[IronJack]

It's not a technical climb. There are fixed ropes almost the whole way, especially on the South Face. There are ladders over the crevasses and surmounting the steeper sections. And you're following a route literally hundreds of people have already traversed.

That said, it is one of the toughest exercises on earth. The weather is unpredictable, the altitude reaches into the jet stream and the winds are correspondingly fierce, there is a constant threat of avalanches, hypoxia, and killing frostbite, as well as pulmonary and cerebral edema.

It is not for the faint of heart.

[IncPen]

due to high winds and chilly temperatures of -27 degrees

Chilly.

[Flick Lives]

That said, it is one of the toughest exercises on earth. The weather is unpredictable, the altitude reaches into the jet stream and the winds are correspondingly fierce, there is a constant threat of avalanches, hypoxia, and killing frostbite, as well as pulmonary and cerebral edema.

It is not for the faint of heart.

—

If you want a good idea of what it’s like to climb Everest, a great book (and also a pretty good movie) is “Into Thin Air”. If one had a vague romantic notion of what it’s like to climb Everest, this book will dispel it.

[minnesota_bound]

I saw a show on Nova or something similar this year and they showed the ladders being lashed together and placed across the wide crevasse then a man going across to secure it. They talked about who died earlier doing this. A day or so later an avalanche happened and killed many people on the mountain where these Sherpa’s had been. They escaped but others did not.