At least four more die on Everest amid overcrowding concerns

UK Guardian ^ | May 24, 2019 | Peter Beaumont

[EEGator]

I’ve never had that problem on the big island.
No “youths” there either.

[Paal Gulli]

Everest is not a challenging climb. The challenge is in the thin air and the harsh and rapidly changing weather. If it were sea level and 70F, no ice and plenty of oxygen, any reasonably fit young person could climb it in board shorts and flipflops.

It bears mention that Everst has been climbed by an 80-year-old man and a 73 year-old woman. How hard could it be?

The only technical climbing challenge is called "the three steps." The second step is the worst, or at least it once was. In 1975 a Chinese climbing team affixed an aluminum extension ladder there. It's been replaced once since then but there's still a stepladder there. Everyone (on that route) uses it and it's one of the man-made hazards of the climb because it's a bottleneck, both going up and going down. People die waiting their turn to use the ladder.

One of the most important factors that determines whether you summit or not on Everest (and live to tell the tale) is how effective the crowd control is on that day.

If you want to see a climb that requires world-class skills, check out K2. Or Nanga Parbat.

As for Ranier (which is "only" 14,412 feet), in 1981 an ice avalanche buried a climbing party of 11, which included 10 novices. And they're all still up there, entombed in a hundred feet of ice.

Some days the mountain doesn't want you. Those days you'd rather be playing golf.

[minnesota_bound]

#3

Hmm which to choose for next adventure....?
Mt Everest crowds.