Hacker News Reader

Comment by rgmerk | Hacker News Reader

The problem is that while climbing Everest no longer requires elite-level mountaineering skill, it remains extremely dangerous, both for the people paying and the (mostly Nepalese) guides who take climbers up there.

It seems that roughly 1% of people who attempt the summit die in the process; there are hundreds of bodies simply left on the mountain as it's too risky to retrieve them.

There's every chance that this approach will lead to more fatalities as it will increase the proportion of inexperienced, unskilled climbers attempting the summit, with less opportunity for those unsuited for very high altitudes to pull out before dying.

View on HN

It is one of the better paying jobs and Nepal makes a mint from the permits. They pimp themselves out for a buck defiling the mountain with their trash and corpses. And I don't blame them, it is what it is, a weird symbiosis of mountain exploiters all the way down. If the locals care about that they'd at least require sherpas for hire to haul out the corpses who signed their checks.

You're worried about people who have already decided to take the risk. (sherpa safety is seperate point)

Its not like theyre being forced to go climb mount everest.

They could go do bungie jumping or cliff diving, driving fast, etc.

I'm curious where things tend to go wrong with the inexperienced people? Are we talking a general lack of fitness or just little/no real mountaineering skills?

I feel like I've heard of some guys that did a 12 week program to prepare them, but don't recall the outcome. You certainly can't fake a lifetime of strong cardio fitness.

Both of the above, but also your body's ability to adapt to high altitude, which isn't just a question of general cardiovascular fitness.

If you build up to climbing Everest more gradually you find this out in places and at altitudes where you can be saved.

That said, Everest is an extremely dangerous place even for experienced mountaineers, though it's not the most dangerous . The second highest peak, K2, is so dangerous that roughly one person dies for every eight or so who reach the summit.

I would imagine a lack of experience with gear and not knowing how to react to sudden weather changes might be 2 big reasons why things go wrong. These environments are not forgiving when panic sets in or you make a long series of minor mistakes, many stories like these when it comes to scuba diving as well (especially cave diving).

So what? People take risks all the time. The guides are paid, so they must be getting enough to make the risks worthwhile.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com