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This would put me off.
Just another Friday night conga line in Wetherspoons that got out of hand...
Sadly it is the result of an increase in 'extreme' tourism and the reluctance of the local governments to squeeze off their cash cow.
this was clear prior to 1996 when a whole load of people died (admittedly due to a storm), due to overcrowding leading to delays.
this one just seems stupid as people died from having to wait around.
just such a shame for their families as it is unnecessary.
Always had a desire, albeit a tiny one, to climb Everest, that pic has completely removed that desire.
It's just depressing isn't it. I wonder just how many kg's of rubbish each person will leave on the mountain, to remain indefinitely?
It really is another disaster waiting to happen.
Great photo though, and should have a positive effect.
That's worse than Crib Goch on a bank holiday!
They should just nip past on the left.
Worse than bloody Snowdon!
No thanks!
It seems climbing Everest is becoming almost like a gap-year staple: Full Moon Party, Machu Picchu, shag half a dozen people you instantly wish you hadn't, 'work' for a fortnight in a developing country, have your iPhone stolen (twice), climb everest ..
How many people climb nearby K2 every year?
Properly crazy. I wonder what happens when someone says they're in a hurry and tries to push in?
I'd definitely fit a Timberbell to ride that...
It seems climbing Everest is becoming almost like a gap-year staple: Full Moon Party, Machu Picchu, shag half a dozen people you instantly wish you hadn’t, ‘work’ for a fortnight in a developing country, have your iPhone stolen (twice), climb everest ..
$50,000 to $100,000, and like 6 months of training. Sounds just like the typical gap year
It seems climbing Everest is becoming almost like a gap-year staple: Full Moon Party, Machu Picchu, shag half a dozen people you instantly wish you hadn’t, ‘work’ for a fortnight in a developing country, have your iPhone stolen (twice), climb everest ..
Proper LOLZ, but you forgot to mention going to Australia for most of that time (because it's not too foreign) and coming back with an accent.
It’s worth reading Robert MacFarlaine’s ‘Mountains Of the Mind’, which goes into a lot of detail about the history of mountaineering, then looking at these photos to see how depressing the situation has become.
I’ll bet the extreme clothing brands love the revenue from all those queuing up the mountain.
Free Solo showed clearly what mountain/rock climbing should be about.
And I’ve never, ever, had the remotest desire to climb any mountains, except those that are an easy walk to the top!
K2, now there's a proper mountain.
Doesn’t just look shit though, it’s dangerous. That photo is off the back of 7people dying this week, at least some of those directly as a result of overcrowding and queueing.
People should just go out of season. 😛
I'd love to climb it, but that puts me straight off. I'd recommend Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air for a harrowing account of the '96 Everest disaster.
I admire quite how righteous you lot are about other people's hobbies.
Did you once drive upto the Buzzards Nest car park after 7pm and find it empty? Did that solitude give you some sort of Zen like experience in your Audi that you really wish these rich, successfully and motivated people can only dream of achieving?
Maaannnn I envy you guys!
I read Into Thin Air a few years back. Perhaps all tourists should read that as a compulsory text before ascending. There are some good books on K2 - a much tougher mountain. Most people who perish do so on the way down, largely due to exhaustion which leads to mistakes. Also the wether can close in quickly, but I don't think that's the issue with the latest deaths.
I propose a zip wire from the top for a quick descent. People can still say they've climbed it, but get down nice and quick. Or supply them with wingsuites.
TINAS...
What’s zen like about freezing to death waiting in a queue in 28,000 ft?
TBH you sound like one with jealousy issues - I am in no way jealous of the people in that shot......looks like my idea of hell..
I read Into Thin Air a few years back. Perhaps all tourists should read that as a compulsory text before ascending.
I'm going to stick my neck out and say they probably all have. I mean even with more north face gear than a South London chav and a house deposit to spare it's still not quite a spur of the moment thing is it? They probably also watched Dawn Wall before Free Solo made it cool.
That picture is scary - can't imagine waiting in that line at that height watching how much O2 I had left....
