Everest

Muahahaha

scamalert wrote: »

muhaha isnt the process still dragged out ? to adjust to alltitude for 3-4 weeks prior to climb. As seen documentary posted about woman who made it, and found it quite interesting that most will do 200km hike to prepare physically for lack of oxygen.

Yeah its dragged out, you need to acclimatise your bodyfor a few weeks at lower altitudes before going that high. In total an Everest attempt should be a five year plan if starting from scratch with you doing a different mountain every year until trying Everest on the 5th. It can of course be done quicker but this is the advice given to me by a Sherpa I know who has been on top of Everest several times. Basically take your time and tick off your 6,000m then 7,000m then 8,000m mountains and see how your body reacts on each one. Only after coming through all that without problems can you think about a summit attempt on Everest.

Also at what altitude they start using oxygen tanks, if its 8000m wouldnt oxygen tanks compensate for the AS to eliminate any side effects of low oxygen ?

It differs by the person but mainly above 7,500m you use oxygen. From what I've heard the oxygen helps but it is still not a complete solution. Its all about how many hours you spend within the death zone. For these guided climbs the lead Sherpa will want his clients to spend no more than 12 hours from Camp 4 to summit and back down to Camp 4 again, it is typically a maximum of 8 hours up and four hours back but traffic jams can extend those timings and put a descending climber in difficulty with altitude sickness as they can wait for an hour or two just have a clear go at getting down the fixed ropes .

iirc the longest recorded time anyone who has spent in the death zone and stayed alive was Scott Fisher in 1995 who was up there for 31 hours. He had oxygen but he just couldn't summon the energy to even stand up. Even at one stage his spoke to his wife back in New Zealand on a satellite phone who begged him to try to get down but his brain was barely functioning at that point and he passed away shortly thereafter. The book Into Thin Air gives an excellent account of what happened.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

gctest50 wrote: »

Why does everything have to turned into a creche ?

So that the lives and literal limbs of Sherpas aren’t put at risk.

Tomw86

Muahahaha wrote: »

Yeah its dragged out, you need to acclimatise your bodyfor a few weeks at lower altitudes before going that high. In total an Everest attempt should be a five year plan if starting from scratch with you doing a different mountain every year until trying Everest on the 5th. It can of course be done quicker but this is the advice given to me by a Sherpa I know who has been on top of Everest several times. Basically take your time and tick off your 6,000m then 7,000m then 8,000m mountains and see how your body reacts on each one. Only after coming through all that without problems can you think about a summit attempt on Everest.




It differs by the person but mainly above 7,500m you use oxygen. From what I've heard the oxygen helps but it is still not a complete solution. Its all about how many hours you spend within the death zone. For these guided climbs the lead Sherpa will want his clients to spend no more than 12 hours from Camp 4 to summit and back down to Camp 4 again, it is typically a maximum of 8 hours up and four hours back but traffic jams can extend those timings and put a descending climber in difficulty with altitude sickness as they can wait for an hour or two just have a clear go at getting down the fixed ropes .

iirc the longest recorded time anyone who has spent in the death zone and stayed alive was Scott Fisher in 1995 who was up there for 31 hours. He had oxygen but he just couldn't summon the energy to even stand up. Even at one stage his spoke to his wife back in New Zealand on a satellite phone who begged him to try to get down but his brain was barely functioning at that point and he passed away shortly thereafter. The book Into Thin Air gives an excellent account of what happened.

Your posts are excellent and very informative.

Do you know, was Scott Fisher alive for 31 hours in the death zone? What's the longest anyone has been in it and survived do you know?

Bigbagofcans

Jim Gazebo wrote: »

For those criticising, I totally understand what you are saying re having a pregnant wife but it is also a once in a lifetime thing, she may have told him go and do it, you don't know the circumstances. I note the criticism is no way as high for the Irish girl with 4 young kids who wanted to go back up?!?!

