Climbing Everest

[MookJong]

Have you been to any of the European Alps OP? Plenty adventure to be had there at hugely reduced costs and budget airline flights!

There is a guy at work who used to bang on about Everest "base camp" yet he has never been anywhere but the lake district. There is a world of mountain adventure only a couple of hours away in Europe.

https://www.adventurealternative.com/mount-elbrus-south-route/

 

[Metalface Mark]

I've gone to base camp and over the glacier to camp 1, though that doesn't require much in the way of 'climbing' just walking/trekking the altitude does get to you though. (spent just over a week in the base camp area). In terms of actual climbing/proper mountaineering I've only done stuff in the alps.

Not sure I'd want to attempt Everest per say, it does seem that some rich people essentially pay sherpas to almost drag them up the thing and will make use of fixed ropes etc...

Pretty unlikely you have been to camp 1 as it means a trip through the ice fall, the most dangerous part of the mountain. You cant go past base camp without a climbers permit.

Im gonna have to call BS on this one (especially as going through the icefall is most certainly not walking/trekking! - that said, id love to be proved wrong).

Its my long term goal to climb an 8000m peak, Climbing Kilimanjaro next week and booked to climb Mera Peak (6476m) in May.

 

[Metalface Mark]

You don;tneed to be fit. you can acclimitise to 5000m or so relatively easily with time. above that you just get an oxygen bottle shoved in you pack and are dragged up by sherpas.

You need to mountain fit. The above is a myth. Read what Mark Horrell had to say about his summit day and other Everest Myth's busted mentioned in the thread.

http://www.markhorrell.com/blog/2012/5-media-myths-about-everest-busted/

 

[Clarkson]

It's not particularly difficult to acclimatise to 5000m or so (although mileage may vary) but to say/assume that's all it is and then you're good to go is not really true. The last camp before taking the western breach up kili is around that height, but pushing up the final steep slopes to the top still requires all your lung capacity. It's like taking a full deep breath, and then a bit more on top where it feels like your lungs are actually at the limit of stretching...for every breath (when pushing uphill). It wasn't so much muscular tiredness that was difficult.

But I can only imagine Everest is horrendously difficult for most people, even with oxygen.

Any responsible operator does not push or pull clients up any mountain.

 

[Rifte]

I would love to do this.

I live in India most of the year, and I have been to the south base camp in Nepal a couple of times on some 2 week mountaineering courses they run.

Usually on the way to Nepal we pass through Gangotri which is a spiritual/pilgrimage town that a lot of the climbers pass through on the way to Nepal. It has a great view of the Himalayas from there.

 

[MooMoo444]

Why anyone want to do this is beyond me.. I hear that the base camps have become nothing more than dumping grounds and resemble **** holes..

Jump in a plane, you get the same views.

You don't see the appeal in physically standing on the highest point on the planet and being able to look in all directions? Not something I'd ever do myself but the appeal is obvious I would've thought.

 

[Rifte]

You don't see the appeal in physically standing on the highest point on the planet and being able to look in all directions? Not something I'd ever do myself but the appeal is obvious I would've thought.

Thats the appeal for me, but its damn expensive, and because everyone tries to summit in the same small window it becomes a queuing system closer to the top. Base camp wasnt a **** hole when I was there. Cant speak for the Northern one though, only the south.

 

[MooMoo444]

Thats the appeal for me, but its damn expensive, and because everyone tries to summit in the same small window it becomes a queuing system closer to the top. Base camp wasnt a **** hole when I was there. Cant speak for the Northern one though, only the south.

Aye - incredibly expensive. It's not like you can go elsewhere. There is only one Everest I guess you have to pay it.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

You don't see the appeal in physically standing on the highest point on the planet and being able to look in all directions? Not something I'd ever do myself but the appeal is obvious I would've thought.

Of course I would, the same as i would to see the planet from space, but there are realistic expectations and life over death balance.

I'll look down at the world when I'm dead

It's not like you can go elsewhere. There is only one Everest I guess you have to pay it.

Have you been paid to say that by a window company?

 

[Street]

You don't see the appeal in physically standing on the highest point on the planet and being able to look in all directions? Not something I'd ever do myself but the appeal is obvious I would've thought.

See, being on the highest point isn't a great appeal to me, yeh it would be cool, but it would be more fun to do a more technical line at lower altitude. I've climbed Mont Blanc while I've been in the Alps, but there were much more interesting climbs lower down.

 

[~>Dg<~]

if i had a £100,000 spare id like to have a go at it but if im honest im not fit enough to do it or young enough.if you do read about the climb it is mainly now sherpas drag your stuff up and hopefully get good weather or die .

 

[MickeyFinns]

damn you and your life, its on my very big to travel list.

It has it's pro's and con's! . On one hand I got paid to climb a volcano, but then on the other hand I spent the whole time up there looking after someone with food poisoning. Mostly pro's though!

