Let’s be honest - Everest should be cut off from climbers, and the only people that should be allowed up there are ppl who volunteer to clean up all the garbage and human excrement adrenaline junkies have left up there over the decades, and anyone who volunteers to attempt to bring down any bodies of those who died.
The ascent is too dangerous, too many ill-equipped and unprepared climbers try to make the climb, and too much garbage is piling up and poisoning the run off that communities around Everest rely on to live.
Reminder that:
Rainbow Valley, for all its macabre connotations, is also a literal trash heap.
Base Camp and ABC are worse. The entire route is lined with garbage.
The Sherpa population receive little credit for incredible amount of work they do, often doing most of the work of the climber or team so that the team takes all the credit. It’s true that there’s a monetary benefit for their communities, but their job is also one of the most dangerous in the world.
There are documented crimes on Everest. Theft and assault are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Theft of oxygen tanks and other vital equipment can seriously endanger climbers. Entire books have been written about this.
People have been left to die on the climb. In some places, depending on the altitude, it becomes unavoidable or near impossible to move someone down the mountain. However, there have been avoidable deaths, again well-documented. Some climbers even say they have something called “summit fever” where only the climb has meaning, and not their fellow climbers.
It’s overcrowded. The victory’s lost most of its meaning. Just let it be.
