Re: Everest: Three more die amid overcrowding near summit Archived Message
Posted by brooks on May 24, 2019, 11:02 pm, in reply to "Everest: Three more die amid overcrowding near summit"
I always feel sadder for the Sherpas for whom it's a job and who don't have a say in the ridiculous working conditions imposed on them by irresponsible governments and mountaineering companies. The deaths from "exhaustion" is a bit of a misnomer, in that there is a limited amount of time one can be in the "death zone" above 26,000 feet. One can only carry so much oxygen, and once it's gone it becomes very dangerous to stay in those elevations for long, as one is much more prone to hypothermia, frost-bite, impaired judgement, and of course physical exhaustion. Especially in the case of inexperienced and unskilled climbers which I guarantee, in a line-up like the one in the picture, includes plenty of people. But even in the case of guides who may feel compelled to stay with their clients until the bitter end. Jon Krakauer wrote a great book about this and the ill-fated 1996 expedition.
|
|