Heh, this. Something to talk about in cocktail parties.
Something like this would be far far more impressive:
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web13f/newswire-ueli-steck-south-face-annapurna
Its primarily a check box item, Lots of Brag points to one up on the joneses at the dinner conversation.
You don't understand what, exactly? That people have different interests?
I'm just saying that I don't understand the appeal. And it has nothing to do with differing interests.
Hmm, I didn't realize that the point I was making was so opaque.
Let's imagine that all mountain climbing can be graded from 1 to 100 on overall difficulty and that every climber has a theoretical maximum difficulty grade that they can safely climb and decend without substantial external assistance. It is possible for a climber with middling ultimate ability (somewhere in the 50s) to challenge himself and explore his limits by climbing many mountains rated in the upper 40s and eventually working his way up to a couple of mountains in the 50s.
If Everest is an "86" on the scale, and a climber has conquered other mountains that would rate in the low to mid 80s, and now Everest is simply the next step, that's something that I could understand. If a climber has an ability of "58", but summits Everest because Sherpas are carrying big bottles of oxygen for him, what does that really tell him about his ability?
We see these games in the weight room all the time. Guys that quarter squat 500 lbs. or bench 405 on the Smith machine.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying that climbing Everast is "easy" under any circumstances, or that people shouldn't climb Everast if that's what they want to do, or that they shouldn't feel proud for summiting. I'm just saying that I don't understand the appeal. And it has nothing to do with differing interests.
Silly, the elevator, of course! An express one please.Would you rather take the elevator up to the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa or take the stairs up to the top of the next tallest building?
Silly, the elevator, of course! An express one please.
If god wanted me to take the stairs, he wouldn't let humans invent the elevator.
Since 2000 only 1.4% of all attempted summits has resulted in Death.
Guiding people to the top of Everest is just a drop in the bucket compared to the money the local people make related to the tourist trekking that occurs at lower elevations.
I'm gonna stop you right there, because there are some stories I can tell from just any night of my time SE Asia that would put that experience to shame. And that's just a very small sample size. :hmm: Similarly, I can tell a lot of stories just about most of the desirable continents on Earth.What are you basing that on?
The lower treks are dirt cheap. The first couple days go like this "Room and board is free as long as you eat at our place". Then meals are like $1. By the time you get to the top of the treks and are at 4000m or so it might cost you $5-$10 per day. Add about $12 per day for a porter. A 12 day trek is going to cost you about $100. If you need to rent and buy some gear add a few hundred more.
Nepal is insanely cheap.
Those wondering why people do it have to understand that it's like an epic work out with a view, awesome culture, different food, and everyday has some kind of crazy story to tell. My experience in the Himalayas is more than most people will ever have to tell in their entire lives going to work, retiring, and dying. It also makes life worth living when you're doing exciting things. How many people do I know who have hit up the Himalayas? Only those I met there. My friends for the most part get up in the morning, go to work, might go snowboarding on the weekend, lay on a beach during their vacations, and then they'll retire and die. I want more.
It's like anything else. Why bungee jump? Why sky dive? What kind of douche has to jump out of plane? And pay money for it?! GTFO! Only the first person who jumped out of a plane has any street cred. Why go to India? It's dirty and poverty stricken! Well the reason is because it's different and it's awesome. I get a natural high from these things.
I can sure appreciate the people who risk their lives just to push the human boundaries. I just think Everest is past that now. Why risk your life for nothing?
I'm gonna stop you right there, because there are some stories I can tell from just any night of my time SE Asia that would put that experience to shame. And that's just a very small sample size. :hmm: Similarly, I can tell a lot of stories just about most of the desirable continents on Earth.
Don't assume that everyone lead a boring life. Some of us get excited by many other things, and not necessarily chasing after a cliche, either.
Now, I'm going to give you an analogy, and I know this may pull on some people's chains, but let's look at it this way - Curling, it isn't for everyone.
Some of us get excited by many other things, and not necessarily chasing after a cliche, either.
With sherpas carries extra oxygen bottle for you.
<-- Has planted trees in high altitude at -20C and sleep in tent (practically an igloo) in damp/wet sleeping bag during a 2 weeks early spring cold snap. Day time temperature was hovering around -11C while putting in 12-14 hours per day with at least 100 lbs of gears and trees on my back. Normally I plant 1200-1400 trees per day, but the ground was rock hard hence I put in 300-400 trees during the cold spell. I also have fight forest fires that is tough work but it wasn't any where as tough as planting trees or brushing.
The worst was I once lost 1.5 day of work, because I had to join over 100 other planters to search and rescue an idiotic solo mountain climber that broke his leg on his climb.
It would make more sense to do some good for society if people go North to work on oil rigs, pipeline, mining, logging, tree planting, and search & rescue if they want to prove something and be useful.
I just don't understand this kind of thing. I mean, yeah, I'm not a climber, so it makes sense that I don't care about climbing Everest, but I do sail, and I have absolutely no interest in crossing the Atlantic, or rounding Cape Horn or any of that nonsense.
I have lots of challenging/rewarding things in my life, from my CFA candidacy to building a real estate business to my desire to start a family and raise children.
I'm sorry, but when I see people spending this kind of time and money to transform what should be an enjoyable and healthy hobby into a deadly, arduous ordeal, I can't help but think that they lack a sense of accomplishment in life, for whatever reason, and are doing this to get it.
High Altitude? You're most likely talking at least half of the altitude of everest.
I'm gonna stop you right there, because there are some stories I can tell from just any night of my time SE Asia that would put that experience to shame. And that's just a very small sample size. :hmm: Similarly, I can tell a lot of stories just about most of the desirable continents on Earth.
Let's ban the Sherpas from helping out and see how many left will survive the climb let alone reach the summit.
That's still pretty fuckin dangerous
There won't be enough Sherpas to retrieve the bodies then.