
I’ve Climbed Everest 21 Times. It’s Not the Mountain It Used to Be - DoreenMichele
https://newrepublic.com/article/154201/ive-climbed-everest-21-times-its-not-mountain-used-be
======
deanCommie
Then: "<Insert activity> is really dangerous. Very few people have done it. It
requires a lot of capital, and your health and life may be in danger"

Adventurers, explorers, inventors: "The risk is worth the reward. We must push
the boundaries of human reach and understanding further"

Now: "<Same activity> is really dangerous. Very few people have done it. It
requires a lot of capital, and your health and life may be in danger. But not
because the activity itself is dangerous or novel anymore - that's been solved
and perfected decades ago. No, because the only people that still do this
activity are doing it for ego not for humanity, are overfunded, but
underprepared, and the sheer volume of them doing the activity at the same
time creates an environment more dangerous than it naturally needs to be."

Rich conceited assholes: "The risk is worth the reward. I'm going to get to
drop in 'You know, this reminds me of the time I climbed Mount Everest' into
every soiree, pitch meeting, and networking event I'll be at for the rest of
my life."

~~~
lmm
What's the difference between "rich conceited asshole doing it for ego" and
"adventurer doing it for humanity"? At the end of the day there's no practical
benefit, only that person's experience.

~~~
akvadrako
_What?_ Are you saying the people that colonized Europe didn't give any
practical benefit to humanity?

~~~
likeclockwork
Who colonized Europe?

~~~
AstralStorm
Africans. It was a very long time ago (hundreds of thousands of years),
slightly later than colonizing the Fertile Crescent.

------
DoreenMichele
It's actually a piece about:

A. Climate change. Most of the problem with the mountain is not tourism per
se, but global warming.

B. How the locals need better and more varied economic opportunities,
education, etc.

The author is founder of The Apa Sherpa Foundation:
[https://www.apasherpafoundation.org/](https://www.apasherpafoundation.org/)

------
rendall
I did not know that Sherpa is an ethnicity. That it is, logically means that
it's weird to use that word in English to refer to the person who guides
climbers on the mountain.

"My Sherpa set up the tent" is a weird thing to say. Like "the Japanese made
us some sushi" or "my Finn started the sauna".

~~~
GaryNumanVevo
Sherpa refers to the ethnic group, sherpa refers to the profession

------
peterbraden
The problem here isn't Everest, it's poverty. Nepal is a very poor country. As
much as everyone likes to hate on the rich people climbing mountains, they
miss the fact that without the mountain, the people would be even worse off.

Yes, of course when a western luxury income collides with third world poverty,
of course there is ugliness. It's just here that it's visible.

And it's easy to make fun of the ego-driven climbers, despite the fact that
it's no less meaningful a pursuit as pretty much any other hobby.

------
magic_beans
People should be forced to carry their own waste down at least! I'm also
shocked how many people claim they "climbed Mt. Everest" when their Sherpa
guide did 99% of the heavy lifting.

------
Copenjin
I really feel sad for these sherpas that have to work as care givers for these
unprepared losers from the west (most of them seem to be) that just want to
impress their kin back home.

I suggest the book "Into Thin Air" (and the movie version "Everest") if you
want to know more about how the commercial side of Everest climbing works (and
about a really sad tragedy).

~~~
hodgesrm
> I really feel sad for these sherpa that have to work as care givers for
> these unprepared losers from the west (most of them seem to be) that just
> want to impress their kin back home.

Do you climb mountains? It's hard to explain the motivation if you don't do it
yourself. Most people I know who have done big climbs are not trying to
impress their kin. George Mallory answered the question why with "Because it's
there." That's still about the best answer.

~~~
Copenjin
That's not the kind of people I'm referring to, I was talking about
unqualified "climbers"[1], like those cited by John Oliver or some of those of
the Rob Hall expedition.

[1][https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147998/Mount-
Evere...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147998/Mount-Everest-
deaths-Shirya-Shah-Klorfines-words-dying-base-camp-save-me.html)

~~~
hodgesrm
Unqualified or unlucky? It's hard to say from the article you cited; bad
weather and crowding also seem to have been factors. 8000m peaks have high
rates of fatalities under the best of conditions. But this is true of any
large mountain range.

Take the Alps for example. On one day in the summer of 1979 12 people died on
climbs around Chamonix, which is a single valley. It was a beautiful day with
ideal climbing conditions around much of Mt. Blanc. I remember it well,
because I was in the valley watching helicopters bringing down bodies all
afternoon.

Most of the deaths were on the Tour Ronde. [1] The uppermost of 3 climbing
parties fell on a steep couloir and took out two parties below them. Perhaps
the first party was unqualified but the second and third parties?

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_Ronde#Events_and_incident...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_Ronde#Events_and_incidents)

------
mcraiha
In case someone wants to watch a video about the same topic, Everest: Last
Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bchx0mS7XOY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bchx0mS7XOY)

~~~
AstroJetson
It was really interesting that there is a HUGE line of people coming up and
down the mountain. It's hard to believe that so many people have the
resources.

The other thing is the reliance on the Sherpa moving all that stuff up and
down the mountain. (Capital S is the people) Being a sherpa is a super hard
and dangerous job for some thrill seekers.

~~~
saalweachter
The cost is on the order of ~$50,000.

That's not a _whim_ purchase for most people, and probably out of reach of
e.g. the lower 50% of US incomes, but for a huge number of people it's an
achievable amount if climbing Everest is your lifetime dream.

~~~
orpep90nxkfo
This is more like “rich westerners chasing FOMO feels”.

I have a hard time supporting politically that we owe deference to a minority
experiencing shallow novelty and calling them life dreams, given the
externalized costs foisted on society as a whole.

There are peaks closer and the difference in sensory experience is marginal.

This is just “more money than I can spend so I’ll shovel it a little at
everything.” Which is politically indefensible given how society is
manipulated to enable it.

~~~
bitreality
It's more that Everest is the highest peak in the world. If there was another
mountain 10m higher than Everest, Everest would get 5-10% of the traffic it
currently does.

How many people know the second highest mountain in the world? It's K2, most
people have at least heard of it. How about the third highest? Kangchenjunga.
Never heard of it, had to Google it.

So for people who want a recognizable achievement, Everest is pretty much the
top. Not just in climbing, but any physical achievement. Unless Nepal
restricts the number of climbers, it will only get worse.

~~~
gamblor956
K2 and Kangchenjunga are also much harder to _get to_ than Everest. For
example, the Indian government does not permit access to Kangchenjunga, and
the northern routes from Nepal are in (relatively, for Nepal) remote areas.

K2 is so remote that there was no local name for it (hence, the designation
K2).

------
cr0sh
EDIT: As noted below, I should have read the article first; I made a grand
assumption about the article, and had I read it (which I intend to do - but I
read enough of it to see what it's really about - and that should be
interesting), my questions would have been answered, and this dumb comment of
mine wouldn't be here.

My apologies, everyone. I'll do better in the future...

\--- Original Comment Below ---

I'm not a mountain climber, so maybe I just don't "get it" \- but I can see
why someone might want to do this once, or maybe even twice - in a lifetime.

But why 21 times?

What possesses someone to spend those kinds of resources, both monetarily and
physically, to do this kind of thing? What are they attempting to prove to
themselves?

Furthermore, does this amount of climbing activity on the part of one
individual have any bearing on the context of the mountain not being what it
used to be?

~~~
deanCommie
* Step 1: Read the article

* Step 2: Comment on the article.

You got it backwards.

~~~
cr0sh
Caught me. I'm a dumba __... I 'm sorry.

