Skiing Mt. Everest | Hacker News Reader

Skiing Mt. Everest

smithsonianmag.com

62 pointslisper21 comments

The video of Miura's descent is unforgettable. He wipes out about 3/4 down the slope but is able keep from tumbling more than a couple times. There's a point where you see the shadow of one of the skis, which is tumbling over his head and outside the picture. Major props for being able to stop at all.

https://youtu.be/ViFmRQx66Xg?t=4476

Amazing to think he'd pack a parachute and not an ice axe - or even a whippet for the decent.

That was... that was close to really being in major trouble.

Good lord that looks so icy and miserable!

wth? That guy isn't even a skier, he needs the parachute to control his speed on the descent because he can't use his edges effectively. Skiing doesn't have to be a game of luck, look at how pro skiers handle extremely steep unpisted terrain (those are show videos because those guys also need to please sponsors and followers to be able keep doing this, but between the backflips and spins you can see extreme control over the skis in extremely rough terrain):

https://youtube.com/watch?v=p-mZTR1glq4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=fbqHK8i-HdA

Eh, while his technique didn't look that good, consider that it was 40 years ago. No flexible skis with perfect steel edges for the ice that grips nicely like today, nor wide and bendy skis for the loose snow.

Also, the conditions are pure ice where he falls. As in, thick, clear ice, not comparable to what's icy in a downhill track.

If you find the original documentary linked in the other comment lacking in visuals, people are still doing this today and with modern cameras it's breathtaking.

https://youtu.be/wPXSFVruIHI

Incredible right from the first shot. Looks like I have my next 20 mins, thanks for sharing.

> Miura also skied Mount Kosciusko, the highest peak in Australia

This is stated as if it's supposed to be impressive, so I think the author is unfamiliar with Mount Kosciuszko! (They used the old spelling, too.) I "climbed" it as an ordinary 10-year-old. You literally take a ski lift [1] up to a flat plateau, walk along a well-maintained path (which used to be a road!) for a while, then walk up a little hill [2]. Cars have been taken to the top [3].

[1] The first one was built in 1958, before Miura's trip.

[2] https://www.atlasandboots.com/travel-blog/climbing-mount-kos...

[3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/87791108@N00/3201954921/in/pho...

What does walking to the top have to do with skiing it downhill? Does it use the same route?

I've skied Kosciuszko, after about 3 days of beginner lessons. I've also mountain biked it (up and down, as we we were too cheap to pay for the lift). It's all the same route as it is in a national park, so there are limited trails though the trees. Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland, but on the international scene it doesn't rate as difficult. It's a bit incongruous to see Kosciuszko mentioned in the same breath as Everest when talking about the seven summits, but that's how it is.

The above is not to cast aspersions, but a measure of Australia's landscape. It's such an ancient landscape that most of the big hills have worn away. Antiquity is the reason to see it.

A bit of trivia: the highest point in Australia is actually off-shore on Heard Island.

Edit: Turns out if one goes by the continental shelf the highest mountain on the Australian continent is in Papua.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Summits#Australia

Thanks for explaining, now it makes more sense to me.

It's a fair description of the topography. Very much more family friendly hike than a downhill skiing challenge.

> He’s planning to summit Everest again in 2013, this time from the Chinese/Tibetan side. He would be 80.

In case anyone is wondering if he did that:

From Wikipedia:

On May 23, 2013 Miura again became the oldest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest at the age of 80. This achievement is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.[3] He was unable to complete the descent after reaching the top, and was airlifted from Advanced Base Camp at 6500 meters, not walking down to the Base Camp at 5364 metre (17,600 feet).

And he's still alive at 89.

Even though that guy probably isn't in that category, I can't resist saying it, Everest has essentially become a tourist attraction. Since the collapse of the Hilary step due to an earthquake in 2015 it's effectively possible to summit without having to do much serious climbing at all. The various tour operators are in competition over how unfit and inexperienced people they can carry to the top, a ski lift would actually be quite fitting.

Something similar but with amazing first person footage is Andrzej Bargiel's ski descent of K2 from a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiGkU_eXJa8

And some folks skiing down Lhotse (the mountain connected to Everest via the famous South Col): https://youtu.be/wPXSFVruIHI

"The man who skied down Everest" is a great read about this achievement.

Miura is also a character at a later age in "Skiing zen" by Rick Phipps. The author ski-bummed through Japan and not only met the legend, but he also started working for him.

It's more like a man who skied a bit of Mt Everest then tumbled down a bit more and walked the rest

Mad as a bag of squirrels.

(2010)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com