Nick Symmonds Everest Attempt

Bigballer wrote:

Just Posted on his social media "

4,638 humans have climbed Mt. Everest.

1,497 humans have broken 4 minutes in the Mile.

No human has ever done both. Until now....

Go to MileToMountain.com to learn more."

From the schedule published on the Website, it looks as if he will begin this summer with Kilimanjaro and end in summer 2021 with Everest.

Not true at all. A number of unfortunates have plunged a mile to their deaths after having conquered Everest. My guess is that they did the mile in under 2 minutes, actually.

Free Faller wrote:

Not true at all. A number of unfortunates have plunged a mile to their deaths after having conquered Everest. My guess is that they did the mile in under 2 minutes, actually.

Support?

Kid B wrote:

I bet it's pretty easy to break a 4-minute mile falling from the top of Everest.

Laugh Of the Day, thanks :) smiley face

hofst wrote:

Free Faller wrote:

Not true at all. A number of unfortunates have plunged a mile to their deaths after having conquered Everest. My guess is that they did the mile in under 2 minutes, actually.

Support?

Not on Everest, but on adjacent Nuptse:

Jerzy Kukuczka died attempting to climb the unclimbed South Face of Lhotse in Nepal on 24 October 1989. He was leading a pitch at an altitude of about 8,200 meters on a 6 mm secondhand rope he had picked up in a market in Kathmandu (according to Ryszard Pawłowski, Kukuczka's climbing partner on the tragic day, the main single rope used by the team was too jammed to be used and the climbers decided to use transport rope instead). When he lost his footing and fell, the cord was either cut or snapped from the fall, plunging Kukuczka ~2000 meters to his death. Kukuczka's body was never found

samax wrote:

Climbing Everest with a guide is a joke. Are people still impressed by this? You pay 10s of thousands of dollars to clip into fixed lines and do a nontechnical slog of a hike. Bonus: You get to do it in a conga line of rich trophy hunters who are looking to add "world's tallest mountain" to their athletic resumes. I really don't understand why anyone gives a sh1t about Everest.

Do you know mountaineering or are you just spouting off what you have heard other armchair quarterbacks say?

Yes Everest is not the world’s hardest climb and yes, guided climbs have diluted the talent pool a bit, but don’t confuse that with thinking an acscent on Everest is easy or can be done by most people. Between weather, illness and altitude, it continues to be a crapshoot. Very few people summit and people die every year.

Terminal velocity wrote:

hofst wrote:

Support?

Not on Everest, but on adjacent Nuptse:

Jerzy Kukuczka died attempting to climb the unclimbed South Face of Lhotse in Nepal on 24 October 1989. He was leading a pitch at an altitude of about 8,200 meters on a 6 mm secondhand rope he had picked up in a market in Kathmandu (according to Ryszard Pawłowski, Kukuczka's climbing partner on the tragic day, the main single rope used by the team was too jammed to be used and the climbers decided to use transport rope instead). When he lost his footing and fell, the cord was either cut or snapped from the fall, plunging Kukuczka ~2000 meters to his death. Kukuczka's body was never found

Fair....that's quite the free fall.

Climber Dude wrote:

ewhsreth wrote:

It would be really funny if one of the other living sub 4 milers decided to beat Symmonds to the punch and summited Everest sometime during the next two years.

The next Everest climbing season is this Fall from either the north (Chinese) side or the south (Nepal) side.

Isn't the next Everest season in process right now?

samax wrote:

Climbing Everest with a guide is a joke. Are people still impressed by this? You pay 10s of thousands of dollars to clip into fixed lines and do a nontechnical slog of a hike. Bonus: You get to do it in a conga line of rich trophy hunters who are looking to add "world's tallest mountain" to their athletic resumes. I really don't understand why anyone gives a sh1t about Everest.

Let us know when manage to climb it. I've been to base camp and getting to the top ain't easy.

Why do people care about climbing Everest is akin to asking why do people care about who's the fastest person who can run around an oval? Except the risks are higher with Everest and Everest is a gold mine to the Sherpa's so they care a lot.

