Put your money where your mouth is! I'm tibetan at least $50.00 that climbing Mt. Everest will peak in the next two years.
"Lots of dead or dying bodies. Thought I was in a morgue."...
- Thread starter LKD
- Start date
I believe the south western approaches, the West Pillar (route 9) and the Southwest Face (route 5) on Everest has only been successful climbed by 26 climbers since 1975, with four deaths. There are 19 certified routes up the mountain, many not for the tourist crowd.
The North Face and the West Ridge
And now for the most dangerous routes to the top. The routes on the North Face and West Ridge are the most notorious on the entire mountain.
White Limbo (route 11), a direct route up the Great Couloir, has seen two summits and one fatality, or a 50% fatality rate. It’s neighbor is the Japanese Couloir/Hornbein Couloir (route 6). Lots of fatalities on this route – four with only seven summits, so watch out, the fatality rate is a whopping 57%.
Another killer is the West Ridge Direct and it’s close cousin, the West Ridge/Hornbein Couloir (routes 5 and 3 respectively).
Fatalities 100%+
The West Ridge Direct route has more fatalities than deaths, so the fatality rate is actually over 100%. There have been ten summits but eleven fatalities, for a fatality rate of 110%.
Many of these deaths were descending the Hornbein Couloir, or in the catastrophic avalanche that killed five climbers on the West Shoulder in 1974, including Frenchman Gérard Devouassoux.
The West Ridge/Hornbein Couloir also has a fatality rate over 100%. Five climbers have summited, including Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld who established the route in 1963, while nine have perished, for a fatality rate of 180%.
The most recent fatality was snowboarder Marco Siffredi of France, who ascended the standard NE Ridge, but disappeared attempting the first snowboard descent of the Hornbein Couloir. The crux of the route is a short step where the route exits the Yellow Band, and one has to wonder if this is where Marco met his fate.
Unclimbed
To wrap up, let’s not forget that there still are routes on Everest that have been attempted but haven’t been climbed yet, such as the Fantasy Ridge on the East Face. The most recent attempt was by Cathy O'Dowd in 2003, where an avalanche nearly wiped out the entire route including base camp.
And the Russians are currently attempting a new route on the North Face – the Central North Face Direct (route 18) - that lies between White Limbo and The Japanese Couloir. This ultimate directissima involves technical climbing at high altitude, with the crux section through the Yellow Band starting at over 8000 meters.
"Everest: Eighty Years of Triumph and Tragedy", Peter Gillman, ed., 2000
"Everest: The Mountaineering History", 3rd ed., Walt Unsworth, 2000
chilling words of encounter from Sandra Leduc, a Canadian attempting to reach the Everest summit... Sadly another Toronto woman trying to summit, died over the weekend from not heeding to warnings from Sherpa guides. Everest ain't a piece of cake. I remember reading the book "Into think Air", a true story based on a tragic accident up on the everest in the mid 90's. It sent chills down my spine.
Reading Sandra Leduc twitter comments is both humbling and chilling.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/05/23/everest-death-warnings.html
http://twitter.com/#!/sandraclimbing
http://www.sandraleduc.com/blog/
Anyone ever think of trying to climb Everest or would do it given the chance? Top physical condition is just one of the hurdles... Lack of oxygen in the region termed 'death zone', unpredictable weather that could turn the region pitch dark in a matter of minutes, over-crowding, avalanches are just a few of the challenges on Everest.
I find it so odd that experienced climbers with all the right equipment die on everest while others who are less experienced don't. I could see if an avalanche or bad weather struck or they fell down a crack etc. but dying from lack of oxygen when they have oxygen tanks or the cold? very weird but alot of ppl die due to altitude sickness that causes you to lose consciousness, they say going down the mountain is the hard part, getting through the dead zone. ive become obsessed with everest the past few days, would love to try and climb it one day its the ultimate test of strength. btw shes overexaggerating about it being a morgue with bodies everywhere, there are only a few bodies that are in view
alot of experienced climbers die even with all the equipment, meanwhile there are people who don't even wear oxygen masks and live its very weird. it doesnt matter how experienced/prepared you are or how fit you are, you can die you just don;t know whats gonna happen
I disagree, the most dangerous part where the mjority of deaths occur on everest is the last few thousand feet the " death zone", in order to get to that point, you have to climb roughly 25000 feet. there are 4 camps before you hit the summit, if you are strong enough to make it to the fourth camp and are stable, you deserve to try and summit. if at the fourth camp you are too weak to continue, you can bail and save your life. experienced climbers can just as easily die past the fourth camp as non experienced climbers.
