I was having a debate with a friend regarding how difficult it is to climb Everest in recent years. I claimed that with a $100K+ budget, I or any other fit person can climb Everest with minimal preparation. He disagreed and said that you need significant mountaineering experience and time spent at extreme altitudes. I don't think that applies anymore since the climb is on ladders and fixed ropes, which eliminates the technical aspects of route-finding and rock climbing. You can compensate for not having prior altitude experience by spending more days on the trek to Base Camp to acclimatize, and you can get a team of Sherpas to carry all of your stuff, including as many oxygen tanks as you need.
So the question is, which one of us is right? Is excellent fitness by itself good enough to summit Everest if combined with extensive Sherpa support? If I had the vacation time, money, and could find an expedition interested in trying this experiment, I'd sign up for it. I'm pretty sure I could get to Camp 3 (~25K feet), and if I had ideal weather conditions, I think I'd have a reasonable chance of getting to the summit.
What does everyone here think? For some background info, I'm a male in who's his late 20s and not overweight. I've run a sub 12 100 meter dash (electronically timed), a sub 6 mile at 7000' elevation, and have no difficulty doing several pullups. However, my mountain climbing experience is minimal, and I've never been above 15K feet.
Can almost all physically fit people who have no mountaineering or extreme altitude experience summit Everest?
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read this somewhere wrote:
a sub 6 mile at 7000' elevation
Letsrun is going to call it slow, but this was coming straight from sea level with no acclimation. -
The climb up is easy. What gets you is the descent, which is where most people die.
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Everest is practically a tourist walk up if you have enough money. Outside of some people get altitude sickness more easily than others. If you happen to be wired that way, you will not make it no matter how fit you are or how much mountaineering experience you have. It is not uncommon for 3-5 helicopters a day to leave base camp with people who are altitude sick or have pulmonary edema.
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read this somewhere wrote:
I was having a debate with a friend regarding how difficult it is to climb Everest in recent years. I claimed that with a $100K+ budget, I or any other fit person can climb Everest with minimal preparation. He disagreed and said that you need significant mountaineering experience and time spent at extreme altitudes. I don't think that applies anymore since the climb is on ladders and fixed ropes, which eliminates the technical aspects of route-finding and rock climbing. You can compensate for not having prior altitude experience by spending more days on the trek to Base Camp to acclimatize, and you can get a team of Sherpas to carry all of your stuff, including as many oxygen tanks as you need.
So the question is, which one of us is right? Is excellent fitness by itself good enough to summit Everest if combined with extensive Sherpa support? If I had the vacation time, money, and could find an expedition interested in trying this experiment, I'd sign up for it. I'm pretty sure I could get to Camp 3 (~25K feet), and if I had ideal weather conditions, I think I'd have a reasonable chance of getting to the summit.
What does everyone here think? For some background info, I'm a male in who's his late 20s and not overweight. I've run a sub 12 100 meter dash (electronically timed), a sub 6 mile at 7000' elevation, and have no difficulty doing several pullups. However, my mountain climbing experience is minimal, and I've never been above 15K feet.
Under the conditions you describe, you are almost certainly right. It is possible for anyone to suffer from either edema - even those who never have before - but in general, you are correct. -
The climb up itself is a non-technical route. The only real climbing is on the Hillary Step, which now has ladders. The problem is the altitude. Even very fit people can fall victim to AMS, HAPE, or HACE. Most people climbing up Everest really shouldn’t be there, and would literally die without the help of a guide. Guides can make dumb decisions to try to get people to the summit, because the more tourists they drag to the top of the mountain, the better their business will be the next year. And don’t forget about the Khumbu Ice Fall. Those seracs will collapse whether you’re an experienced mountaineer or not.
That’s why I’ll stick to climbing Colorado 14ers in the summer. -
Why can't you just ride a mountain bike down Mount. Everest?
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Sand Dunes wrote:
Why can't you just ride a mountain bike down Mount. Everest?
Well you have to haul it up first.
Maybe try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piNRRg7WuG8
Or
https://www.adventuresportsnetwork.com/sport/snowboarding/snowboarding-mystery-shrouds-mount-everest/ -
As I understand it these days the technical requirements are far less than they used to be.
I probably have met two or three dozen who have summitted, all were pretty fit. -
Here we go again. How about "can an airplane take off from a treadmill?"
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sc42 wrote:
Here we go again. How about "can an airplane take off from a treadmill?"
How could a airplane take off from a treadmill? -
Sand Dunes wrote:
sc42 wrote:
Here we go again. How about "can an airplane take off from a treadmill?"
How could a airplane take off from a treadmill?
Small airplane or big treadmill. Not too complicated. -
LoneStarXC wrote:
Sand Dunes wrote:
sc42 wrote:
Here we go again. How about "can an airplane take off from a treadmill?"
How could a airplane take off from a treadmill?
Small airplane or big treadmill. Not too complicated.
interesting . . . -
Luv2Run wrote:
(fool skied down mt everest)
Or
(fool snowboarded down mt everest)
The most epic way and crazy way to descend would be a wingsuit -
LoneStarXC wrote:
The climb up itself is a non-technical route. The only real climbing is on the Hillary Step, which now has ladders.
The Hillary Step is no more. After the 2015 earthquake:
The debate left media outlets and climbers confused, not knowing what, if anything, remained of the feature. But now that mountaineers like Madison and Jones have returned from the mountain, the consensus is that the Hillary Step is a shell of its former self. “Now, instead of the Hillary Step, you have some snow steps on a 45-degree angle,” Madison says. “And it actually makes the climbing much easier because instead of ascending this pure vertical rock face, it’s just walking up some snow steps with a fixed line.”
https://www.outsideonline.com/2191911/american-climbers-confirm-hillary-step-gone -
I would think at a minimum at VO2max test, and a minimum value, should be required of anyone attempting to climb Everest. HAPE, HACE aside, some rich person with a VO2max below 40 (you name the value), I would think, isn't going to make it. Are their any estimates of such a minimum?
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Luv2Run wrote:
Sand Dunes wrote:
Why can't you just ride a mountain bike down Mount. Everest?
Well you have to haul it up first.
Maybe try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piNRRg7WuG8
White people are insane. The End. -
I camped at base camp a couple years ago. Any reasonably fit person with no respiratory problems should be able to summit. But it’s still going to be hard. If you get sick during the hike up or have any injury then you’re done. The elevation is a monkey on your back that gets heavier with every step. Small things take thought and time. Injuries don’t heal. The food gets redundant and you lose your appetite. Your brain becomes mushy.
Without Sherpas you couldn’t do it without extensive mountaineering experience. -
You can get a prescription for Acetazolamide to prevent altitude sickness
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RealCici wrote:
You can get a prescription for Acetazolamide to prevent altitude sickness
It helps but doesn’t prevent Hape or Hace. It’s impossible to predict who will get sick. The camp doc monitors your O2 levels throughout the attempt. Several people in my group had to go back down before reaching base camp. And there were several helos bringing folks down from the mountain every single day. I think 4-5 people died on Everest when I was there.
The Sherpas work like hell to get you to the top. But getting down to camp 4 is sometimes every man for himself.
