easier, but what if the weather suddenly changes and for some reason they get separared? It's honestly no surprise that people are dying up there. And tbh I think it's only going to get worse. Like the article so rightly mentioned, we hardly ever hear from people who successfully climb Everest for the right reasons, as they don't do it so they can boast about it.
In this article, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/world/asia/mount-everest-deaths.html a climber who was there this year said how it looked like a zoo as people were pushing and shoving others to take selfies and how he even had to step around the body of a woman who had just died. Are people crazy? Is it really worth dying for it? Or do they just not think it could happen to them? So many questions!
 
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I just watched this documentary about it The woman was Canadian and had zero experience climbing, the sherpas said it was too dangerous for her and she would die but she still wanted to do it. She reached the summit but died coming back down.
 
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I heard about this, the picture of the queues is insane! There's a lot of people having to step over dead bodies etc as well.

I think its a combination of them giving out too many permits, and also the fact there's such a short period where the weather is good as well. Most people apparently need oxygen masks and such because the oxygen is lacking up there, and if you're also not prepared physically then thats not great either.
 
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I just watched that documentary. Don't mean to sound insensitive, but again, don't really understand why so many people risk their lives, also not worrying about it'll affect the lives of their loved ones and their Sherpas. Staying 30min up there to take photos when such a dangerous descent was awaiting? It's just so selfish. That woman who died convinced her husband to remortgage their house to pay for her to go. Can you imagine him blaming himself for the rest of his life. How can someone hear: Continue and you'll die and just continue? Do they think they're immortal? I honestly find it mind-boggling and think it's very unfair to try and blame their guides. If this is not the most dangerous profession in the world, than I don't know what it is.
 
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Yes, she spent $40,000. It sounds awful but she seemed like a narcissist who didn't care about others.

Most people need oxygen at the summit, you won't survive without it. The government charge $11,000 just for a permit. I can't believe that many people are throwing the money away.
 
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Yes, she spent $40,000. It sounds awful but she seemed like a narcissist who didn't care about others.

Most people need oxygen at the summit, you won't survive without it. The government charge $11,000 just for a permit. I can't believe that many people are throwing the money away.
Precisely. Some people are just so obsessed that it completely overshadows anything that might come in their way. A man who suffers from a heart condition actually lied to the travel agency, so he could go ahead with his dream. So his dream is far more important than the life of the Sherpa/Sherpas helping him? What about the children the guides would leave behind? Obviously not important either. It's truly shocking.
People walking/stepping over bodies? OH MY GOD. It's like they lose any sense of decency, also not thinking they might be the ones getting walked around next.
This year the government issued the biggest number of permits yet, and seems this will become a norm.
 
Precisely. Some people are just so obsessed that it completely overshadows anything that might come in their way. A man who suffers from a heart condition actually lied to the travel agency, so he could go ahead with his dream. So his dream is far more important than the life of the Sherpa/Sherpas helping him? What about the children the guides would leave behind? Obviously not important either. It's truly shocking.
People walking/stepping over bodies? OH MY GOD. It's like they lose any sense of decency, also not thinking they might be the ones getting walked around next.
This year the government issued the biggest number of permits yet, and seems this will become a norm.
The government won't stop and are exploiting it because of all the money made. It is terribly sad about the sherpas. They are a group of indigenous people that live near the mountain. They don't have a lot of work options so they take that job. A few years ago there was a huge avalanche and a number of them were killed, leaving family behind. The climbers take advantage of the sherpas by making them carry things like picnic tables etc up the mountain. It is absolutely disgusting.
 
The government won't stop and are exploiting it because of all the money made. It is terribly sad about the sherpas. They are a group of indigenous people that live near the mountain. They don't have a lot of work options so they take that job. A few years ago there was a huge avalanche and a number of them were killed, leaving family behind. The climbers take advantage of the sherpas by making them carry things like picnic tables etc up the mountain. It is absolutely disgusting.
It really is vile how they're being exploited and so heartbreaking https://www.npr.org/sections/parall...st-deaths-are-sherpa-climbers?t=1559171459320
One third of Everest deaths are Sherpas. A 19 year old working his second season advised the climber he was accompanying to give up and go back, to which he obviously said no. The weather got worse, they ended up unconscious and he had to have both hands amputated.
I honestly can't look up to anyone who has climbed Everest as they're doing it not giving two f***s as to whether that will cost someone else's life. It's times like these that make me feel ashamed of what has become of us.
But hey ho, all worth it in the end for a f***ing selfie.
 
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It really is vile how they're being exploited and so heartbreaking https://www.npr.org/sections/parall...st-deaths-are-sherpa-climbers?t=1559171459320
One third of Everest deaths are Sherpas. A 19 year old working his second season advised the climber he was accompanying to give up and go back, to which he obviously said no. The weather got worse, they ended up unconscious and he had to have both hands amputated.
I honestly can't look up to anyone who has climbed Everest as they're doing it not giving two f***s as to whether that will cost someone else's life. It's times like these that make me feel ashamed of what has become of us.
I didn't know much about Everest at all until I started looking into it yesterday. The sherpas also have to go up the the "death zone" and retrieve bodies. Honestly, the climbers are terribly selfish.
 
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I didn't know much about Everest at all until I started looking into it yesterday. The sherpas also have to go up the the "death zone" and retrieve bodies. Honestly, the climbers are terribly selfish.
So so selfish. I hate The Daily Mail, but this headline really sums it up to a T and the article is actually really good. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/...mpassion-sacrificed-personal-achievement.html
So glad to hear not all of the climbers are heartless, some have actually given up so they could help others who were injured. One even carried an injured climber on his back for 9h, which cost him a few fingers. Although surely these heroes are a tiny drop in the ocean.
 
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I just looked up #everestsummit on Ig, recent posts and shocker, out of the dozens I saw, not a single one acknowledged/thanked the Sherpa that assisted them. So disgusting that they consider the person who kept them alive completely irrelevant. It actually makes me sick!
The traffic jam is INSANE. Call me heartless, but I can't say I worry about these scumbags tbh.
 
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I just looked up #everestsummit on Ig, recent posts and shocker, out of the dozens I saw, not a single one acknowledged/thanked the Sherpa that assisted them. So disgusting that they consider the person who kept them alive completely irrelevant. It actually makes me sick!
The traffic jam is INSANE. Call me heartless, but I can't say I worry about these scumbags tbh.
I was looking at the hash tag last night. After reading about the sherpas, I actually wonder how many of them are stuck in that jam... Probably a lot. :(

I saw there is a book called Into Thin Air about Everest. I think I will read it.
 
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I was looking at the hash tag last night. After reading about the sherpas, I actually wonder how many of them are stuck in that jam... Probably a lot. :(

I saw there is a book called Into Thin Air about Everest. I think I will read it.
Probably. [emoji22][emoji22]
Hmmm, looked into it and don't think I will. He seems vile.
 
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There's nothing 'heroic' about queuing up for the summit as if it's a ride at Alton Towers. Hardly a major achievement if that many people are already right in front of you.

I've seen smaller queues at the bar in a Wetherspoons on New Years Eve :rolleyes:

As has been said, my heart goes out to the Sherpas who risk their lives for a bunch of rich tourists. They should bring in a law that states if the Sherpa advises it's too risky then the tourist has to go ahead without them if they disregard that advice.
 
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