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 ...
Able-bodied mountaineers have died trying to climb Everest and other mountains in the Himalayas. Calling the disabled “otherwise enabled” does not change reality, no matter how hard liberals try to smother it with political correctness.
I was supposed to be part of the summit team. I helped shuttle gear to around 19,000 to 20,000 ft and caught a cold that was going around. It turned into pneumonia and I had to go to lower elevation to recover. We got 5 out of 10 to the summit. The weather turned bad and the last climbers did not get a chance to go for it. I would have been in the 2nd team so not getting sick would not have changed things.
The highest mountain I have climbed to the summit was Cerro Aconcagua which is the highest peat in the Andes at just under 23,000 ft. The team I was with climbed it by the difficult Polish Glacier route. From the start of packing in to getting back took 21 days.
On Cerro Aconcagua we got lucky with weather. Got pinned in our tents only one day at high camp, around 19,500 ft with 60 mph wind and temp around -25F. The climbing window for weather near the summit is only about one month a year. The rest of the year it is getting blasted by jet stream force wind. Got frost bite on the tips of four fingers. Not too bad, but took years to get feeling back.
But how about a solo blind double amputee?
Would the South Koreans even try looking for the Sherpas?
I know a guy that climbs a lot. A Sherpa died on one of their climbs. The group got together and built a new home for the family. And after being in the village for awhile saw other needs (school?, etc.). The guy said that even in Nepal the Sherpas are pretty low on the totem pole. They still send funds monthly to the family to help out with things. Of course the $100 or whatever they send over is nothing to him, and everything to the Sherpa’s family.
The south Koreans were trying for media coverage to get Everest sponsorship. I do not think the Sherpas fit into their plan.
“From the start of packing in to getting back took 21 days.”
That’s quite the trek! A friend “climbed” (I think it is more of a hike) Mount Kilamanjaro. I think they made him carry his daypack with a camera, water, snack, etc. Everything else (4 course meals??) was hauled up by porters.
I think it was something like 6 days up and one long day down! (Or maybe 1.5 days down). But it was crazy the difference. I’m guessing a real climb like yours might have been 14 up and 7 down?
My Dunkin Donuts girl is from Nepal-——first person I ever met from there.
A VERY hard worker.
.
I think there were 7 deaths on Aconcagua during the climbing season when I was there. Most seemed altitude sickness related, either cereal edema or pulmonary edema, fluid on the brain or lungs. I felt pretty good on the climb except near the top where the air is so thin it took about three deep breaths per step, any faster and you would black out due to low oxygen absorption blood levels. You would see your peripheral vision blacking out and know you have to stop and just breathe. I lost 25 lbs on that three week climb. Many of the other climbers were Colorado marathon runners. I did better than all of them because I was fit and had some reserve body fat to burn off. They just seemed to hit a wall. I started slower than them, but I could keep my pace and passed them. By the time we were high enough to stay roped up I was faster than them and was not pushed in my pace to keep up.
My hats off to you. In my younger days I hiked up a few peaks (lived in Colorado during college and after for a bit - I enjoyed your photos on your page) - but even something like that doesn’t sound like much fun anymore. I did look up to see what sort of hike it was to get to the top of a very distinct peak from my neighborhood in Puget Sound. Just to be able to look at it and say “I was up there!”.
It has no marked trail, the lower part is heavy brush (many hikers said they spend the day trying to bush-whack a trail and gave up). And once you clear the brush - just go up the steepest part.
Like I said - doesn’t sound enjoyable. 20 years ago it would have been a possible adventure. Of course now I do have extra “reserve body fat” in order to sustain me!
I spent four days of work out in the field in Alaska (steep, brushy and wet) over the summer. My wife thought my pot-belly had diminished a bit when I got home!
Aconcagua was 20 years ago for me. Cho Oyu was maybe 15 years ago. I have seen how altitude harms those over 50 so badly. Those days are behind me now too.
So what is the death rate on Everest? I think near 20% of those who try to summit do die?
Nepal has every right to restrict whoever they feel might not possibly make it or cause others to be imperiled, but I do feel sorry for those who want to summit but will not be permitted to try due to disabilities.
“They were going to build a bridge between the two peaks”.
LOL
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