Jenna Jameson’s father once said that he was proud of his daughter for being a pornstar because she was the best in the world at her chosen occupation. Similarly, I am proud of Nick Symmonds for being an attention whore because no distance runner in history has ever done it better. He is a true artist who will still find ways to make us talk about him to his death and beyond.

hofst wrote:

Terminal velocity wrote:

Not on Everest, but on adjacent Nuptse:

Jerzy Kukuczka died attempting to climb the unclimbed South Face of Lhotse in Nepal on 24 October 1989. He was leading a pitch at an altitude of about 8,200 meters on a 6 mm secondhand rope he had picked up in a market in Kathmandu (according to Ryszard Pawłowski, Kukuczka's climbing partner on the tragic day, the main single rope used by the team was too jammed to be used and the climbers decided to use transport rope instead). When he lost his footing and fell, the cord was either cut or snapped from the fall, plunging Kukuczka ~2000 meters to his death. Kukuczka's body was never found

Fair....that's quite the free fall.

Just to be clear, to any not aware of it Jerzy Kukuczka wasn't some random guy just falling off a mountain; he was second man ever to summit all 14 8000 meter peaks (second only to Reinhold Messner) and widely regarded as one of the greatest high altitude climbers in history (some regard him as the greatest).Unlike messner, who climbed some of his peaks by the standard routes, Kukuczka's climbs were all either solo, winter ascents, new routes, or a combination of those. A complete and total badass.

He also completed a blistering 2000m unsupported descent following his final summit. Legend.

Flounder wrote:

samax wrote:

Climbing Everest with a guide is a joke. Are people still impressed by this? You pay 10s of thousands of dollars to clip into fixed lines and do a nontechnical slog of a hike. Bonus: You get to do it in a conga line of rich trophy hunters who are looking to add "world's tallest mountain" to their athletic resumes. I really don't understand why anyone gives a sh1t about Everest.

Let us know when manage to climb it. I've been to base camp and getting to the top ain't easy.

Why do people care about climbing Everest is akin to asking why do people care about who's the fastest person who can run around an oval? Except the risks are higher with Everest and Everest is a gold mine to the Sherpa's so they care a lot.

Except the sport of running is a talent-loaded endeavour whereas mountain climbing is not.

This is not going to end well. He strikes me as someone with an over-inflated sense of his own capabilities. That mindset does not bode well on Everest.

context wrote:

Just to be clear, to any not aware of it Jerzy Kukuczka wasn't some random guy just falling off a mountain; he was second man ever to summit all 14 8000 meter peaks (second only to Reinhold Messner) and widely regarded as one of the greatest high altitude climbers in history (some regard him as the greatest).Unlike messner, who climbed some of his peaks by the standard routes, Kukuczka's climbs were all either solo, winter ascents, new routes, or a combination of those. A complete and total badass.

Thanks for mention this.

Yes indeed, Jerzy Kukuczka was the real deal and can't be compared to the rich tourist who get roped up to the top of Everest.

Everything about this ill-fated endeavor screams "narcissism"

No, Nick, this IS horror movie fear.

https://rungum.com/blogs/blog/how-to-find-courage-in-the-midst-of-fear

Hi-

thanks for the info. Do you know which team is he on (or at least if he is in the south or north side)?

For the rest of you who have not been over 20,000 ft: high altitude sucks monkey. I have no interest in climbing E, because I have a long list of mountains that I'd rather spend the time and money on to climb. Also, indeed there are plenty of Everest aspirants who realistically should not be there. Yet, it is a fun (type 2 fun that is) project and whoever gets it done deserves kudos. Guides and support can make the experience safer and more bearable, but nothing will make high altitude activities pleasant. Others can help you, but make no mistake about it, nobody but you can haul your ass up onto that summit.

not impressed wrote:

Doing two things that require endurance isn't that impressive. I would be more impressed if a sub 4 min miler could bench over 400.

#OverUnder4

Is that you, Ryan Hall?

I do know mountaineering. I'll spare you a recap of my entire climbing resume, but I will say that I've been climbing rock and ice for more than 15 years, including big walls in Yosemite and Zion, and alpine routes all over North America. I live in a crag town, and climbing is as big a part of my life as running is.

I'm not saying getting to the top of Everest is easy. As you mentioned, there are plenty of objective hazards, including the general circus of competing for a summit window during Everest season. It's just that climbing Everest isn't that interesting. For the average guided climber, it doesn't even require a background in technical mountaineering.

Maybe if it were a humble dude climbing Everest for the love of the mountains I'd be reacting differently. This is just an utterly transparent marketing ploy.