The Top of the World is Not for Everyone Once the exclusive domain of the elite mountaineers, the roof of the world now lures scores of amateurs. These climbers seek a challenge that begins as high drama but can end abruptly as tragedy (Breashears, 1997).” At 29,035 feet, Mount Everest is the “top of the world” and the ultimate challenge for Climbers. But recently with advances in technology and equipment, more people are attempting to conquer Everest, although many of them do not belong in such an unpredictable, dangerous place with such little experience. With more and more people venturing to the top of Everest, substantial pollution has been a result, which is an expensive and difficult problem to correct at such high altitudes. Everest, which was once considered a sacred home of the gods, is now a commercialized, life threatening challenge with accumulating contamination. Mount Everest is situated at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Traditionally, those living near Everest honored the mountain and thought of the Himalayas as scared homes of the gods. No local people climbed them until the early 1900’s. But as foreign expeditions brought tourist dollars and Western ideas, the local people began to serve as porters for foreign climbers (Encarta, 2000). Many expeditions were sent out to reach the summit of Everest, but most ended unsuccessfully with tragic deaths. In 1921 George Leigh Mallory led a British Expedition to the summit of Everest climbing the north side. On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand, and Tenzing Norway, a Sherpa of Nepal under the tenth Expedition Flag of the British and the leadership of John Hunt were the first to successfully climb and ascent the summit of Everest via the South Col, a major pass between Everest and the Lhotse peaks. The South Col is now the most common climbing route on Everest today. The climbing terrain that one must face on Everest is just on of the barriers on the way to the top. Not far from Base Camp, at 17,600 feet, is the famous Khumbu icefall. The rapid movement of the Khumbu glacier breaks ice into serac, which are large, pointed masses of ice. Cliffs and columns are formed from the ice with steep rock below. It may be quite easy to avoid the obvious crevasses, but those buries under snow, forming snow bridges, can give out, and climbers will fall. Many people, even experienced climbers, have died in this area. There are four camps established above base camp to give climbers a place to rest and to acclimate (adjust) to the high altitudes. Camp I is located at 19,500 feet and it often takes one to three weeks to get all the supplies needed from base camp to camp I in separate trips, each time though the Khumbu icefall. Climbers use different techniques, but for the most part they will breakdown Base Camp and use Camp I and II to work up the mountain slowly. They then trek to get supplies to Camp III and IV. They often have to make several trips to transport all the needed supplies. Above Camp IV (26,000 feet) there are 3,000 vertical feet to climb to the summit. The steepness, unstable snow, and steep drop offs make this climb extremely difficult. The thin air makes breathing a great challenge, and with limited oxygen to the brain it is hard to focus. But focus is exactly what is needed as the climb of the last 300 vertical feet and along a terrifying knife-edge ridge. The last 100 vertical feet, from the South Summit to the top, is a chimney across a rock cliff known as Hilary step, the most technical challenges of the entire climb. With the high altitude, thin air and total exhaustion, another aspect acting against the climber is time. Even though many climbers use bottled oxygen to survive this climb, the human body can not last long at such high altitudes. Their bodies begin to shut down above 26,000 feet. Any delays or weather conditions that slow them down could take their lives. “It is impossible for guide to save anyone above the South Col, a place where every climber must be self-reliant. After Camp IV the time for “coaching” is over,” says Lou Kasischke, a climber who turned around at the South Summit (Breashears, 1997). The terrain may seem intense, but then you must add the naturally extreme weather and climate conditions of Everest to understand the dangers it has. The coldest month on Everest is January when summit temperatures average at about -33° F, but can drop as low as -76°F. July is the warmest month, with an average summit temperature of -2°F. From June through September, the winds blow in from the Indian Ocean, which very commonly bring masses of clouds and snowstorms. From November to February, the southwest-flowing jet stream moves in from the north with a hurricane force that can bring wind with speeds over 177 mph. But the weather on Everest is very hard to predict. Even during the climbing seasons (usually late May, and mid October), strong winds can suddenly arise which often carry sand, stones, snow, or ice which beat against the mountain and possibly climbers. Unexpected snowfalls can drop up to three feet of snow on weary climbers, and massive snow and ice avalanches are a constant threat. With all these hazards facing climbers of Everest, expert climbers have tremendously hard times, even with all their past experience. It seems that amateurs would be lucky to get out alive. So with all these life threaten dangers, why do people want to climb Everest? “Because the dangers are so obvious, Everest has come to symbolize for many people the ultimate in personal ambition and achievement (Breashears, 1997).” With advances in technology and climbing gear, Everest may seem more attainable, but one can not be fooled. No longer are you cut off from the world when you are up on the mountain. “You can be hooked up to a Website, you can call anyone on a sat phone, you can have the latest high-tech gear, and the mountain can still win,” Jeff Blumenfeld, editor of Expedition News, explains (Van Biema, 1996). Because the air is so thin helicopters have nothing to catch onto, they are therefore useless for rescue, and often a rescue team on foot may take a few days to reach a troubled climber, so you really are on your own. “I have a feeling that people have been getting just a bit too casual with Mount Everest,” Sir Edmund Hillary explains (Coburn, 1997). In 1985, David Breashears accompanied Dick Bass, at the age of 55, to the summit of Everest, which has served as inspiration for climbers. But Breashears explains that Bass was far above average, carrying all his own gear and climbing without ropes in places were even advanced climbers have difficulty. But recently more people have been paying around $65,000, to be guided up and down Everest by a veteran of the mountain. Some of these clients are experienced Himalayan mountaineers, simply looking for an outfitter and a permit to climb. But then there are amateur, inexperienced “trophy seekers (Breashears, 1997).” These amateurs are paying for their guide to make the crucial