Dying young and leaving young children behind you is also a "once in a lifetime" thing. Sorry to be dramatic but it's true.

gctest50

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

So that the lives and literal limbs of Sherpas aren’t put at risk.

But it seems sherpa lives are worth way less than that of yet another clown of a tourist who reckoned he didn't need any of that prep n acclimatising craic

1 in 25 die - it could be you

pc7

Muahahaha wrote: »

, it is typically a maximum of 8 hours up and four hours back but traffic jams can extend those timings and put a descending climber in difficulty with altitude sickness as they can wait for an hour or two just have a clear go at getting down the fixed ropes .

.

Are the ropes to get down the same route as to go up?

SusieBlue

Muahahaha wrote: »

Yeah its dragged out, you need to acclimatise your bodyfor a few weeks at lower altitudes before going that high. In total an Everest attempt should be a five year plan if starting from scratch with you doing a different mountain every year until trying Everest on the 5th. It can of course be done quicker but this is the advice given to me by a Sherpa I know who has been on top of Everest several times. Basically take your time and tick off your 6,000m then 7,000m then 8,000m mountains and see how your body reacts on each one. Only after coming through all that without problems can you think about a summit attempt on Everest.




It differs by the person but mainly above 7,500m you use oxygen. From what I've heard the oxygen helps but it is still not a complete solution. Its all about how many hours you spend within the death zone. For these guided climbs the lead Sherpa will want his clients to spend no more than 12 hours from Camp 4 to summit and back down to Camp 4 again, it is typically a maximum of 8 hours up and four hours back but traffic jams can extend those timings and put a descending climber in difficulty with altitude sickness as they can wait for an hour or two just have a clear go at getting down the fixed ropes .

iirc the longest recorded time anyone who has spent in the death zone and stayed alive was Scott Fisher in 1995 who was up there for 31 hours. He had oxygen but he just couldn't summon the energy to even stand up. Even at one stage his spoke to his wife back in New Zealand on a satellite phone who begged him to try to get down but his brain was barely functioning at that point and he passed away shortly thereafter. The book Into Thin Air gives an excellent account of what happened.

Would you consider doing an AMA?
I think it would be really interesting and I'm sure lots of people would love to hear what you have to say!

bobbyg

pc7 wrote: »

Are the ropes to get down the same route as to go up?

Was also wondering this after seen the pics posted in this thread of the queue going up.

Crusty Jocks

Muahahaha wrote: »

iirc the longest recorded time anyone who has spent in the death zone and stayed alive was Scott Fisher in 1995 who was up there for 31 hours. He had oxygen but he just couldn't summon the energy to even stand up. Even at one stage his spoke to his wife back in New Zealand on a satellite phone who begged him to try to get down but his brain was barely functioning at that point and he passed away shortly thereafter. The book Into Thin Air gives an excellent account of what happened.

That was Rob Hall, a kiwi.

Fischer was American, in competing mountaineering firms but were cooperating at the time.

DEFTLEFTHAND

How much do Sherpas earn I wonder?

I imagine it would be seen as a very lucrative profession for a poor Nepalese farmer ploughing fields with yaks. The average wage in Nepal is 48 dollars a month.

These rich clients are probably tipping the Sherpas big bucks after a successful climb.

Muahahaha

josip wrote: »

Muahaha, agree completely with all you've said but am curious why you were so certain that you weren't physiologically suited to going high based on 1 peak?

What was your acclimatization schedule before doing Mera?
.

My acclimatization before Mera was as good as you can get- before even meeting up with the Sheraps for the Mera expedition I had independently followed the exact same route you did- i.e the Everest Base Camp trail but we split off and went up the Goyko Valley, climbed Goyko Ri, then dropped over the Cho La pass and into the Khumbu Valley before climbing Kala Paatar and visiting Everest Base Camp itself.

