Three dead on Everest in three days

Chomolungma seasons have been real jokes over the past decade and a half. Back when I climbed it, it was a big deal and we didn't have all these groups suffocating the mountain. Money has ruined the mountain.

mid-40s Sex God wrote:

The people who have died this year got sick, and then died before they could get lower. This is a matter of luck. In addition most who die on Everest die on the way down.

400 people have sumutted this year so far. Everest has a mortality rate if 2% so we can expect 5 more deaths at least. K2 has a 20-25% rate.

Turn around fools wrote:

The die are usually the ones who don't know when to stop. They don't heed the rules, like turn around at noon, regardless of where you are, and go back. But, some would rather die try and admit defeat.

mid-40s Sex God wrote:

The people who have died this year got sick, and then died before they could get lower. This is a matter of luck. In addition most who die on Everest die on the way down.

400 people have sumutted this year so far. Everest has a mortality rate if 2% so we can expect 5 more deaths at least. K2 has a 20-25% rate.

Turn around fools wrote:

The die are usually the ones who don't know when to stop. They don't heed the rules, like turn around at noon, regardless of where you are, and go back. But, some would rather die try and admit defeat.

Sorry for double post, one before was a mistake.

Anyway, wanted to respond to mid-40s sex god's post because, while he's correct about the basic facts, his interpretation of them is totally incorrect. It's true that most fatalities occur on the descent, but this fact doesn't contradict "Turn around fools" point. People who get sick and can't get down in time are often only in that position because they kept climbing past the designated turn around time and have thus spent way more time in the death zone than they should have. If it's 2 pm, and you're still stuck in traffic waiting for your turn to scale the Hillary step, you need to turn around. At these elevations your body is slowly dying, and every extra minute you spend up there not only increases your risk of frostbite, retinal hemorrhages, and edema, but also increases your overall level of fatigue and thus the odds that you will make a mistake on your descent.

jjjjjj wrote:

Lower the fees markedly, reduce the # of permits markedly (clamp down on the resulting black market), require a high skill level, and allow time for multiple attempts, and you'd see a reduction in deaths.

So, for something with high demand, you propose to lower the price, lower the supply, and lower the black market? Interesting...

Flagpole wrote:

Agreed. Not even that great of an accomplishment these days either. People should stop. Obviously still an element of danger, but the way the Sherpas do just about everything for you, it's nothing to brag about. Someone wants to do it just to have done it but then they never talk about it ever -- ok then. Otherwise, I'm not impressed.

Normally agree with most of the things you say on here Flagpole.

Why is it not such an impressive accomplishment? Nearly recollection recounts the absolute misery one must endure for days on end. If we are allowed to brag about below average (2:20 or slower) marathon PRs, surely we can be impressed by submitting everest. This is turning into a case of "it's not cool because it got to popular," just like the coffee shop down the road.

thats why i dont f*ck with climbing mountains

sadfasfad wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Agreed. Not even that great of an accomplishment these days either. People should stop. Obviously still an element of danger, but the way the Sherpas do just about everything for you, it's nothing to brag about. Someone wants to do it just to have done it but then they never talk about it ever -- ok then. Otherwise, I'm not impressed.

Normally agree with most of the things you say on here Flagpole.

Why is it not such an impressive accomplishment? Nearly recollection recounts the absolute misery one must endure for days on end. If we are allowed to brag about below average (2:20 or slower) marathon PRs, surely we can be impressed by submitting everest. This is turning into a case of "it's not cool because it got to popular," just like the coffee shop down the road.

I'm not saying it's like walking to the refrigerator, but ladders and rigging are already set up, Sherpas carry everything. Ho hum. This is not Edmund Hillary. And yeah, people should stop their bragging about their pedestrian marathons too. Pretty much bragging out to stop completely. Brag about others, but not yourself.

wait what wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Agreed. Not even that great of an accomplishment these days either. People should stop. Obviously still an element of danger, but the way the Sherpas do just about everything for you, it's nothing to brag about. Someone wants to do it just to have done it but then they never talk about it ever -- ok then. Otherwise, I'm not impressed.

People should stop simply because you think they should?