What’s zen like about freezing to death waiting in a queue in 28,000 ft?
I'll indulge myself with a bit of whataboutism.
Whats so Zen about dying moubtainbiking in the UK? It still happens.
I don't disagree that queing to get to the summit of of Snowdon / Everest isn't my idea of a good time. But I'm not going to pretend I don't know why people do it.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say they probably all have.
I was thinking that. There can't be many who think "I'll climb Everest" but know nothing about it. (I must be an expert - I've read at least four books about Everest! 😀 )
Best mountaineering book I ever read was Annapurna by Maurice Herzog. It was in 1950 so it took two weeks to walk in to base camp and two weeks to walk back out. He spent most of the journey out strapped to a donkey and having his fingers slowly and painfully amputated bit by bit. Proper grim!
Well, if I died on my MTB it didn’t cost me £50-100k for the privilege.I most likely didn’t endanger others. I didn’t have to be carried up & down. I didn’t leave a sh1t load of rubbish in a fragile environment. I didn’t stand in a queue with 200 others doing exactly the same things. The list goes on but I hope you get my point.
I understand why but when you look at it....it’s a frightfully selfish & indulgent thing to do.
People should just go out of season. 😛
Exactly, that's bank hols for you. Just nip up in the evening after the crowds have gone home...
I don't dare to put it in the same category of risk/reward but a little like swimming the channel that I have done. In hindsight I wish I hadn't done it. There are way nicer places to do a longer swim and swimming the channel you feeling like you are being processed and the next one in the long line of people which is what I think Everest must feel like now. It becomes a fake badge of honour done because the none climbing/swimming folk you meet can instantly acknowledged what you have done. I can't see another rational reason to choose it over lesser know similarly athletic feat that still has an element of steely adventure to it. Anyone who thinks they can compare themselves to Hilary (or Captain Webb in the case of the channel) after ticking this box is disillusioned.
It seems climbing Everest is becoming almost like a gap-year staple: Full Moon Party, Machu Picchu, shag half a dozen people you instantly wish you hadn’t, ‘work’ for a fortnight in a developing country, have your iPhone stolen (twice), climb everest ..
You're forgetting the staple charity challenge - please pay for my holiday/adventure of a lifetime so that I can bore everyone about for the next 20 years...
I didn’t have to be carried up & down. I didn’t leave a sh1t load of rubbish in a fragile environment. I didn’t stand in a queue with 200 others doing exactly the same things. The list goes on but I hope you get my point.
Are we talking about Everest or BPW? I hope you get my point.
"elite climber on your right" 🙂
TINAS, the 2 aren’t even remotely comparable.....look at the cost, look at the risk to life...look at the scale of environmental damage done even getting to Base Camp....last time I remember there weren’t any dead bodies at BPW left behind because it was too dangerous to bring them down..
How many lives lost at BPW?
How many on Everest?
Hmm?
🙄
The answer is simple. Just nip up the American Direct. No queues for that one.
TINAS, the 2 aren’t even remotely comparable…..look at the cost, look at the risk to life…look at the scale of environmental damage done even getting to Base Camp….last time I remember there weren’t any dead bodies at BPW left behind because it was too dangerous to bring them down..
Meanwhile on everestclimbingworld someone is bemoaning all those deluded muppets sat in the m4 roadworks polluting the Thames valley with their emissions, having paid thousands of pounds for a push bike and an Audi estate on finance. All to drive to a small hill in Wales to be driven up in a minibus with a load of other paying punters playing at being mountainbikers for the weekend. How can they possibly find a sense of achievement or fun in that? Maybe these tourists should watch that moubtainbiking film Seasons where Bearclaw backflips into a freezing lake wearing a wetsuit, then they might understand the real side of their sport.
Bearclaw backflips into a freezing lake
He'd never get away with that at the Golfie.
You can push the “what must mountaineers think of xxx mtb attribute” if you like.
I really don’t think it’s got much merit in this case.
Queueing at that height has real risks of death, not because of the terrain or skill/lack of skill, etc. Just because of the waiting.
Not for me.
Just look at the view though..