On top of Goyko Ri and Kala Paatar I was grand, I felt great and had no difficulty with the thin air. I wasn't breathless and didnt have any headaches. In fact on the summit of Kala Paatar there was some Israelis there I had gotten to know and they were having a "victory spliff" and we even had a few puffs of that before descending ! But the following week on Mera was a different proposition, I don't know what it was but after about 6,000m I didn't feel great at all. It started with mild headaches which got worse and grew into a bit of dizziness. Nothing I couldnt handle but getting to the top of these mountains is only 50% of the challenge complete, you still gotta get back down again and being dizzy is not a good situation to be in on a steep descent. So for me that was it, I was well acclimitised having spend the previous two weeks at altitude and summitting two 5,500m hills but going to 6,476m was a step too far. I recognised the dangers of going even higher on other mountains so my Everest dream was put to bed there and then. I've no regrets, most people are simply not made to be at those altitudes and have their full faculties at the same time.

Tomw86 wrote: »

Your posts are excellent and very informative.

Do you know, was Scott Fisher alive for 31 hours in the death zone? What's the longest anyone has been in it and survived do you know?

Yeah iirc Fisher was alive for the full 31 hours in the death zone in 1995, the satellite phone call to his wife in NZ was proof of that.

As for the longest up there and surviving I don't know but would say that there can be no doubt that record is held by a climbing Sherpa and that it probably isnt even recorded in any meanginful sense. Sherpas from the Khumbu region of Nepal have been studied by medical scientists and they are said to have around about 20-30% more capacity in their lungs than us mere mortals who grew up at sea level. I know some Sherpas on the K2 expedition that Ger O'Donnell died on due to an avalanche were in the death zone for more than 24 hours and still got down alive. There is probably longer out there but even for Sherpas the odds of surviving a full 24 hours in the death zone are not great.

arctictree

Fascinating stuff. Why can't you just use a full breathing apparatus like divers use, then you could breath normal air all the way to the top?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

jasper100 wrote: »

I wonder if they die will trinity launch another go fund me page?

Probably not, I guess the bodies will just be dumped into a crevice next spring before holidaymakers start arriving again.

Cant be spoiling the view for the tourists now.

You said yourself in another post that sometimes the families request that the bodies are moved or pushed off so as not to be used as macabre landmarks so I’m not sure why you then said the bolded a few times.

Muahahaha

Crusty Jocks wrote: »

That was Rob Hall, a kiwi.

Fischer was American, in competing mountaineering firms but were cooperating at the time.

My bad, you're right, it was Kiwi Rob Hall who got stuck up in the death zone in 1995. Its a fascinating story about Hall and Fisher, they both put themselves under pressure to get more clients to the top than the other but as you said they were co-operating when it came to rescues. Highly recommend the book Into Thin Air detailed the accounts of what happened.

Snow Garden

arctictree wrote: »

Fascinating stuff. Why can't you just use a full breathing apparatus like divers use, then you could breath normal air all the way to the top?

They are simply too heavy to carry. You have to travel as light as possible to summit.

Crusty Jocks

Muahahaha wrote: »

The book Into Thin Air gives an excellent account of what happened.

Just as a by the way for anyone that reads it, the book Into Thin Air is a very good read but the events of what exactly happened as described by Krakauer are highly disputed by a lot of people that were there and he seriously sullied some of the most skilled climbers that were there, particularly Anatoli Boukreev.

Krakauer does a very good job describing what happens to the body at those altitudes and the general journey to the summit itself, but as for what exactly happened a lot of it is disputed. Krakauer is a highly skilled and accomplished mountaineer himself and was when he went but had no extreme high altitude experience so what he details in the book as to what happened at those heights can't be taken as fact. He even had to include an apology in later editions and edit as his first edition has errors as to what occurred.

For anyone thats interested in a book that describes an Everest summit bid just as a regular client this book by an Irish guy is excellent:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ascent-Into-Hell-Fergus-White/dp/1973422719/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=fergus+white&qid=1558626282&s=gateway&sr=8-1

He wasn't much more accomplished than Shay Lawless and just like him was relatively new to mountaineering, possibly less so but did have that vital extreme high altitude experience. I do know him, but the reviews will speak for themselves. And he makes pittance off the book by the way.

jasper100

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

You said yourself in another post that sometimes the families request that the bodies are moved or pushed off so as not to be used as macabre landmarks so I’m not sure why you then said the bolded a few times.