Just my opinion that they should. The typical reason that someone does this is for the accomplishment. Well, the accomplishment while still one, is watered down.

Monkeys typing wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Agreed. Not even that great of an accomplishment these days either. People should stop. Obviously still an element of danger, but the way the Sherpas do just about everything for you, it's nothing to brag about. Someone wants to do it just to have done it but then they never talk about it ever -- ok then. Otherwise, I'm not impressed.

I can't remember the last time anyone mentioned to me how they'd climbed Everest, but maybe I'm just traveling in the wrong circles.

Have to know climbers. I am acquaintances with a couple. One climber guy I know has said he will never do it mainly because it isn't that big of a deal anymore.

I notice one of those who died, was a 34 year old South African female vegan (Maria Strydom) who was climbing the mountain to prove that vegans were not weak and capable of strenuous activity.

Point taken.

Flagpole wrote:

Just my opinion that they should. The typical reason that someone does this is for the accomplishment. Well, the accomplishment while still one, is watered down.

Flagpole's opinion is that people shouldn't brag about their accomplishments. Flagpole would never brag about himself.

Mountain Madness wrote:

Emmanuel Goldstein wrote:

Climbing Everest has become a bucket list thing--just like doing Boston, for everyone and his uncle. The traffic jam going up and down that mountain has become so great and the skill level of the "climbers" (who have to practically be carried up there by the sherpas) so low that all these fatalities are not surprising at all.

I find it extremely odd that this is always your contribution in any mention of Everest. Unfortunately, it seems that all you know about the mountain is what you have "heard" or possibly even read. I'm quite confident that you haven't even been to The Himalaya. That is very obvious. Go give it a try, and I assure you that you'll have changed your tune. Until then, your comments remain ill contrived and without depth.

Goldstein,

Go home, just go home. Those who go to Everest are attention whores. Nothing more.

Clueless idiot

risk is my bizz wrote:

Mountain Madness wrote:

I find it extremely odd that this is always your contribution in any mention of Everest. Unfortunately, it seems that all you know about the mountain is what you have "heard" or possibly even read. I'm quite confident that you haven't even been to The Himalaya. That is very obvious. Go give it a try, and I assure you that you'll have changed your tune. Until then, your comments remain ill contrived and without depth.

Madness

Go home, just go home. Those who go to Everest are attention whores. Nothing more.

Clueless idiot

wait what wrote:

mid-40s Sex God wrote:

The people who have died this year got sick, and then died before they could get lower. This is a matter of luck. In addition most who die on Everest die on the way down.

400 people have sumutted this year so far. Everest has a mortality rate if 2% so we can expect 5 more deaths at least. K2 has a 20-25% rate.

There are four dead as of today. But deaths on Everest sometimes happen in bunches. It's not a linear trend.

I would hope more would die and leave the mountain alone.

jjjjjj wrote:

low skill level and also extremely high climbing fees, which really reduce the desire to do the right thing and turn around before the clouds come in. Even back in the early 1990s when I trekked in Nepal, the climbing fees were already something like $10,000 for many of the mountains. How many people are going to pay tens of thousands of dollars to climb Everest and then turn back at noon without getting to the summit? Lower the fees markedly, reduce the # of permits markedly (clamp down on the resulting black market), require a high skill level, and allow time for multiple attempts, and you'd see a reduction in deaths.

All correct except they should double or triple the fee, not lower it. More importantly, use those fees to police it better

"It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak," Dr Strydom said in March. "By climbing the seven summits we want to prove that vegans can do anything and more."

Yeah right, whatever attention-whore

If you need oxygen tanks and Sherpas, then you are a cheat.

So what's point of pushing the boundaries when you are cheating?

HRH wrote:

I notice one of those who died, was a 34 year old South African female vegan (Maria Strydom) who was climbing the mountain to prove that vegans were not weak and capable of strenuous activity.

Point taken.

*trying to suppress laughter*

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

There have been fewer people to summit Everest than there have been sub-4:00 milers.

Flagpole wrote:

wait what wrote:

People should stop simply because you think they should?

Just my opinion that they should. The typical reason that someone does this is for the accomplishment. Well, the accomplishment while still one, is watered down.