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

[Chefpig]

I have read a news article about the person who died on Everest 30 years ago, known as Green Boots and wondered if his body would have been preserved by the snow and icy conditions up there. After some reading, I believe his body would not have decomposed and so his face will be the same, still in his late 40's. Forever young.

Can you actually get life insurance for Mount Everest?

Summiting Everest is still an incredible achievement - people on this thread are talking as if you can just stroll up - you can't, you have to be very, very fit.

That said, I agree that you should be able to demonstrate some sort of technical ability beforehand, for your safety and for the others on your rope.

The Nepalase government are trying to put procedures in place to reduce the rubbish on Everest - it is a big problem.

Obviously it’s the national governments (Nepal and China) that make the rules. Mount Everest generates millions of dollars annually so nothing will change.

Well. It’s ranked something like 150th out of 196 in the global HDO, so it’s one of the poorest countries in the region, and the extraordinary challenges of the terrain and remoteness means that there are huge disparities inside Nepal. The remote mountain communities will always be the worst off simply because there are almost no motorable roads to get crops out to markets or facilitate travel to education or healthcare, and those there are get snowed in, are at risk from rockfall, avalanches etc. Kids are walking for hours on dangerous roads and paths to overcrowded, under-resourced schools, so the dropout rate is high and educational levels are low, and healthcare is often woeful for the same reason.

So it’s not really a free choice for the communities who service mountaineers. Either you’re a subsistence farmer in a region with a harsh and unpredictable climate, or you migrate to the towns with a low level of education, or you work with mountaineering tourism, which, despite being much the best-paid opportunity locally, is still derisory for the risks involved. And there are summit bonuses for the guides, too, which potentially adds to the risks.

If you removed the Everest tourism though, the region as a whole would be even worse off.
I do think that the tour companies need to guard against exploiting the Sherpas, and I know the track record isn't great there.

I think climbers shouldn’t leave rubbish on Mount Everest but ultimately it’s the National Governments (Nepal and China) that make the rules.

(I live nowhere near Mount Everest.)

You can be very fit and still an egotistical wanker with more money than sense

Yes you can, but it’s extremely difficult and expensive.

Because of this thread, I watched the Everest 2015 film last night. It was very sad but also very frustrating.

I suppose it was never going to come cheap. You'd think any insurance company worth their salt would want huge amounts.

But if you can afford to train for and pay for an Everest trip you can afford it…

Absolutely. I’m just saying that it’s not exactly a free choice. One of the few things available that offers a viable living for people in a very remote area is incredibly risky.

Standard high street policies will usually exclude extreme high-altitude mountaineering, so you have to use a specialist risk brokers or providers.

Climbers should also stop dumping rubbish. If you carry it up, you carry it back down!

I slightly judge people who do extreme sports when they have young children, or are pregnant, as in this case. Men too, I hasten to add in fact more so because they tend to do more of it.

I think they need to prioritise their family until the children are late teens.

Tough for them but tragic for their children if the worst happens.

Do you judge parents that do dangerous jobs too then? No one needs to be in the armed forces, or be a fireman, or a deep sea diver etc? Would you judge the expedition leaders or the sherpas because that's how they choose to make their living?

It's not that I disagree you 100% more that I find it a difficult area to decide what I actually think.

Sherpas guides get paid 5 to 10 times more than the average Nepalese worker.

This is about $4,000 to $10,000 take home pay, but they have to invest in their own equipment which can cost up to $7,000. Their pay is often significantly impact by whether they summit or not - they get paid significant bonuses for summiting (which obviously Incentivises risk taking) They have to high altitude life insure by law by their company. Given the cost of investing in becoming a guide, they are effectively locked in for a number of seasons due to the costs involved.

Western Guides doing the same work but under less hazardous conditions earn $30,000 to $50,000 and will have the opportunity to work elsewhere during the rest of the year (given the work is seasonal) unlike many Sherpas who will not have other working opportunity available.

Gosh that's really sad and such a poor pay for the Sherpas once everything is taken into account. It's sobering.

Yes, obviously.

Disrespecting what they actually do for people that don't give a shit about other people's lives.
Hand wringing 😂 oh do give over you buffon, just stating facts in an interesting conversation.

Yes, you can! You can be very fit and be lots of things. How clever of you to realise this.

Having a bad personality, however, does not make it any less of an achievement.

And as I said in the rest of my post, I do think people should be adequately trained and bring down their rubbish. I would not see such a person as being egotistical.

I would say the climbers are ego driven. It’s a selfish endeavour to climb Mount Everest.

You cant compare surely? fireman or deep sea divers arent doing it for kudos and fame are they. Its a job that serves society

My daughter climbs and I know how much enthusiasts love it. Harsh though it is, I do think you should get it out of your system and then have kids, and maybe do it at a much lower level or put it on hold until the children are older…oh, and take out good life insurance!

I’m talking about very ambitious and hazardous climbs with poor safety records - such as climbing Everest.

@GasPanic 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

How woudl drones work at such high altitudes? The air is significantly thinner, surely that would affect the flight?