Quote:
Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I worked with a GP who was on Everest the time all those guys died. The time when the one guy knew he was dying and called his wife. there was the book, etc.
GP was one of the ones who turned around about 300 feet from the summit- ( God that would be a bitch) -everyone who didn't turn then died.
Before that he was telling his goal was to climb the tallest mountain on every continent. He told me about the one in antartica. The mountain was so tall, but it was a week long snomobile ride to it, then back. He tells me his buddy had done it, and on the way TO THE MOUNTAIN a snow storm comes up. they are locked in their tents for a week. Finally the storm slows and they get on their snowmobiles and continue to the mountain.
Okay. Assuming you don't go insane after a week in a tent, can you imagine going on. I can't. but at least that guy had already invested the time and money to be there. My GP was still planning on going AFTER hearing the story.
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I had a subscription to
Outside magazine in 1996. They'd sent Jon Krakauer onto Everest to write a story about how conquering Everest was becoming simply a matter of money, and that safety and experience wasn't what got you to the top of the mountain anymore. Most of the people who died on the mountain that season had paid upwards of $50,000 for the pleasure, and there was a bit more pressure on the guides to get them to the top than to think "maybe this isn't such a good idea" and turn back even if they were, as you said, only 300 feet from the top. The
editor of the magazine wondered in an editorial later if his sending Krakauer added pressure to the guides to get as many clients as possible to the top so they'd get a positive mention in the article.
I remember reading
Krakauer's article when he got back, before the book came out, and thinking that it was amazing that anyone survived that season. I think 11 people died that year, including 8 on the day that he was writing about.
I don't have a subscription anymore to
Outside, but when I was searching for the article, I saw that they had an
anniversary issue earlier this year.
I have an extreme aversion to sustained cold. So long as I know that there's a hot tub and a roaring fireplace waiting for me at the end of each day, I can handle ski trips, but that's about it. I can't imagine climbing any of the major mountains, except possibly, Mt. Kiliminjaro.