With the change in the weather patterns, the Kumbu ice fall has become more danger than ever, more movement and more fallen ice from above, making the climb even worse. One odf the other problems is left over ropes being left hanging and people using them instead of using their own. They have no way of knowing how old the ropes are and how safe they are, but even if you don't use them , if you fall or slide severely enough to attempt a self arrest you may tangle up in these left over free hanging ropes. The garbage left on the mountain is horrendous.The biggest problem is left over empty air tanks.
Dying while trying to climb Everest is a "rich" person's problem.
I have no sympathy for somebody taking that type of risk, not heeding warnings, and ultimately dying for it.
When nobody had done it, or a few had climbed it successfully, it was something noteworthy. Now you have 300+ nerds all in line climbing it simultaneously. What a joke.
I have no sympathy for somebody taking that type of risk, not heeding warnings, and ultimately dying for it.
When nobody had done it, or a few had climbed it successfully, it was something noteworthy. Now you have 300+ nerds all in line climbing it simultaneously. What a joke.
yup.. the problems of a third world country. Had this happened in Canada or so, there would've been intervention certainly. Just looking at that pic where dozens of climbers are lined up at arms length makes me sick xD something is clearly fucked up there.. Plus the fact that a few hundred climbers wait for a favourable weather and then rushes in for the climb when the go ahead is given without much of a system of who goes before whom, are they physically capable or would endanger others lives etc.
Numerous factors that are out of one's control like unpredictable weather, avalanches, altitude sickness that could impair you out of no where etc still make climbing Everest extremely dangerous for amateurs and experienced climbers alike. One wrong footing or fall pretty much makes it impossible for any rescue mission at such high altitudes. Its certainly not as exciting, challenging or impressive as the time when Hillary or Norgay first scaled it.
Because of this story I started looking for documentries on people climing Everest
Found this on youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAE_p4lcnCk&list=PLBBDEA2010FAF233D&index=1&feature=plpp_video
This is season 1 of Everest: Beyond the Limit produced by Discovery channel. Saying the series is fascinating is an understatement.
You can also find season 2 on youtube. I ended up watching all two series (15 episodes in all) in 2 days
Some highlights:
season 1 had a double amputee attempting the climb, and footage of a climber being saved
season 2 had a 71 yrs old japanese guy climbing...and footage of a climber left to die near the summit (it was all over the news back in the days)
Found this on youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAE_p4lcnCk&list=PLBBDEA2010FAF233D&index=1&feature=plpp_video
This is season 1 of Everest: Beyond the Limit produced by Discovery channel. Saying the series is fascinating is an understatement.
You can also find season 2 on youtube. I ended up watching all two series (15 episodes in all) in 2 days
Some highlights:
season 1 had a double amputee attempting the climb, and footage of a climber being saved
season 2 had a 71 yrs old japanese guy climbing...and footage of a climber left to die near the summit (it was all over the news back in the days)
The only joke here is your post, but that's not new. They aren't all nerds, some are there for more than just bragging rights, and some die who aren't rich persons. Apart from that your close. The fact that fewer than 200 people a year do it making it to the highest point on earth makes it noteworthy.
Much oF what you say is true. You forgot the Kumbu cough, look it up. You'd be surprise how many climbers are saved by other climbers and by locals. One of the biggest hurdles to saving the troubled climbers is the time it takes just reach them. an unconscious climv bers succumbs tio the elements quickly.
Wasn't there a story of one climber, possibly Canadian, giving up his dream climb to save another troubled climber and get him to safety?
As a non-mountainer (if you can't hike up and down without needing oxygen or down clothing, thanks but no-thanks), it would seem from news articles and this thread that this is all somewhat similar to saying since I've flown a Piper Cherokee or a Cessna Skycatcher, I should be able to just jump into and solo a CF-18, F-16 or Eurofighter Typhoon without any prior jet time. Well some pilots might be able to get up and down in one piece, but a larger number would end up all over the landscape.