I didn't say that.

Bodies are dumped off the side at the behest of the tourist board.

Muahahaha

SusieBlue wrote: »

Would you consider doing an AMA?
I think it would be really interesting and I'm sure lots of people would love to hear what you have to say!

haha I doubt I'd have that much that is interesting. My plan to get to the top of Everest turned into a total and utter failure lol. Some mates still slag me saying that I got to three quarters of the way up and missed Friday night pints in the pub so gave up on it!

It was just a matter of physiology for me, if I had of continued on to try 7,000m and 8,000m mountains I know something bad would have happened up there and its pointless being a dead hero at the end of the day.

Crusty Jocks

Muahahaha wrote: »

My bad, you're right, it was Kiwi Rob Hall who got stuck up in the death zone in 1995. Its a fascinating story about Hall and Fisher, they both put themselves under pressure to get more clients to the top than the other but as you said they were co-operating when it came to rescues. Highly recommend the book Into Thin Air detailed the accounts of what happened.

They were both competing firms who were struggling as commercial climbing the mountain wasn't like it is today. Krakauer blames his presence, I would say rightly so, for their reckless push to get clients to the top as he was doing a piece on them and they potentially pushed things too far to get them to the top so the article would be a good promotion for their firms on succeeding to get to the top.

josip

Muahahaha wrote: »

...In fact on the summit of Kala Paatar there was some Israelis there I had gotten to know and they were having a "victory spliff" and we even had a few puffs of that before descending !

.

Funny you mention the spliffs.
One day I went up the Nameless Fangs from Gokyo, there was only 1 other guy doing it the same day.
He offered me some hash at the top also, but I'd had a bad reaction from a pipe a few weeks earlier between Jiri and Lukla.
I politely declined, but I remember the idea of being similarly incapacitated that far from Gokyo terrified me at the time.
The scenery and isolation is amazing but as you've already said, you have to be able to get yourself back to safety.

Dial Hard

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

How much do Sherpas earn I wonder?

I imagine it would be seen as a very lucrative profession for a poor Nepalese farmer ploughing fields with yaks. The average wage in Nepal is 48 dollars a month.

c. $125 per day per climb, according to the wiki article I just read. Earnings of up to $5,000 per year compared to the Nepalese average of $700.

Crusty Jocks

arctictree wrote: »

Fascinating stuff. Why can't you just use a full breathing apparatus like divers use, then you could breath normal air all the way to the top?

As mentioned aside from the weight, oxygen helps but it doesn't even guarantee anything. All down to genetic make up and physiology. Theres sherpas that have been living in high altitudes and been up extreme heights that can some day unexpectedly succumb to high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) or high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and die very quickly. It's russian roulette and can be just down to bad luck.

I've been to 6000m and my belay partner was a nurse who was fit as a fiddle and seriously and a pain in the hole to listen to because of safety concerns and procedure. On the summit push by 5500 meters she was out of her mallet. Blue lips, stumbling and incoherent, and I was tied to the b*tch. Lead wouldn't bring her down as it would've meant the group of eight had to give up. He agreed to let me switch with his partner. reckless stuff. Summit picture of us and more to the point her, is an advert for not pushing on. She's being held up by two and at some point she chucked her glove away and decided that a boot sock in her backpack was better. So theres a picture of us and shes barely standing with sock on her hand hanging down to her knee. I was done as well, there's a persistent headache and accompanying nausea that I just can't describe.

Road-Hog

pc7 wrote: »

I don't think she did go back up in the end, but with 4 kids aged 6-11 I think she was nuts to do this at all without doing a few 8000 m climbs first (or at all).



