Hacker News Reader

Comment by notamy | Hacker News Reader

So looks like the worst-case is around $150,000 total. That's significantly more than I expected it to be; given how "climbing Everest" seems to be more common than I would have expected, I would have thought it'd be cheaper if people did it that much.

View on HN

I believe most people don't summit. They get to the first base camp only. The guide just seems to cost out the price of summiting too. You'd have to train, and spend time summiting other peaks too. Total cost to maximise your chances of succeeding would be significantly more.

The non-sherpa Summit percentage is about 50% since about 2000.

To your other point, you're of course correct. You can't exactly wake up one day and whip out your credit card. Controversy about the degree of assistance provided by some guided trips notwithstanding, it's still a very challenging endeavor. I'd be very surprised if just about anyone summited Everest without other significant climbs (even if not other 8,000 meter peaks) under their belt.

How common do you perceive it as? Only about 4600 people have done it, ever. That doesn't seem very common to me.

Right; it just seems like we hear about Everest more than basically every other mountain.

People seem to think climbing Everest is "more common" based on how much it gets publicized in the media. But I've been in the climbing business for a while and still don't personally know anyone who's summited. Maybe I don't have the right friends though.

I'm not sure the number but there's a lot of more professional climbers who have sponsorships that pay for their attempt on the mountain also.

Sure some save years for the chance but there's a good percentage that have sponsorships to try to summit.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com