Watch out for the dead bodies on your way up to the summit of Mt. Everest. At least you won't have to hold your nose, but there is a good probability you will observe the unfortunate few who didn't make it, having collapsed and died on either the ascent or descent and left to freeze against a frozen snowbank. So far this year, eleven people have died attempting the climb to the summit of Mt. Everest and some experts are blaming the high death toll on inexperienced and unfit climbers who should not have been given a license to attempt the climb. This situation is expected to worsen in the future.
Nepal-based expedition guide Norbu Sherpa says that 'too many people are flocking to the popular destination without the proper fitness level or experience to make the ascent and descent.' Because of the altitude, climbers have only a small window of time to get to the top of the mountain before making their descent out of the 'death zone.' The line-up at the final leg of the climb is where most of the deaths occur, the chance of survival lessening as climbers risk pulmonary edema due to the high altitude.
Think of being in a queue with 200 people waiting to summit in front of you, many of whom are unskilled, thereby slowing the traffic, creating a logjam. On Everest, there is only one rope tow to hang on to at final ascent and no room to elbow knuckleheads out of the way. "You can imagine if somebody is getting really, really, really slow and the one behind has to wait," said Andrea Sherpa-Zimmermann, who is co-founder of Wild Yak Expeditions and married to Sherpa. 'Those with inexperience are generating problems for others, jamming up the climb.'
You are as strong as your weakest link and there are too many weak links hanging on to the rope tow at the top of Mt. Everest to make any trip up there worth it. Read this harrowing tale of one expert climber's observations.
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| body at the summit of Mt. Everest |