decisions on the mountain. As you get in high altitudes it becomes difficult to assess what risks are worth taking; weather is unpredictable, it is hard to judge one’s physical condition, the effects of delays, and other factors. If everything goes right, then Everest is very climbable. But if anything goes wrong – and mistakes can be made easily and quickly by even the best, then death is inevitable (Coburn, 1997). The guides are put in difficult situations and their responsibilities are unclear, which was seen in the tragedy that occurred in 1996. In May of 1996, Rob Hall, a renowned New Zealand climber, and Scott Fisher, of Seattle, lead a group of over thirty paying clients ($60,000) on an expedition to climb Everest. Hall had lead 39 clients to the top of the world in the past four years. And over twenty of them reached the summit, some turning back for various reasons. But as they reached the top of the mountain, the saw an approaching storm, and within two hours visibility dropped to zero as howling winds blew sheets of snow. It was like a hurricane except with a wind chill of -140°F. The first to die was Yasuko Nambo, 49 of Japan, who was found just above the South Col. Andrew Harris, another guide, was within yards of the camp before apparently walking right off the 8,500 meter Lhotse face. Fischer, lagged behind his clients, possibly to help stragglers and was found two days later in the same area as a half mumbling Makalu Gau, who was awakened, Fischer unfortunately was not. Rob Hall had stayed behind on the ridge with Hansen another client. Hansen had expended all of his energy on the climb up, and died in the night due to lack of oxygen and exposure. Hall hung on and radioed in at 4:35 the next morning. It would take rescuers at least a day to get to Hall, so they tried to convince him that he had to get up and start moving down the ridge. But after three hours he radioed in that he hadn’t even packed his equipment. He was connected with his wife, who was at the time seven months pregnant, and talked with her for several hours. After choosing a name for their child, Rob’s last words were “Hey, look, don’t worry about me.” Then he shut off his radio. Eight of over thirty people died in that storm on Everest, three of whom were experienced climbers and professional guides. Krakauer, one of the survivors of Hall’s summating party believes that commercial expeditions “need to be reconsidered” both because the customers put the guides lives in additional danger and “when the shit hits the fan, there is nothing any guide can do for any client (Time, 1996).” “The ability to pay the $65,000 fee doesn’t make you more experienced,” Robert Schauer concurs expressing a legitimate apprehension about novice clients (Everest, 1997). Novice climbers do not belong on Everest for reasons just like this. And inevitably, people forget the tragedies that have occurred, and the same mistakes are made, with the same results, which is exactly what happened on a single day in the spring of 1997 when five climbers died on the mountain. All were on unguided expeditions with little experience and were climbing late in the day. Until recently the climbers of Everest were a tight knit community of elite mountaineers. But now the routes are crowded with amateurs and guide clients. The Base Camp, which was once a makeshift staging area, is now a bustling village of over 300 people, packed with kitchen tents, satellite dishes, VCRs, generators. Up above at 26,000 feet, the South Col has been turned into the world’s highest garbage dump, with over a thousand empty oxygen bottles littering the snow alongside torn tents, abandoned stoves, and other refuse (National Geographic, 1997). There is undoubtedly an increase in climbers on Everest and as a result there is an increase in the serious environmental impact they have on the mountain. Problems such as the burning of wood, and pollutants such as human waste, piles of trash, and abandoned climbing gear are becoming more troublesome. It is estimated that over 50 tons of plastic, glass, and metal were dumped between 1953 and the mid 1990’s in what has been called “the world’s highest junkyard (Encarta, 2000).” Efforts are being made to lessen the impact. Now climbers must bring their own fuel, usually butane or kerosene, because cutting wood is prohibited. In 1976, the Sagarmatha National Park was established to preserve the remaining soil and forest area of Mount Everest (Encarta, 2000). Another effort to help the situation is the Sagarmatha Pollution Control which was established in 1991 and is funded by the World Wildlife Fund and the Himalayan Trust. But still as climbing activity continues to increase, the environmental future of the Mount Everest area remains uncertain. The Everest area is so polluted with garbage that a cartoonist drew an illustration of a heap of garbage taller the Everest. It seems that this is coming true. On November 17, 1998 the Nepal Ministry of Tourism banned all glass bottles in the Khumbu region which includes Everest and other Himalayan peaks. The Ministry of Tourism also tries to influence climbers by requiring an “environmental deposit” before any expedition sets out. The money is refunded if the team leaves the base camp clean of trash. But many teams do not even try to qualify for the refund. In May of 2001, Ken Noguchi, a Japanese alpinist, led an expedition to clean up waste left on Everest. His team collected over 1.6 tons of garbage, including 84 discarded oxygen cylinders, and 50 tents. This was only the most recent of the clean-up expeditions, others were lead in 1995, 1998, and again in 2000. In 1998 the hundreds of oxygen bottles they collected had to be carried for 50 miles by yak to a helicopter site, then flown to Kathmandu, transported overland to Calcutta, and then freighted to the United States to be recycled. It was also estimated in 1998, that to dispose of the bottles alone would require 16 Russian goods-carrier helicopters and about 50,000 U.S. dollars. Obviously, the pollution on Everest is a growing problem and an expensive one to fix. In October of 2000, 1,318 people had attempted to climb Mount Everest, and 167 lives were taken by the intense mountain. The extremity of Everest will never fade, it will continue to win lives, but its beauty may fade if the number of climbers continues to increase leaving trails of trash behind. As amateur climbers continue to attempt climbing Everest, more people begin to think that this tremendous mountain is easily attainable. With this assumption made, it will result in even more climbers flocking to the mountain. But if amateurs were not allowed on Everest, and climbing was limited to experienced and expert climbers, it would not only damper the pollution of the mountain, but would also save many lives. For these reasons, it is concluded that not everyone belongs at the top of the world.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 07:41:27 +0000
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