 

[dowie]

Pretty unlikely you have been to camp 1 as it means a trip through the ice fall, the most dangerous part of the mountain. You cant go past base camp without a climbers permit.

Im gonna have to call BS on this one (especially as going through the icefall is most certainly not walking/trekking! - that said, id love to be proved wrong).

Its my long term goal to climb an 8000m peak, Climbing Kilimanjaro next week and booked to climb Mera Peak (6476m) in May.

there is more than one base camp

 

[D.P.]

You need to mountain fit. The above is a myth. Read what Mark Horrell had to say about his summit day and other Everest Myth's busted mentioned in the thread.

http://www.markhorrell.com/blog/2012/5-media-myths-about-everest-busted/

Nothing in that link disproves anything.

As i said, most people will acclimatize to 5000m quite readily given time, heck plenty of people in the world are born and live near that altitude. You then have more or less unlimited access to oxygen depending on the packages you are paying for (and if you are not paying for a full guided service with 1:1 your chances of submitting are remote). Sounds like he got very sick and dehydrated which made him suffer which is not uncommon. Everest isn't technically hard, that is just a basic fact. The issue surround altitude and how busy it is.



The rest of his points seem like BS as well.
"Climbing Everest is not an expensive way of committing suicide". i've not heard the media use this phrase at all. The facts a are the facts, you can look up the mortality rate, its not that high for an 8000m peak because it is techncially easy, everything has fixed ropes ad people are dragged up with experienced sherpas who don't particularly want to die.
"I did not climb Everest to put a tick in my ‘bucket list’ and gain bragging rights" Form his description sounds like exactly why he did it. If he wanted a more interesting high Himalayan climbs there are literally hundred of other mountains to choose form, they just lack the bragging rights to the uneducated.
"The tragedies did not occur because too many people are climbing Everest these days", he then has some rubbish that since he was not on the popular climbing route and people still died therefore it can't be because of the number of climbers. Reductio ad absurdum. it is just a basic fact that people spending hours and hours going over the hilary step for example, or slowing you down through the icefalls will objectively increase your chances of dieing. That just isn't even a debate.

As for the last point, well that his a much deeper topic. The fact is far too many people working their way to the summit don't even try to do anything, preferring to summit than to try. In many instances nothing can be done, so under some circumstances leaving people to due is perfectly reasonable. Plenty of other circumstances there would be a reasonable chance, the number of successful rescues proves this. The problem is you have so many inexepreicned people being dragged up, and the sherpas a fully responsible for keeping their climber alive and don;t have the resources to rescue. It often falls to the exeprienced climbers going up with minimal/no sherpas that will end up on a rescue mission and forgo their summit dreams. If you discussed Everest with any real climber they would be disgusted at the practices that go on, which is why they would rare;y step a foot on the mountain unless it is to complete all 8K peaks etc..

 

[Rannoch]

Do Mont Blanc or The Matterhorn. Much cheaper and safer.

 

[D.P.]

It's not particularly difficult to acclimatise to 5000m or so (although mileage may vary) but to say/assume that's all it is and then you're good to go is not really true. The last camp before taking the western breach up kili is around that height, but pushing up the final steep slopes to the top still requires all your lung capacity. It's like taking a full deep breath, and then a bit more on top where it feels like your lungs are actually at the limit of stretching...for every breath (when pushing uphill). It wasn't so much muscular tiredness that was difficult.

But I can only imagine Everest is horrendously difficult for most people, even with oxygen.

Any responsible operator does not push or pull clients up any mountain.

At killy tourists are also dragged up way too quickly though. When people spend a week between 2-4000m getting acclimatized they have no issues going to the summit. But the cheap package trips try and send you up very quickly. The more expensive custom trips have you hiking in the highlands for a few days, go up high, come back down low to sleep and recover and then make a summit push. much more enjoyable.

You also just have to get used to the fact that at altitude there is less oxygen and you have to move slower. Fitness and acclimatization doesn't change this. If you are fitter then you will slow down at the same rate, but your base rate of ascent would be higher to begin with.

 

[D.P.]

Do Mont Blanc or The Matterhorn. Much cheaper and safer.

They come under a similar problem of too many people doing it increasing the objective danger. Much more interesting alpine climbs.

 

[jsmoke]

Out of interest how are the Sherpa's so strong, they seem to just do mutliple trips over a short time period, some probably don't even use oxygen, probably don't use high tech gear and probably don't train. Maybe it's a mental thing.

 

[Rannoch]

Or Mittellegi Ridge on the Eiger.

 

[D.P.]

Out of interest how are the Sherpa's so strong, they seem to just do mutliple trips over a short time period, some probably don't even use oxygen, probably don't use high tech gear and probably don't train. Maybe it's a mental thing.

Because they are born and live in the high mountains.