AIBU to be blown away by this? TW - Deaths on Everest.

It was a normal reaction and he does sound weird and a bit observey. 🤓All the best @Kimmers4334 😃

I know it’s their choice to become mountain guides but living in remote mountain regions, there are limited jobs available to them. The main commercial industries are tourism and mountaineering.

Of course they do but they are doing it to feed their families... they can't just go work in the local shop or Tesco can they!
They are paid between $2-5k per season so whilst that might be above 'local rate' it's hardly making them rich.
Difference between us and the Shepa iss they are actually prepared to die for their families so bit of respect is due.

My mistake - should have said another 7000m+ summit.

The 7000 will refer to meters, not ft.

Oh I don't know.

Firstly, it is an objective which has a serious risk of death. Maybe not as serious as it once was. But it's still pretty risky. Some of those risks are under the control of the climber. Some of them aren't. Mentally you have to be prepared for both of those and deal with them. Unless you are an idiot. A lot of the people who climb it are far from being idiots. I think it takes a special kind of person (or someone completely ignorant) to be able to put those risks on one side and still continue. There are a lot of things humans have done where they have really put themselves out there in terms of risk. The Apollo astronauts for one example. No one would accuse those guys of being idiots, just special people that were capable of compartmentalising the risk and continue to operate under extreme pressure while knowing that if anyone of a million things go wrong they would be dead.

Secondly, you don't get to the top of it by being unfit. You have to either train like crazy or be naturally very fit before you attempt it. Otherwise you won't even get halfway up the mountain. No matter how much someone else carries your gear or even drags you up the thing on a rope, you are not going to get up it without putting in some serious effort and being in top physical shape.

I don't like the rubbish thing, but I understand why it happens. It should be part of the permit fee that it includes removal of rubbish. I think drones are starting to be used to ferry equipment up and down the mountain. Maybe soon they will start being used to take rubbish down as well. The same drone that can take 30kg of oxygen cylinders up the mountain can take 30kg back down.

7000ft is no preparation for Everest.

I think the base camp alone is 15000ft and that is a trekker destination.

Yes, the problem there is that so many Sherpas are in a position where that kind of risk might genuinely seem like their best paid work option. I doubt they'd all be doing it if there were better choices available, but that's not likely in a very remote part of a poor country.

You understand they get paid? If there were no walkers on Everest then that’s a larg number of people who no longer have a wage.

Personally I couldn’t give a shit about the idiots that choose to walk up it but let’s not pretend the Sherpas are doing it for charity. They understand the risk and are undoubtedly paid above local rate which is why they take the risks they do.

No worries, that part of my comment was also a bit off topic! That was our third and final date so I never found out how professionally interesting he thought I was. Probably for the best. I reckon a relationship with a therapist could either be the easiest relationship ever, or a source of stress and judgement! He was a psychotherapist and had a particular interest in sex psychotherapy, but the sex wasn’t great and I didn’t feel much enthusiasm from him about dating in general. I thought looking away from unexpected dead body faces was quite a normal reaction, his response of staring at the corpse and staring at me was weirder imo! Maybe he didn’t even want a relationship, he just wanted a way to observe and study random people 😂

Climbing Everest doesn't have the kudos that some think it has. In the past, it really was an achievement but now... not so much. The Sherpas do a lot of the heavy lifting helping these egotistical prats to summit. The experience is just another tick box challenge to brag about.

How can anyone be comfortable climbing it knowing they are contributing to the mess which is there? Hearing about all these bodies is horrific - why would you want to see that? Idiocy.

Climbers that want to step foot on “top of the world” just don’t care. It should be mandatory that whatever you carry up the mountain, you have to carry it back down!

It’s estimated that there’s 250 tonnes of rubbish on Everest.
I watched Death Zone on Prime last night; it should be mandatory for everyone.
https://www.oneglobenepal.com/travel-tips/mount-everest-garbage-problem-the-dark-side-of-the-worlds-highest-mountain/

Extreme high-altitude mountaineering attracts personality traits similar to a psychopath, especially when they push past others in distress or fixate entirely on reaching the summit.

Mistake, see underneath!

I don't think it's being different about death. It's about avoiding danger. What were they supposed to do?

Why is it ridiculous to have a different take to you?

I think this is one of the most disgusting and selfish forms of tourism. In this world, why are people spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to climb a damn mountain, risking their lives and those of the sherpas who depend on the industry to survive now that extreme, fast climate change has caused rapid glacier melt, extreme weather, and severe water shortages, forcing historic Tibetan and Nepalese mountain communities to face severe flooding, cultural disruption, and permanent relocation. The rubbish and bodies littering the place are one thing, but nobody’s talking about human waste, used O2 and Propane/butane (whatever they use up there to cook with) Cylinders, clothing, hiking and camping equipment made from non-biodegradable materials, etc.. It’s inhumane and irresponsible.

I think someone has hypoxia or is on the windup.

Mount Everest was officially named in 1865 by the Royal Geographical Society to honor George Everest, the former British Surveyor General of India.

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/jul/21/mount-everest-name-1856

Andy Kirkpatrick is an interesting fella.

He's a climber who has spoken of the addictive nature of climbing and how it was always about pushing it just that little bit further and the inability to stop. It's also competitive both with others and with his self. There's always the next expedition....

He has suffered from extreme depression. He explains who the adrenaline of climbing almost gave him a high and this was really difficult to kick.

He made a conscious decision to reign back on what he was doing due to his daughter and then partner but has really struggled with it. He explains how so many of his friends didn't manage to break the cycle and are now dead.

He's written a few books and has done tours in the past. If you are interested in what drives people to climb, he's really worth seeing. He's entertaining. And he hates Bear Grylls who is almost his anthesis. Which is never a bad thing.

I recommend: Cold Wars: Climbing the fine line between risk and reality.

Oh, god the cave divers / spelunkers! There are teams of highly specialised, expensively equipped clean-up divers who go down and move bodies that have blocked passageways. They tow them out if they can, but most are stuck in such narrow places that they can only be stashed in a niche out of the way.

No idea what happens to them over time. There's often no air and very little wildlife. They must be pretty unpleasant after months under water, though 😟

Was going to say this - they ARE thawing, and it does present a danger of contamination to the water supplies of everyone who lives in the surrounding areas.

That's the main reason for the push to recover the bodies.

That is such a first world attitude!

something weird happens to some of us when confronted with mountains, sometimes the ocean depths as well. Like the Oceangate submersible, although they’re harder to reach. Cave diving maybe a better example - It’s a real steely obsession with some people and I’ve no idea what dopamine starved part of the brain they’re working from. It’s almost like those places are calling to them like bloody cursed objects

The made me laugh out loud. Are you ok?