To my mind, part of the problem is that picture - it looks ever so benign! I spent a good part of my teens and early 20's climbing seriously in the UK and the Alps, days like that are few and far between, the reality is that it's bloody cold, very windy and at altitude frankly unpleasant for a great deal of the time....and all the North Face kit in the world won't save you if you make a mistake or aren't competent to deal with a relatively small problem. The view is good though 🙂
Is that the queue for The Summit, new Alton Towers ride?
Queueing at that height has real risks of death, not because of the terrain or skill/lack of skill, etc. Just because of the waiting.
Not for me.
And in the immortal words of Mater Yoda..."And that is why you fail...."
There always have been and always will be those amongst us who do just get out there and do and take that chance against death or whatever risk it is they're facing. Then there is the 98% of the rest of us who choose not to and just look for reason after reason why not to. We owe everything to those 2% who do get out there and do extraordinary things.
Us 98% will never understand what drives those 2% because we simply don't have it. we'll never figure it out. But it is to the benefit of all of us that the 2% do push the boundaries. Good on them. Long may they flourish. Who are we to criticise them? I wonder of all the people in that photo how many of them died that day? I suspect zero.
And in any case the death rate of people who attempt to summit Everest is only 6.5%....so actually it is a lot safer than a whole load of stuff that we normally do every day like crossing the road, picking our noses while driving and mountain biking.
easily
Member
It seems climbing Everest is becoming almost like a gap-year staple: Full Moon Party, Machu Picchu, shag half a dozen people you instantly wish you hadn’t, ‘work’ for a fortnight in a developing country, have your iPhone stolen (twice), climb everest ..
FWIW I work in university recruitment/admissions, we see a lot of gap yah people but I've never seen a single one that's climbed everest.
And in any case the death rate of people who attempt to summit Everest is only 6.5%….so actually it is a lot safer than a whole load of stuff that we normally do every day like crossing the road, picking our noses while driving and mountain biking.
That's bollocks but go on.
And in the immortal words of Mater Yoda…”And that is why you fail….”
There always have been and always will be those amongst us who do just get out there and do and take that chance against death or whatever risk it is they’re facing. Then there is the 98% of the rest of us who choose not to and just look for reason after reason why not to. We owe everything to those 2% who do get out there and do extraordinary things.
Us 98% will never understand what drives those 2% because we simply don’t have it. we’ll never figure it out. But it is to the benefit of all of us that the 2% do push the boundaries. Good on them. Long may they flourish. Who are we to criticise them? I wonder of all the people in that photo how many of them died that day? I suspect zero.
And in any case the death rate of people who attempt to summit Everest is only 6.5%….so actually it is a lot safer than a whole load of stuff that we normally do every day like crossing the road, picking our noses while driving and mountain biking.
So in summary - you put those who pay a small fortune to companies to have professional climbers winch them up Everest on the bleeding edge of human endeavour. But that actually climbing Everest is less dangerous the crossing the road or picking your nose.......Yep - that all makes perfect sense.
The litter on the mountain is appaling - I believe people do go over to try and clear up but that level of folks going is a disaster.
I was sat on top of Kinder Scout today, just me and the bike. Sat on top of South Head, me, the bike and a howling wind. Hollins Cross/Mam Tor - busy with walkers.
Not for me going up places when it's busy.
Population growth out of control.
Keep sending them up the mountain and that should help a little!
FWIW I work in university recruitment/admissions, we see a lot of gap yah people but I’ve never seen a single one that’s climbed everest.
Not very much.
Just so we can be amazed.
Can those saying that climbing everest is too easy / not worthy of bothering / not their cup of tea. Please post up a picture of your monitor and keyboard so we can all see how much more worthwhile arguing on the internet is compared to climbing a mountain on a Friday afternoon (with or without oxygen and/or a sherpa).
Points will be deducted for any sort of mess, non biodegradable items, anything deemed a risk and dead bodies.
Can those saying that climbing everest is too easy / not worthy of bothering / not their cup of tea. Please post up a picture of your monitor and keyboard so we can all see how much more worthwhile arguing on the internet is compared to climbing a mountain on a Friday afternoon (with or without oxygen and/or a sherpa).
