American Dies on Mt Everest

[ignoramus]

Actually, there's an Aussie in critical condition as well. He tried to reach the summit without oxygen.

[Chad32]

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I find it rather selfish of the people who have young children at home. Shouldn’t being around for your kids be more important to you than scaling Everest? I understand why people do it, but how can that be worth the very real risk of devastating your immediate family? Do that shit when you’re single.

I think this is why marriage is sometimes called settling down. Because you're supposed to give up crazy stuff like climbing the tallest mountain in the world, and raise your own little adventurers.

[Rev. Rye]

The thing that gets me ---

There's a motherfucking line - queued up to the summit.....


Hey Ed Hillary - what the hell do you think is so special of an experience - that you have to wait in line?

I won't wait in line to see a fricken movie. I sure as hell ain't waiting in line to see if something will kill me......

So, you're at an elevation where extended time can kill you due to a lack of oxygen, an altitude literally called The Death Zone, and you have to STAND IN FUCKING LINE.

You know, you'd think the Nepalese government would figure out how to regulate it properly.

[Anomalocaris]

IIRC Everest isnt even a very hard one. Amongst the famous 8000ers (meters of course) there are a buncha much harder ones. Particularly K2 seems to be a real bitch, and its like only 200m less than Everest. Who cares if you are operating on 39% oxygen or 38%?  This is clearly a *wannabe climber* problem.

Just because the top 0.001 percentile is much harder still doesn’t mean the 0.01 percentile isn’t even very hard.  Something like 5 out of every 6 efforts to summit fails and 1 out of every 6 who try dies while failing.

For a discretionary activity that only those who are within top 1% of capability might entertain an attempt that record might suggest it is hard.

[Brian37]

Everest needs to be shut down. I can understand the first few explorers going up there and even scientists but the only reason it is open is because Nepal is a poor country. Nepal's allies and the west need to help it find other ways to make money. Most of those going to the top now are simply doing it for vanity reasons. Everest isn't a zip line or a roller coaster.

[Anomalocaris]

Everest  needs to be shut down. I can understand the first few explorers going up there and even scientists but the only reason it is open is because Nepal is a poor country. Nepal's allies and the west need to help it find other ways to  make money. Most of those going to the top now are simply doing it for vanity reasons. Everest isn't a zip line or a roller coaster.

You are indignantly saving Everest from what and for what, exactly?

[Brian37]

Everest  needs to be shut down. I can understand the first few explorers going up there and even scientists but the only reason it is open is because Nepal is a poor country. Nepal's allies and the west need to help it find other ways to  make money. Most of those going to the top now are simply doing it for vanity reasons. Everest isn't a zip line or a roller coaster.

You are indignantly saving Everest from what and for what, exactly?

I am talking about humans, not the Mt. There is no need for it to be a tourist attraction. Even those who live and work issuing permits have expressed concern that far too many people who cant handle it end up getting permits. The permits are the way Nepal makes tourist money.

I'd say the only people that should be going up there should be both experts and only for scientific research. Everest should not be treated like a resort attraction.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Stephen Strange didn't find it much of a challenge.

[Anomalocaris]

Stephen Strange didn't find it much of a challenge.

Yeah, Steven Hawking didn’t find quantum mechanics challenging either.

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You are indignantly saving Everest from what and for what, exactly?

I am talking about humans, not the Mt. There is no need for it to be a tourist attraction. Even those who live and work issuing permits have expressed concern that far too many people who cant handle it end up getting permits. The permits are the way Nepal makes tourist money.

I'd say the only people that should be going up there should be both experts and only for scientific research. Everest should not be treated like a resort attraction.

So their lives are yours to protect now?    I doubt any of those who paid to try didn’t have an surfeit of opportunities to learn of the risks, nor a unpitiable disposable income.  No one except perhaps some of the sherpas was ever forced to claim and had no choice but to be placed in needless risk while up there.

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I think to challenge oneself with a difficult goal that can inspire oneself is the sort of vanity that is the death of a culture or civilization to do without.

[Brian37]

Stephen Strange didn't find it much of a challenge.

Yeah, Steven Hawking didn’t find quantum mechanics challenging either.

---

I am talking about humans, not the Mt. There is no need for it to be a tourist attraction. Even those who live and work issuing permits have expressed concern that far too many people who cant handle it end up getting permits. The permits are the way Nepal makes tourist money.

I'd say the only people that should be going up there should be both experts and only for scientific research. Everest should not be treated like a resort attraction.

So their lives are yours to protect now?    I doubt any of those who tried didn’t have an surfeit of opportunities to learn of the risks, nor a unpitiable disposable income.

No, never claimed they were. But when the people who live there, who work at agencies who ISSUE THE PERMITS are expressing concern, nobody is asking you to simply take my word for it. 

I don't care what product, service one is making or supplying, I do get tired of the "buyer beware" crap. After enough safety problems, WITH ANY SERVICE or product, the safety protocol and sales tactics should be reviewed. If that is not happening and all you have is "fuck it" then what is really going on is that money has become more important than safety. 11 deaths in less than two weeks says to me some greedy people are putting profits above safety.

And again, climbing Mt Everest today isn't like Apollo NASA trying to get to the moon for the first time. It's been done. I can understand the first few times and especially if that exploration is for science. But if all it is for ego and vanity, I am not against that 100%. But when the marketer doesn't care whom they sell to, and more and more people get hurt, you cant simply blame it on the buyer.