As a rule I am not the type of person who takes risks. I hate flying although I will get on a jetliner but I refuse point blank to ride rollercoasters (as much as I appreciate they are fairly safe) and bungee jumping is certainly off the agenda. I’m just one of these people who doesn’t have the stomach for such things. Heights aren’t my forte. I won’t be jumping out of an airplane any time soon. Even boats make me feel queasy. Maybe I’m just a wimp?
It may surprise then that I once had a hankering to climb Mt Everest. I will write that again. I once had a hankering to climb Mt Everest!
For a tame fellow with a fear of heights for whom rock climbing was never a chosen field of recreation it was a strange choice of adventure to be sure. I can’t explain it. Perhaps it was the perceived romance brought about by reading the gallant tale of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing’s successful first ascent of Everest which made a young fellow aspire to frolic with the gods. I once inquired about joining the French Foreign Legion too-another flight of fancy inspired I daresay by the illusions cast by Hollywood and the magic of writers who could make a last stand against the odds seem like a manly thing to do. Another silly idea which waned quickly and faded as I got older. Perhaps I am just a fantasist?
However, Everest seemed to be something withing my physical capacity until the idea of dying of a cerebral hemorrhage or losing all my fingers and toes or my nose turning black and dropping off or falling off the world’s highest mountain took hold and I decided that such things were for folk far more attuned to risking life and limb than I. Not to mention the fact that it takes a truck load of money to buy a place on an expedition. So, this little black duck won’t be taking lessons in mountaineering or boarding the next flight to Kathmandu any time soon. Maybe in my next life.
Climbing Everest is a hell of a dangerous thing to do. It’s not the most technical climb in the world from all accounts-K2, the world’s second highest peak is apparently a much harder ascent and just as deadly-it just doesn’t have the traffic which pervades Everest every climbing season.
There are of course plenty of people who have conquered Everest on multiple occasions and these professional climbers would probably pooh-pooh any suggestion from ignorant commentator such as I that climbing is too dangerous for the average punter but I noted on the news tonight that seven people have died on Everest this year. That’s a high number for any sort of recreational pursuit-especially when the spring climbing season which ended last Friday is only a slim window around this time every year. What other activity sustains such a casualty rate and is allowed to continue unabated without strict controls being put in place? Very few I think.
I daresay the Nepalese government enjoys the revenue which opening Everest in the climbing season brings and it doesn’t seem to be rushing to scale back the number of permits it releases to climbing companies and restricting the numbers who want to reach the peak every year. Of course I am no expert on the exact procedures required to run a climbing company or the numbers allowed on the mountain in any given year.
One of the major problems with Everest seems to be that it is relatively easy for anyone to conquer. Even a pathetic dreamer like me (or someone who has a lot more money and determination than I!) can get to the top with the right mixture of luck and help. It seems one of the reasons for the disaster which occurred on Everest in 1996 in which trek leaders and amateur climbers died was the preponderance of inexperienced climbers who had paid a lot of money for their trip and expected to be escorted to the top and caused some over competitiveness among competing enterprises. Risks were taken, safety lapsed and people died. Jon Krakauer’s brilliant book “Into Thin Air” chronicles the events on Everest during the 96 climbing season and I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of climbing on Mt Everest.
I suppose it would spoil one of the last great adventures on earth if climbing Everest was to be restricted to those with the skill set, experience and ability to do it. There is an argument that if you feel like putting your life on the line in a dangerous situation then you should be free to do it. No one is forced to make the climb. In any case it doesn’t appear access to Mt Everest will be restricted anytime soon. Good luck to those who wish to shake hands at the top of the world.
As for me the idea of climbing Everest has waxed and waned-not that it was ever a realistic prospect. No, I will stick to walking up Mt Wanniassa, all couple of hundred metres of it-and enjoy returning with fingers, toes and nose intact.
Have a nice night.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 