But, hiking up Everest is dangerous - very dangerous.
One of my very favorite books is Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.
In it, the author describes the dangers of climbing Everest - the death zone where there is little oxygen, the sudden, blinding storms, the sherpas and their role in the climbs. Fascinating for everyone.
I was pleased to see an excerpt from that book in the new, state-approved 9th grade English textbooks.
I understand another movie is being made from this book.
High risk stuff for sure.
I just finished the book by Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of the Sherpa who climbed Everest with the New Zealand explorer who had the same name as Bill Clinton’s wife. ;-)
Highly recommended.
Great book. One lesson I got from reading it is that many of the climbers on Everest have more money than mountaineering skills. They use that money to pay someone to get them to the top so they can add another check to their list of accomplishments. When things go wrong, they’re not prepared and people get killed.
the thing I took from “Into Thin Air” was the scathing look at how these climbing expeditions are set up, and that would be because of the MONEY....people totally unqualified but rich being allowed to “climb” Mt Everest even though they had little skill....ultimately, it lead to disaster for even the trained climbers...
Coincidently, a week ago, I finished watching a Discovery Channel 8-hour DVD I checked out at the library entitled 'Everest: Beyond the Limit - Season 2.' It was filmed with HD cameras led by Brice Russell. It goes into prep, logistics, acclimation, and issues facing climbers.
Krakauer has been severely criticized by some for his account of what happened in that book.
For another side of the story, read “The Climb” by Anatoli Boukreev who was climbed that same year.