Like others mentioned, it should be something like scuba diving, all climbs recorded, you have a license and can only do the big ones with experience (not money)

I would be equally as critical of the bird with the 4 children. People are referring to these pseudo climbers as ‘selfless’, are they all spelling the word incorrectly.....? .I just can’t understand how anyone could classify them as anything other than utterly selfish

ahnowbrowncow

This thread has been very interesting and has piqued everyone's curiosity. Here's a great Mt.Everest ama from an experienced traveller, I followed it at the time and it was fascinating.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=103251463

tuxy

But lets say it was possible to somehow have a line feeding you a high flow rate of oxygen at all times.
Would that prevent altitude sickness for everyone or is there more to altitude sickness than low air pressure?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

jasper100 wrote: »

I didn't say that.

Bodies are dumped off the side at the behest of the tourist board.

You literally said that sometimes it’s the families who want the bodies removed from sight in this post:

jasper100 wrote: »

Of course. New York Times

Most of the bodies are far out of sight. Some have been moved, dumped over cliffs or into crevasses at the behest of families bothered that their loved ones were someone else’s landmark or at the direction of Nepali officials who worry that the sight of dead bodies hinders the country’s tourist trade.

Muahahaha

Yurt! wrote: »

Anyone who sees those 8000m+ behemoths and doesn't half think to themselves: "I wonder if I could climb that?" is lying to themselves. These places have a powerful draw, and I can see why people want to try to tackle them.

Nail on the head there Yurt and thats exactly how it was for me, once you see the size of these mountains you start wondering if you can get to the top of them. People become obsessed with the idea usually over many years and it becomes their dream which is the point that rational thought can go out the window

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

How much do Sherpas earn I wonder?

The best of them earn very well by Nepalese standards but they still dont earn all that much given their unique talents in mountaineering. Life in Nepal is very cheap, my worst memory of this was when on one trip there we were held up by a road traffic accident whereby a bus driver had an argument with the bus conductor and he knocked him over and killed him. A big crowd gathered and there was lots of commotion for about two hours and it all ended with the driver paying the conductors widow $200 at the side of the road under orders from the police. She was wailing with grief with her dead husband still lying on the road and the price of his life was a measly $200, it still disturbs me to this day :mad:

arctictree wrote: »

Fascinating stuff. Why can't you just use a full breathing apparatus like divers use, then you could breath normal air all the way to the top?

As said it is the weight of the tanks. A scuba tank will get you around about 50 minutes of oxygen at 20 metres underwater. With Everest you're expecting to spend about 12 hours in the death zone. Suddenly you need a lot of oxygen which means heavy tanks, lots of them ferried up the summit trail by the Sherpas. But there is only so many they can bring up there.

YFlyer

A guy from Utah lost his life on the Hillary Step.

Man Vs ManUre

I’m not a mountaineer or trekker, but 1st trek I’ve done was to EBC back in 2004. It was at end of November/start of December so was towards the end of season. I made it all the way to EBC and top of Kala Pataar, but main problems I had was severe headaches and tooth pain where I had fillers. But I think the main reasons for this was the extreme cold in the evenings and nights, it would go to minus 20 I think. I gave up smoking Indian bidi after day 1 when I realized the physical exertion needed. I didn’t smoke again till a fellow trekker gave me a Marlboro light on the top of Kala Pataar!! Then I legged in back down to Lukla as fast as I could, doing for every 2 days of what I had already paid for in 1, just because I wanted to get out of the difficult evening/night conditions. Back in Kathmandu I drank and smoked like crazy to celebrate.
The trek was amazing, the scenery and route is truly magical, the Sherpa guide and people you meet along the way are wonderful. The trek is difficult at times going up, and you never know how your head will cope with the altitude. Luckily I was able to complete it despite my problems, but I met others much fitter than me who didn’t get anywhere near EBC.
I would agree with muahaha and say that Nepal and its mountains is the most amazing country I have visited. Kathmandu is a beautiful city to spend time in, it has a real winter sports vibe to it without losing any of its oriental magic. I arrived there after traveling India for 2 months and it felt a bit like arriving in Las Vegas after backpacking around India!! There was a famous pizza restaurant in Thamel that was crazy busy with tourists all the time.
It was the holiday of a lifetime so can understand why people are so obsessed with Everest.

wrestlemaniac

Final day for Hanna and his team coming up today (Nepal time) before the call is made.