Points will be deducted for any sort of mess, non biodegradable items, anything deemed a risk and dead bodies.
Have a wild guess at how the average person who spunks £50K to climb Everest funds the venture? Do you think there is the tiniest of possibilities that they might just spend a sizable proportion of their lives behind a monitor and keyboard? Just an incy wincy possibility?
Have a wild guess at how the average person who spunks £50K to climb Everest funds the venture? Do you think there is the tiniest of possibilities that they might just spend a sizable proportion of their lives behind a monitor and keyboard? Just and incy wincy possibility?
Yup, but not today. Today they're on top of everest. Which is fairly hard to deny, although some do try, a lot more cool.
Just so we can be amazed.
Can those saying that climbing everest is too easy / not worthy of bothering / not their cup of tea.
What the ****'s wrong with saying that climbing Everest is not your cup of tea?
Always fancied working on the clean up operation. But not particularly bothers about the summit. There have been some very poor decisions and consequences on the mountain but this is peak season and the weather looks good. Amazing photo. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-483952416.5% mortality rate makes the Isle of Man TT look sane btw
Yup, but not today. Today they’re on top of everest. Which is fairly hard to deny, although some do try, a lot more cool.
No they’re not, they’ll be lucky to get to the summit next Wednesday with the size of that ****ing queue. 42 years on this earth have taught me one thing. If there’s a queue for it, it’s going to be shit.
What the ****’s wrong with saying that climbing Everest is not your cup of tea?
Summary of the thread:
I don't want to climb everest because it's too busy. And I'm going to pretend I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
I don't want to climb everest because it's too expensive and busy. And I'm going to pretend I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
I don't want to climb everest because it's too dangerous, expensive and busy.And I'm going to pretend I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
I don't want to climb everest because it's too messy, dangerous, expensive and busy. And I'm going to pretend I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
I don't want to climb everest because I read a book so don't need to, it's too messy, dangerous, expensive and busy. And I'm going to pretend I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
I don't want to climb everest because it's apparently easy and you get a piggyback for £50k, I read a book so don't need to, it's too messy, dangerous, expensive and busy. And I'm going to pretend I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
I don't want to climb everest because It's just not the real spirit of climbing to want to climb the tallest mountain in the world is it, it's apparently easy and you get a piggyback for £50k, I read a book so don't need to, it's too messy, dangerous, expensive and busy. And I'm going to pretend I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
You missed out I don’t want to climb Everest because I’m poor and I detest queuing at sea level never mind at that height. Surely if you have a sense of adventure you wouldn’t pick the summit with a queue, you’d go for K2, the north face of the Eiger or Baintha Brakk. If your queuing then it’s not a special achievement.
Seven deaths on Everest in the last week apparently. Three through exhaustion whilst descending on that day pictured.
Folk are stupid.. There was a 'big' family walking down towards Hollins Cross today on the 'paved section' in the Peaks. No-one had any rucksacs for bad weather kit, all in t-shirts etc, and it was flipping windy as I was riding up the ruddy hill sweating my ass off. I stopped for a couple of minutes on South Head and it wasn't somewhere you'd stop for long without kit (literally got my camelbac off and the missus phoned - it's a bit windy she said... forgot I was off work - yeh, top of a mountain..) and this was on a warm day.
The pictures make me think why bother doing going to Everest if there is going to be a huge queue and all the rubbish being left...
Everest had never been on my main list of things to do, but I maintained a vague aspiration to climb it one day, until a guy came into my shop who'd actually done it. It had cost a fortune, due to all the preparation, licences and equipment needed, he lost his front teeth when a boulder hit his face halfway up and the whole experience sounded miserable.
The picture above is a little misleading - according to a quick Google search, around 4000 people have reached the summit since the 1950s. The picture makes it look like it's that many in a week.
JP
But it is to the benefit of all of us that the 2% do push the boundaries.
How are people pushing the boundaries on Everest on a fully supported climb?
