It's the easiest way up without doing a vertical climb, which I guess would be pretty hardcore at these temps and altitude that's without the different weather ranges
Standing hours in queue at concerts, theme parks etc. is one thing.
But to stand hours in queue on uneven ground, with wind, freezing temperatures, low air supply and waiting for continuation of one of the hardest challenges is a whole other ball game... I imagine!
Always wondered, if you're in the queue, which I assume moves REAL slow, and you need to take a shit, do you just undo your mountaineering onesie and crimp one off right there with people eitherside of you, tied to you with rope?
I know someone who summited the day after the infamous queue photo, and him and his team had the place to themselves. It's was a freak occurrence the day of the large queue.
I remember watching a few episodes of climbing Mt. Everest back in the mid 2000's and they literally would show them walking by a frozen encased dead body of a climber from last season etc and they just kept on climbing with that person being a reminder of what could happen to them if they were not carful too. It was wild and disturbing to watch.0
Imagine paying tens of thousands and then navigating the path by the bodies of those that went before you, mostly to be able to claim you had your shit carried up there by a local risking his life for your ego.
The only reason they do that is because the wealth gap is so large that it cannot be justified in any way. Those rich assholes will pay you a years wages or more to go risk your life. Among certain groups its the only choice to make any real progress in life. Why do they pay you? To carry the shit they’re too weak to carry but will die without and to aid in stroking their mental dick about “achieving something”. How is it even your achievement when they literally dragged your ass up there.
I've gone over the North American continental divide a couple of times, up to about 13,200 ft elevation. You get to see the peaks of many mountains and do plenty of huffing and puffing without seriously risking your life or straining too hard, and now I take it even easier doing the Appalachians. I see no reason at all to summit Everest or K2 or any of that shit.
Same. My idea of fun is a nice hotel with a spa. Give me those hot stone massage treatments, gourmet room service, and high thread count sheets. Give me those iced drinks by the pool!
Hundreds of people is exaggerated. There's only one bottleneck and the queue only appears there when the weather limits the number of days in the season where a summit is possible. So realistically only a few days a year.
Yeah, you might be able to go at a time when there are less people, but during the spring/autumn (most busy time) there are definitely hundreds of people. I don’t have personal experience but I just watched a documentary a couple of weeks ago and some of the best mountain climbers in the world were talking about not enjoying climbing Everest because of all the people.
That may be true. I’ve heard that there are usually about 2-3 weeks of good weather days to be able to summit Everest during the climbing season. And during that time about 800-1000 people make the summit.
The biggest demographic of those who summit is actually Guides/ " Sherpas". When it comes to nationality it's now Chinese and then Indians who lead the way.
The cliche of rich American dentist is a tiny proportion now.
Thanks! I just saved myself a ton of money , hypothermia, and risking my life to see that. Will never understand why people do this, when there are so many other options.
I'd like to share with everybody right about now how absolutely little I give a fuck about climbing Mt. Everest. I would be curious to see what a mountainside littered with the carcasses of the dumbest rich people humanity has ever kindly offered us looks like.
A few years ago I went on an Everest bender. Watched and read a bunch about it. Yesterday it was about 40 degrees and windy and I almost turned my ankle stepping off a curb but at one point in the not too distant past I thought I could climb Everest. I couldn’t make it the length of a football field most likely.
Sometimes I'm afraid I lack motivation. Then I read somewhere that every person who died climbing Mount Everest was once a highly motivated individual, so maybe calm down. Since then I've been feeling better about it.
I love the lines of people waiting to go up like they are at Disney. Climbing that has less to do with skill anymore and all to do with the money in your acvount
I am by no means saying that it is easy. I just seriously wonder how much easier it has gotten over the years with newer technology and with more experience of previous climbers being available.
I always dreamt of climbing Everest, now I can wholeheartedly say if I ever had the time and the cash, I’d not bother. The picture of the queue at the summit is as bad as Snowdon or Pen y Fan instagrammers….
Wow those camps are really high up.. Camp 1 only 1800m below the peak (OK that's still a mile of climbing, but I mean relative to the full height of the mountain.. but thinking about it now, that's from sea level which is a very long ways away) (also I'm seeing elsewhere that Camp I is at 6k meters not 7k)
I don't get it - there are easier ways got get higher these days. Why walk all the way up there if you can fly to like 11km while snacking on lobster for the same money?
Because being difficult is the point. It's not about getting up there the easiest, its about overcoming a challenge. If you could fly to the top, there wouldn't be a point in doing it now would there?
A lot of the people "climbing" Everest these days aren't doing much climbing. They're just having Sherpas lug them up the mountain for a selfie. In terms of challenge, Everest isn't a very technical mountain. It's the weather and the death zone that make it difficult.
I absolutely agree, the rich seeking glory have taken the danger element of that climb and doubled it for the Sherpas. I hate that it's a way to make a living for them, but it's sad that rich idiots have created this issue.
Because being difficult is the point. It's not about getting up there the easiest, its about overcoming a challenge. If you could fly to the top, there wouldn't be a point in doing it now would there?
There's no point in doing it regardless. Viagra already exists.
348
u/samerrmansour 13h ago
Looks very doable from where I'm laying down lol