And some altitudes are very survivable, especially for someone who normally lives at a high altitude.
Is it plausible these flights normally take low altitude routes but for some reason diverted over a storm or weather system killing the hitchhiker's?
If you are going try it I'd definitely take a climbing harness and some rope and try to tie yourself in.
Nobody has stayed there more than a few hours.
People who run a business guiding other people to the summit are fools.
If you want a beautiful view from the top of Everest, hire an airplane.
"Neurologist Nicolás Fayed and his colleagues in Zaragoza, Spain, performed MRI brain scans on 35 climbers (12 professionals and 23 amateurs) who had returned from high-altitude expeditions, including 13 who had attempted Everest. They found brain damage in virtually every Everest climber but also in many climbers of lesser peaks who returned unaware that they had injured their brain."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-cells-into-....
Having witnessed cognitive decline in others, I stand by considering it foolish to engage in activities with a near certainty of brain damage, when there isn't much return for the risk beyond a great view for a few moments.
These people are working with oxygen bottles though, aren't they?
It's not like high altitude unpressurized flying when you've got plenty of O2 for the mask and you aren't physically working hard, and not for more than a few hours.
Also people react differently at high altitudes, and researching the effects are difficult. Even the Sherpas with their survival genetics occasionally get sick when they travel to low altitudes and return to 4000m, but inconsistently. I highly recommend visiting the high altitude research clinic in Periche, Nepal. Their short seminars are fascinating. It’s a small detour on the trek to Everest base camp, maybe two weeks of hiking to get there. Well worth it.
I think that’s an insult to people with limited opportunities in life and families to feed.
If you run such a business, but don’t do any of the climbing yourself, you could call that unethical, but not foolish.
I'm not talking about the Sherpas. I'm talking about the westerners who guide people all the way to the top. To say they are forced to do it to feed their families? From what I've read about them, they're people who turned their expensive hobby into a business. Doesn't sound like desperation.
You can call them immoral for not informing would-be customers if the risks, or for luring others towards taking risks wit their lives,p.
And yes, if they aren’t aware of the risks involved, you could call them fools, but I think they know quite well what risks they take for their hobby.
Surviving the impact is more about position, which material you are smashing into, and if you hit any objects right before hitting the ground in order to break your fall.