Dont get me wrong I doubt I could do it and wont be putting it to the test even if I win the lottery and have enough cash to try it. However it really isnt elite level mountaineering unless you are doing the lesser used routes/without oxygen/your own sherpa and so on.
There are plenty of challenges which have had far less people complete it since they are unable to be supported and hence you really do need to be in the 2% of the population who can do that sort of shit.
The picture above is a little misleading
It isnt. There only are so many days where the conditions are suitable for summiting. So you get serious queues when suitable.
That or you are insanely brave and capable and go outside of that window.
Beck Weathers quote sums it up for me
Weathers said that his view on climbing Everest had changed "fairly dramatically" and stated that "if you don’t have anyone who cares about you or is dependent on you, if you have no friends or colleagues, and if you’re willing to put a single round in the chamber of a revolver and put it in your mouth and pull the trigger, then yeah, it’s a pretty good idea to climb Everest”
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies
Are we sure that isnt a photoshop job in the OP?
How are people pushing the boundaries on Everest on a fully supported climb?
Many are pushing their own boundaries. As you say, they are not elite high altitude mountaineers. Many are older, less fit, less technically adept and mentally determined to cope when things go wrong. Even with a Sherpa shoving them along and oxygen they are placing themselves at substantial risk going above 8000m, even before you factor in a massive queue which puts them up there far longer than they planned.
So it's a major physical and mental achievement for most of the supported punters, and you have to admire their resilience.
As a climber, doesn't make me want to do it, though. The majority of the experience looks utterly miserable.
Do they not carry their rubbish back down with them? Bit weird no? I always take my jelly baby bag off the hill
Do they not carry their rubbish back down with them? Bit weird no? I always take my jelly baby bag off the hill
No. When you are at your limit of physical capability, and possible death is a real factor, you just dump what you have used up. Too much effort to carry back down used oxygen bottles.
It is also too much effort to bring down injured in many cases, hence the mountain is also littered with dead bodies.
Queuing for heaven.
the death rate of people who attempt to summit Everest is only 6.5%….so actually it is a lot safer than a whole load of stuff that we normally do every day like crossing the road, picking our noses while driving and mountain biking.
That's an interesting illustration of how some people perceive risk. Do you really think that the death rate for mountain biking or crossing the road is greater than 6.5%?
We’ve not seen his crossing the road technique yet..
Did you watch the documentary about the guy that solo climbed el capitain, that’s climbing, god knows how he managed that, I was scared just watching it.
Do you really think that the death rate for mountain biking or crossing the road is greater than 6.5%?
it's true! I get killed at least twice a week crossing the road
I read dark summit and it showed a real concern about the commercialisation of climbing Everest. The fact that there were punters that had some experience of mountaineering but not enough to safely summit Everest yet greed of some operators and the "I've paid so we ARE doing it" attitude of customers meant that there was real danger of death. Dark Summit was suggesting that there needs to be more control over access.
"On May 15, 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit."
https://images.app.goo.gl/usAmc8XgaETE337T7
So that means what 13 out of every 200 people who go on from base camp, statistically, die.
I'm at gt7 today if mountain biking was that dangerous there'd be over 20 deaths today. I'll let you know later how many coffins leave the site.
The fact remains than modern technology and the ever richer rich segment of the population mean that more and more people can do things like climb the worlds tallest mountain. The mountain itself doesn't care, and it'll still be there for thousands of years after mankind has come to an end. It is however a more nuanced discussion on if we, as a society, consider somewhere "ruined" by us being there??
I think there have been reports of two more deaths. An Irish and English climber. I think that brings the total to 9 in the last few days?
If that pic is the queue to the summit how do the ones at the front get back down through that mob? I thought this area was the 'death zone' and your time here was severely limited. Its not like you can just say 'excuse me, coming through' and push past coming down. Is that picture a mix of people going up AND down? If so its no wonder people are dying.
I love being on top of a mountain, but the idea of shuffling forward in that queue for a few minutes at the summit is just grim, especially when people are dying next to you as they wait. It's just an expensive tick in a box.