Climbing Mt. Everest is not a task to be undertaken lightly. People die attempting to reach the top of the world every year. However, 1996 was a particularly deadly year for climbing, and it was immortalized in several books and a made for TV movie.
The most famous of the books is probably Jon Krakauer's bookInto Thin Air . Krakauer is a climber as well as a writer of non-fiction books and outdoorsman magazine articles. He was commisioned by Outside magazine to chronicle his attempt to reach the peak. He happened to be there during the most deadly season in Everest climbing history, when 8 people, including 2 experienced climbers (who were paid guides) died in a sudden blizzard.
This was not the only book about this tragedy. Coincidently, an IMAX crew, lead by director David Breashears, was filiming the famous IMAX movie about the mountain. Not only were they involved in filming, but they were also instrumental in helping to organize the rescue efforts. Breashears wrote about the trip in his book Everest, Mountain Without Mercy.
Other guides who survived have a website that is interesting to read. I'm also reposting the NOVA website, because it has a lot of cool information on it, including information about what it is like to climb at high altitudes.
Part of the issue that year was the large number of relatively inexperienced climbers - hobby climbers who were wealthy enough to pay the $50, ooo to have an expert help get them to the "top of the world." When you shell out that kind of money, or take that kind of money to provide the service, disappointment is not always seen as an option.
Everest is someplace I would like to see - if someone paid for me to take a trip to the base camp I would go in a heartbeat. However, I doubt I would make an attempt for the summit - it's too dangerous, and even if I were to get in tip-top shape, I'm still not an experienced enough ice-climber.
What do you think? Would you pay that kind of money for a once in a lifetime trip? At what point would you head back? Is the adventure worth risking your life?
9 comments:
I would never do that. Its scary and cold.
$50,000 to risk your life? how fun...
I have a question though, why would the expeirinced mountain climbers do that? Like take inexperinced people and risk themselfs?
What happens if the expert dies and the other one is left? what does the other guy do??
and do they just leave the body?? Even if like, you see the body, do you leave it there and head back, or leave it there and head up? how would you call for help?
Ok, these questions are gettting annoying. Im going to school.
Well...I mean if i had cancer and was about to die anyway...sure why not. That would be fun anyway, even if it wasnt i would make it fun! YAHHHHHHHhh.
I would prob. do that for some other once in a lifetime kind of thing. I think it would be fun and an awesome experiance
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whats with all the mt everest stuff? its a big mountain thats snowy and and higher than denver. but why would why would people try to climb it when its life threatning. dumb people these days. That media center lady is mean bye!
Hay!
I brought up Into Thin Air in one of the other topics! Good that you thought of it as important and made a whole topic out of it.
Nick - I'm glad you brought it up -Into Thin Air is one of my favorite books, and I've read several of Krakauer's other books.
There is something about Everest that just fascinates me.
Read Ghosts of Everest - I think you will really like it.
Sounds like tons of fun!!! Let me go spend all my money to go die or get severe frost bite!!! NOT. I love to climb mountains, just not the kind that endanger my life. I would take climbing over the pile of leaves in my yard then climbing mt.everest any day.
Hilda - most of the time they have to leave the body - I'm sure if you do a google search for "number of bodies left on Everest" you'll find out how many. They have Tibetan prayer flags that fly in honor of people who have lost their lives on the mountain.
another great book (and movie) is "touching the Void" about two expert climbers who had to make the impossible decision - to cut the rope that connected them so one could return to safety - the other was presumed dead. The injured climber survived, and he wrote the book.
Ham - in the immortal words of George Mallory, "Because it's there."
no, i dont think i would ever do something like that! but thats just because i would never really care to do it. if its a dream or something that you would always want to do, then you should go ahead and do it! nothings too big or dangerous if its really important to you. but, like i said, i would never do its just because i dont think its worth risking my life over. but, to each his own!
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