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Nepal bans blind people and double amputees from climbing Everest
The Guardian ^ | Sat 30 Dec ‘17 | Michael Safi

Posted on 12/30/2017 4:21:30 PM PST by nickcarraway

Tourist board criticised for new regulations, which also prohibit solo ascents with the aim of reducing the number of accidents

Solo climbers, blind people and double amputees have been banned from climbing Everest under new rules the Nepalese tourism ministry believes will reduce the number of deaths on the mountain.

The changes have provoked criticism from the US ambassador to Nepal and a former Gurkha soldier planning to scale the peak after losing both legs in Afghanistan.

The new rules have been under discussion for a month and were implemented this week, Nepalese officials told the Himalayan Times.

British cancer patient reaches Everest summit Read more Individual climbers will need to be accompanied by a mountain guide, and high-altitude workers who accompany expeditions to the summit are eligible to receive summit certificates under the revised regulations.

A suggested upper age limit of 76 for climbers – which Nepalese alpine associations had lobbied for after the death of an 85-year-old climber in May – has not been implemented, but the government maintained the ban on climbers under 16.

Everest once attracted only elite climbers, but as the relative cost of scaling the peak has fallen the mountain has drawn record numbers of aspiring mountaineers, including many from China and India.

Experienced climbers have raised concern that the mountain is becoming dangerously overcrowded and that new companies with lower safety standards have rushed to fill demand in the market.

The Nepalese government tightens the eligibility criteria for permits to scale the 8,848m (29,029ft) peak from the Nepal side before each spring climbing season, but enforcement is patchy and rules are frequently overlooked.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Local News; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: china; davidsharp; doubleamputee; greenboots; india; luolili; markinglis; mteverest; nepal; newzealand; phurbatashi; prosthetics; russellbrice; siredmundhillary
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To: ClearCase_guy

Macho Grande will always be there.


21 posted on 12/30/2017 5:00:19 PM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: caver
It’s their country, they can make their own rules.

OTOH, for a fee, China will welcome them. Pay in advance, no guarantee of success or survival. No refunds.

22 posted on 12/30/2017 5:01:17 PM PST by null and void (It is not trends but choices that that matter most at the key moments of history)
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To: nickcarraway

I don’t know anything about mountain climbing but I will make an observation.

In Douglas Baker’s (a WWII pilot) biography, he noted he was surprised how much lighter he was without his legs (one above knee, one below) and he could really easily swing his body around with his arms. Perhaps in certain climbing situations this would be very beneficial.


23 posted on 12/30/2017 5:01:57 PM PST by alternatives? (Why have an army if there are no borders?)
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To: null and void

Very good point!


24 posted on 12/30/2017 5:02:56 PM PST by caver
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To: caver

They’re like Ferengi that way...


25 posted on 12/30/2017 5:04:13 PM PST by null and void (It is not trends but choices that that matter most at the key moments of history)
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To: nickcarraway

Ya, but, some don’t go blind until they reach the top. What happens to them?


26 posted on 12/30/2017 5:20:38 PM PST by HandyDandy ("Do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?")
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To: nickcarraway

Sounds like a good thing to me.


27 posted on 12/30/2017 5:27:35 PM PST by WeWaWes (When I look in the mirror I see an elephant--a bad ass elephant)
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To: JoeProBono

One of his ancestors went around with the Knights Of The Round Table.

28 posted on 12/30/2017 5:29:47 PM PST by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: nickcarraway
Just give them a chance...


29 posted on 12/30/2017 5:33:22 PM PST by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: nickcarraway
Just give them a chance...


30 posted on 12/30/2017 5:33:22 PM PST by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: MrEdd

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!


31 posted on 12/30/2017 5:33:50 PM PST by mkleesma (`Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.')
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To: JoeProBono

Joe Biden says “Let’s give that guy a hand.”


32 posted on 12/30/2017 5:34:43 PM PST by SMGFan (Sarah Michelle Gellar is on twitter @SarahMGellar)
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To: nickcarraway

Mark Inglis of New Zealand, a double amputee, summited Everest in 2006 on prosthetic legs.


33 posted on 12/30/2017 5:38:14 PM PST by Jim Noble (Single payer is coming. Which kind do you like?)
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To: mylife

Glad to know there is at least one other in the same boat!


34 posted on 12/30/2017 6:02:40 PM PST by Bonemaker
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To: nickcarraway

It’s their mountain. They can manage it as they please.


35 posted on 12/30/2017 6:02:44 PM PST by WayneS (An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Winston Churchill)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
We understand you are suicidal but we would be grateful if you would not leave your body on our mountain. It scares the other tourists.

-The Government of Nepal


36 posted on 12/30/2017 6:15:13 PM PST by GraceG ("It's better to have all the Right Enemies, than it is to have all the Wrong Friends.")
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To: nickcarraway

‘Bout time. Already so many bodies up there they have to kick them aside or get around them.


37 posted on 12/30/2017 6:17:59 PM PST by MarMema ($285 million and keep it going)
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To: jerod

ROFL!!


38 posted on 12/30/2017 6:19:44 PM PST by MarMema ($285 million and keep it going)
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To: Col Frank Slade
One of the funniest Monty Python skits involved a mountaineering expedition of British hairdressers attempting to climb Everest.

Now let me fill you in. I'm leading this expedition and we're going to climb both peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro.

I thought there was only one peak, sir.

Well, that'll save a bit of time. Well done. Now the object of this expedition is to see if we can find any traces of last year's expedition.

Last year's expedition?

Yes, my brother was leading that, they were going to build a bridge between the two peaks, my idea I'm afraid.

39 posted on 12/30/2017 6:20:18 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: MtnClimber
I was part of a climbing team on an expedition to Cho Oyu which is a 8,000m peak just west of Everest.

All right; I'm impressed. I've only gone slightly higher than half of that.
40 posted on 12/30/2017 6:35:27 PM PST by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began.)
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