Stay off of the mountain

Stay the heck off of Mount Everest. (Warning: language very much )



Seriously, I know that an earthquake is an unpredictable occurrence and that the deaths are a tragedy, but this is yet another reason to stay the heck off of the mountain.

The mess that is Mount Everest

I've said it before: Mount Everest is a deathtrap.

Now I'm finding out that not only is it a deathtrap because of the lack of oxygen leading to decreased cognitive functions among the climbers and climbing routes overcrowded with inexperienced climbers. It's also a deathtrap because of the open pits filled with up to 26,500 pounds of human excrement.

I couldn't find an actual photo of the fecal pit, so here's one of Everest's many trash piles.

 Yummy...

I do appreciate that local officials are using economic incentives to force people to at least bring an amount of trash equal to their own leavings (or at least the average leaving) from the mountain. I would up that economic incentive. Make people bring off more than the average leaving so trash can start to be decreased. The goal shouldn't be to hold level but rather to improve that level.

Nepal Annapurna: Climbing disaster toll reaches 39

This one isn't technically about Mt Everest, but it's in the range.

This past week saw a disaster kill at least thirty-nine hikers/climbers/eco-tourists in Nepal when the weather turned far nastier than they were prepared for.

Remember, kids: DON'T GO TO NEPAL.

DON'T HIKE OR CLIMB MOUNTAINS YOU AREN'T PREPARED FOR.

YOU WILL DIE.

Some would go one cycle, and some would go seventy-five cycles

• Here are the characters of Frozen performing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" - because...
• Famous landmarks zoomed out - I can't vouch for the truth of any of these.
• Refraction dramatically illustrated - kinda cool

• The United States is an oligarchy - This is what worries me about politics in the US.
• World's largest gold crystal -  Single crystals, very cool...
• 15 Incredibly Fun Examples of Celebrity Paradoxes on TV - I feel like I've pointed this out before. Here's my favorite...

• I hate when that happens - I've juggled torches before, but thankfully this never happened to me.
• The pun also rises. - I love puns. 
• Card control by Ricky Jay - marvelous close-up slight of hand 

• The usual suspects - I really love that fourth pic.
• 10 commandments of typography - Typography choices are important to some of us.
• This summer we hope to see more of this drone flying through fireworks -  Yes, please...a lot more

• Harrison twins make Kentucky title favorite - Next year's Wildcats could be awesome and huge.
• Confirmed: Justice League movie coming after Batman v Superman -Make. A. Wonder. Woman. Movie.
• Ask Chris #193: Let's Pitch a Wonder Woman Movie - Yes, make this one. 
• Chef trailer - looks entertaining enough...engaging cast...

• Where it began: Shoeless Joe - 25 years since Field of Dreams premiered. It's a national treasure.
• Community's series of Social Network-parody posters - C'mon, two more seasons
• Simple but mind-blowing helium balloon experiment - I am amazed. Love this guy...

• The best books of the 21st century (infographic) - I've read eleven of 'em. I'm surprised it's that many.
• 20 things you might not know about Kill Bill vol 1 & 2 - Love the first. Like the second. 
• Houdini Honey Badger - This one gives a crap and is determined. 

• For only $400, frost your beer glasses without a freezer - Needs more CFCs
• The tiny creek that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans - How cool is that? 
• This pool rocks - Never been through a big quake...never want to be through one.

 

Post by Brandon Ramirez Urzua.

• Batman turns 75: Insiders Share Sensational Stories - Neat stuff
• The sherpas of Everest - Money = death

The Disposable Man

I am absolutely fascinated by the human drive to climb Mount Everest and the utterly ridiculous differences in the world up there from the world down here, what it does to the human body, and all the science involved.

I find the initial efforts to summit Everest brilliant and horrific at the same time. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay - as well as the first oxygen-less summitting from Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler - are heroic and stunning and deserve every bit of the historical notoriety that they have received.

I'm also horrified by the current adventure tourism that is leading to more and more people summitting Everest without anywhere near the proper preparation and skills and doing so on the back of the sherpas, far too many of them are dying because of the job. There is a great article over on Outside Online about that last part. (Thanks to Fresh Air for covering the story.)

It's not something that most of us are ever going to remotely consider, but DO NOT climb Everest.

You will die - or you will pay someone to die for you.

Update: Things I Didn't Know About Mount Everest

I'm fascinated by Mount Everest and our stupidly human desire to summit the deadly mountain.

Today, I came across this gem: "There are over 200 bodies on Mount Everest, and they're used as landmarks".

If you're curious, you can see more photos of some of the bodies on these posts.

Update: Things I Didn't Know About Everest

After last week's post about Everest, I thought I should link to today's story that four (or five) people have died on the mountain in the past two days.

Never...ever...ever...consider going to Everest if you value your life.

Things I didn't know about Mt Everest

In the past couple of weeks, I've had two separate events about climbers summitting Mt Everest come up in my daily history search, so I've been reading a lot about the mountain.

I thought I'd take a moment today to pay tribute to a recently passed anniversary of sorts, of the deadliest day in Mt Everest's history, May 10/11, 1996, when eight people died near the summit as a result of congestion along the route and a surprise storm that apparently dropped the oxygen content in the air from 33% of that at sea level to somewhere near 27%. It's terrifying that anyone could climb there without supplemental oxygen, but people have done just that.

The event has been much explored thanks, primarily, to the presence of author Jon Krakauer who was writing an article about the tendency for people to pay their way up the mountain and who subsequently wrote the marvelous - if debated - book Into Thin Air.

If you have an illusions about climbing Mount Everest or simply want to read a white-knuckle account of what that could be like, give his book a try. It's a brilliant read.

Take a listen to Ken Kamler's take on the event. He was there that day.

Read Into Thin Air

Those aren't jet packs or Camelbacks. And nobody tried to float up to space in a bubble
only to see the bubble pop, trapping them on Mt Everest. Really?