13 votes

Chaos at the top of the world - The untold stories behind the viral photo of the deadly traffic jam at the top of Mount Everest

3 comments

  1. Parliament
    Link
    This is so grim but morbidly fascinating. I seem to get wrapped up in long-form Everest stories like this every year. Could you imagine if your (hardcore) hobby involved inching past lifeless...

    This is so grim but morbidly fascinating. I seem to get wrapped up in long-form Everest stories like this every year. Could you imagine if your (hardcore) hobby involved inching past lifeless bodies barely able to breathe in the most extreme conditions the planet has to offer? That's insane! I think the bragging rights piece with Reinhard toward the end is the most telling. People are there for the prestigious accomplishment, at any cost, and Everest's environmental conditions essentially produce irrational decision-making to compound the problem.

    “I cannot go anywhere without being the one who has just done Everest,” he says with a smile.

    I don't understand how someone could enjoy this accomplishment knowing their partner died along the way. Maybe he wasn't a close friend and happened to join you on this trip, maybe the fatal reality of Everest is that accepted among experienced alpinists. Regardless, this guy had just been to the top of the world with you and didn't return home. He doesn't get to bask in the praise of his friends for reaching the top because he's dead. Where is the sense of survivor's guilt?

    6 votes
  2. Nexu
    Link
    My takeaways from this: Regulations and vetting on those making the Everest climb are nonexistent and not looking to get any better any time soon, with competition between agencies and eager...

    My takeaways from this:

    • Regulations and vetting on those making the Everest climb are nonexistent and not looking to get any better any time soon, with competition between agencies and eager tourists driving prices down and the scramble for profit becoming more disingenuous.

    • Sherpas are wildly exploited, and the article seemingly turns a blind eye on this (or is wilfully ignorant of the state of the industry in this regard). For example, Sherpas are described in the article as essentially being expendable slaves who carry the spare oxygen tanks of their masters (master's oxygen is far more important, have to carry two spares for master, only one for myself!)

    • Sherpas are paid disproportionately at best; slave wages at worst. The agencies are the culprit here (
      surprise surprise) - considering the article states one (ONE) individual paid over $65,000 for his package, PLUS the $11,000 registration paid to Chinese government, and contrast that with the laughable sum of "as much as $10,000 per season" that the Sherpas earn. Note the interesting language here, as if we're supposed to remark "wow, that much?! How great for the poor Sherpas."

    Each year, in the months before the climbing season, mountaineering agencies identify the most agile and fearless men from high-altitude Sherpa villages—and then hand them awesome responsibilities. Sherpas lay the fixed ropes that guide climbers to the summit, lug the heavy oxygen bottles that keep their clients alive, and closely monitor their clients' physical and mental states. The work is risky—in April 2014, 16 Sherpas died in an ice avalanche on the Nepali side of Everest; two Sherpas would die this spring in the Nepali Himalayas—yet the money, as much as $10,000 per season, provides an escape from the poverty of rural Nepal.

    Oh, those poor, poor Sherpas - being saved by the brave and generous American climbing agencies who boldly scout their talent and offer them the undeniable opportunity to throw their life away for bougie American tourists.

    Obviously everyone is at fault on some level here. I'm not solely blaming "America". Just a bit of a vent. The whole situation is a travesty and really a sign of the times we live in, if you ask me.

    3 votes
  3. Surira
    Link
    What a great read. It makes me wonder though how that Chinese woman survived...

    What a great read. It makes me wonder though how that Chinese woman survived...

    2 votes