Controversy on Everest
For mountaineers, May is known as the only month you can make an attempt on Mt. Everest. Recent years, however, have seen the once exclusive attempt to scale the highest mountain turn into a tourist-laden roadblock of people trying to get up the mountain, many of whom are in no way qualified to try to do so in terms of their mountaineering.
It's like this: I have climbed a few fourteeners in my youth in Colorado. But if I had the income to plunk down 40,000 dollars, I could try to climb Everest. And I would be taken up by guides as best they could.
It's ridiculous. And as a result, mountaineering on Everest has become a for-profit venture that has lost all touch with the ethics of mountaineering. This year has become infamous for the abandoment of a British climber who died on the mountain as some 40 people walked past him. When I was hiking up peaks, there was a clear code: you helped anyone that needed it. It was like the sailor's code of going to help anyone in distress. The goal of getting to the top was secondary to the saving of lives. Apparently, the Everest business machine has decided to put this aside. Shame on them.
It's like this: I have climbed a few fourteeners in my youth in Colorado. But if I had the income to plunk down 40,000 dollars, I could try to climb Everest. And I would be taken up by guides as best they could.
It's ridiculous. And as a result, mountaineering on Everest has become a for-profit venture that has lost all touch with the ethics of mountaineering. This year has become infamous for the abandoment of a British climber who died on the mountain as some 40 people walked past him. When I was hiking up peaks, there was a clear code: you helped anyone that needed it. It was like the sailor's code of going to help anyone in distress. The goal of getting to the top was secondary to the saving of lives. Apparently, the Everest business machine has decided to put this aside. Shame on them.
posted by cc at
2:02 PM
1 Comments:
Sorry, it took time for me to comment on this post. I can't help but wonder if it was directed to my in some small way. I agree that what is happening on Everest is appalling, but it was ineviable. Money talks in all walks of life. It is expensive to take on these high peaks and a great deal of climbers have tapped into the "Everest Business" to fund their own climbs in other areas of the world. With more and more climbers wanting a piece of the pie, there are less and less "qualified" clients availiable. It is actually good PR to take a poor canidate to the top and have them survive!
Most of the greats are just as appalled as you are bro. Look at Rob Hall, who died staying with a client rather than leaving him. I think he rolled on the mountain when the Brit was left. These guys usually have a pact where they will leave a buddy in order to live and return if they can to get the body. Some have carried this attitude over to their clients too.
Not to mention, when you are in the "Death Zone" your mind is not function at its best and it is very hard to just take a step. I would not be surprised if some of those climbers were not aware that the climber was in trouble until they were off the mountain. But why was he there in the first place? He took a chance.
Rob Lowe, who lost his life in avalanche in that area, was well-known for his daring and grueling rescue of a stranded climber on Mt. Denali, whom he has never met before.
My mentor in EMS, Rod Willard, who lost his life climbing ice in Vail, aborted his climb to the summit of Everest by a mere 1,000 feet due to weather and a stalled attempt to help others. He lost five finger tips on another mountain rescuing a team that was abandoned by their own team, after just climbing the same mountain.
The thing I am trying to say is the mountianeers are still helping out as they can, but the act of abandoning people has been around for decades. Another trend is that a lot of greats of lore are dying off and those replacing them are not a chivarious as they were. Lowe was known to be a prick at times too.
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