Developments also re. the GoFundMe page in the coming days (after the call is made from the mountain).

Attempts will be made to refund all monies and if not possible, will be donated.

jasper100

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

You literally said that sometimes it’s the families who want the bodies removed from sight in this post:

I quoted the NY times. They said it, not me. :rolleyes:

I picked up on the part of the same passage where the New York Times said bodies are dumped by tourism officials.

That's what happens, are you trying to say this is untrue reporting from the new York times?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

jasper100 wrote: »

I quoted the NY times. They said it, not me. :rolleyes:

I picked up on the part of the same passage where the New York Times said bodies are dumped by tourism officials.

That's what happens, are you trying to say this is untrue reporting from the new York times?

You said that sometimes the families want it and sometimes government officials. Then in later posts, you dropped the families bit and painted it as all just being down to the government keeping up appearances. The bit about families not wanting their loved ones to be macabre landmarks didn’t seem to fit with your general cynicism. It’s pretty disingenuous.

jasper100

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

You said that sometimes the families want it and sometimes government officials. Then in later posts, you dropped the families bit and painted it as all just being down to the government keeping up appearances. The bit about families not wanting their loved ones to be macabre landmarks didn’t seem to fit with your general cynicism. It’s pretty disingenuous.

Bottom line is the route is pretty similar each year, so they dump bodies out of sight to present a better product to tourists. I find that quite a cynical and disrespectful exercise, maybe if there was a body to be walked past every 20 metres these tourists would come to their senses sooner and decide its not worth it, turning back earlier.

The whole thing has become a cynical, dog eat dog, over commercialised racket.

banie01

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Final day for Hanna and his team coming up today (Nepal time) before the call is made.

Developments also re. the GoFundMe page in the coming days (after the call is made from the mountain).

Attempts will be made to refund all monies and if not possible, will be donated.

Thanks for this update.

pc7

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Final day for Hanna and his team coming up today (Nepal time) before the call is made.

.

WrestleManiac do you know where the team are?

The Rape of Lucretia

I have never climbed an 8000+ peak, so am only guessing at the motivation of those who do it - but the very element of dicing with death is part of the drive.

Most sports or pursuits, are undertaken for the sheer fun of them - and risks are nothing but a negative. Horse riding, hang gliding, off piste skiing etc, are done for the inherent thrill of the core activity. The risk is accepted. Or put to the back of the mind. The risk, if it could be made zero, would be made so, and people engaging in them all the happier. But climbing Everest, or the other bad odds peaks, is partly driven by the very danger. The stories of grisly ends even adds to the fascination, not deters. While people can do what they wish with their lives, there is something very out of kilter with those attracted to the particular challenge of rolling a not very safe dice on whether you will come down a mountain alive.

jasper100

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Final day for Hanna and his team coming up today (Nepal time) before the call is made.

Developments also re. the GoFundMe page in the coming days (after the call is made from the mountain).

Attempts will be made to refund all monies and if not possible, will be donated.

If that is what happens with the money it is a very honourable thing to do.

OwlsZat

jasper100 wrote: »

If that is what happens with the money it is a very honourable thing to do.

If that's whats happening with the money then they should update the Just giving page and stop deleting comments on it.

Daisy03

Photo of the queue to summit from yesterday posted by Nirmal Purja MBE. He is well worth a follow for his photos. @nimsdai on instagram.

josip

Daisy03 wrote: »

Photo of the queue to summit from yesterday posted by Nirmal Purja MBE. He is well worth a follow for his photos. @nimsdai on instagram.

That is so fcuked up.

J Mysterio

Tomw86 wrote: »

Your posts are excellent and very informative.

Do you know, was Scott Fisher alive for 31 hours in the death zone? What's the longest anyone has been in it and survived do you know?

I think Lincoln Hall probably has that record. Suffered a cerebral oedema near the summit and was 'un-saveable' and left there.

He was found conscious the next morning by some guys looking to summit. He was sat on a ridge of a 10,000ft drop with no hat, his jacket unzipped and no gloves. The climbers were dumbfounded. 'I imagine you are surprised to see me here' he said (or something to that effect).

His story is in several documentaries and films, the most famous of which is probably this:

Crusty Jocks

japanese lad few years ago miraculously manages to survive 2 days at 8000m+ by getting into a snow hole. loses all his fingers as a result, that was on his 6th or 7th failed summit attempt. goes back for another try a few years later, dies. loads of idiots up there. that is the biggest danger at the moment I'd say.

maxsmum

Daisy03 wrote: »

Photo of the queue to summit from yesterday posted by Nirmal Purja MBE. He is well worth a follow for his photos. @nimsdai on instagram.

That is outrageous. I can't fathom where they stand on the summit and safely turn to retreat. It looks like something from a nightmare where they all end up stepping over the edge. If I thought my husband was in that queue I'd have s heart attack. If he didn't have one first.

Daisy03

It is crazy stuff! I'm not sure how big the area is at the summit but assuming everyone spends a few minutes there taking in the view and taking the obligatory photos that queue isn't moving anywhere fast!

screamer

Lemmings.....

Muahahaha

Crusty Jocks wrote: »

I've been to 6000m and my belay partner was a nurse who was fit as a fiddle and seriously and a pain in the hole to listen to because of safety concerns and procedure. On the summit push by 5500 meters she was out of her mallet. Blue lips, stumbling and incoherent, and I was tied to the b*tch. Lead wouldn't bring her down as it would've meant the group of eight had to give up. He agreed to let me switch with his partner. reckless stuff. Summit picture of us and more to the point her, is an advert for not pushing on. She's being held up by two and at some point she chucked her glove away and decided that a boot sock in her backpack was better. So theres a picture of us and shes barely standing with sock on her hand hanging down to her knee. I was done as well, there's a persistent headache and accompanying nausea that I just can't describe.

jesus thats gas, Id say it made for some photo. Its mad with altitude sickness that even the fittest of people can get hit with it. I remember being at the top of the Thrung La on the Annapurna circuit at about 4,700m, at the time I was overweight and not very fit at all. But there was not a bother on me at that altitude yet fitness freaks passing through were in bits from altitude sickness. It really is a lottery.

What mountain were ye climbing?

retro:electro

Daisy03 wrote: »

Photo of the queue to summit from yesterday posted by Nirmal Purja MBE. He is well worth a follow for his photos. @nimsdai on instagram.

That is genuinely my idea of hell.

maxsmum

retro:electro wrote: »

That is genuinely my idea of hell.

I was so revulsed at that image that I then asked myself 'are you just really risk averse and boring'?
Then I reminded myself of my husband and my son and my mortgage and realised nah I'm just not stupid.
Never mind if it was safe, 50k and 3 weeks away to realise a dream?
It's pure madness.

retro:electro

Maybe if they could fit a couch up there for me I’d be grand :pac:

bucketybuck

Crusty Jocks wrote: »

She's being held up by two and at some point she chucked her glove away and decided that a boot sock in her backpack was better. So theres a picture of us and shes barely standing with sock on her hand hanging down to her knee.

I was on a climb once, and the night after we summited and started back down again we were all sitting in a tent having dinner, and one of the lads was telling us about the pack of wild dogs he seen passing us on the trail.

Never said anything at the time because he knew it was bat**** crazy, there wasn't even grass there never mind any wildlife, but it seems that he absolutely, vividly could see dogs running around 20 feet away.

Altitude is not normal, not at all. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary myself, no visions or mirages. Not unless I imagined the toughest 10 hours I have ever experienced in my life.