tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post8639366421836196242..comments2024-01-30T12:46:10.810-05:00Comments on Yappa Ding Ding: Rant: Mount EverestYappahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18126433451905766475noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-68469644160465123522012-07-04T12:50:48.964-04:002012-07-04T12:50:48.964-04:00Hi salamander,
I read the link. Thanks. Beautiful...Hi salamander,<br /><br />I read the link. Thanks. Beautiful writing. A couple of reactions...<br /><br />I read the account of Margaret turning back before the summit knowing that going on could jeopardize the Sherpas' lives, and it boggles my mind that it was her decision. Some other climber who doesn't have the money to come back or has more ego would press on even though it endangered the lives of others.<br /><br />The writer went up with a personal guide. I have been checking out Everest tour companies, and this 1:1 service is the highest-charge, primo tour. There are still people going up who don't have a private guide. It sounds like she would not have survived if not for that person.<br /><br />She ends by saying, "there’s something enormous, dark and cold stuck in my chest..." which sounds to me like her early reaction to the experience was quite negative. But in the comments section people congratulate her effusively on her courage and she starts to believe the hype. I'm afraid I just find that pathetic.<br /><br />I would congratulate her though on her writing ability and her fierce honesty.Yappahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18126433451905766475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-58675480274908737612012-07-04T11:51:48.883-04:002012-07-04T11:51:48.883-04:00Your rant is good.. and I admire your defense of i...Your rant is good.. and I admire your defense of it as well. I've followed the mystery and often fatal allure of Everest since I was a child.. The story of the discovery of Mallory's body recently is startling.. Here's a sample of excellent 'take you there' writing.. The descent is a killer.. http://sixthsymph.com/2012/06/04/everest-2012-the-descent/the salamanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853337802990122289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-66690761630490629052012-07-04T08:54:11.135-04:002012-07-04T08:54:11.135-04:00Hi diamondwalker,
Actually, I knew something abou...Hi diamondwalker,<br /><br />Actually, I knew something about summitters of Mount Kilimanjaro before my recent reading about Everest, and I was appalled at the tourists on MK as well (although the situation is very different). I saw them first hand because I had a friend I used to visit in Moshi, at the base of MK. So this has been a developing rant.<br /><br />You are absolutely right; there are doubtless good people who go up Everest. But. Name me a time when something like the following has happened: a big group is bunched together on the ropes, heading for the summit, and near the top one person's oxygen mask clogs (or their feet get frostbitten so they can't walk anymore or they fall down from hypoxia) - and everyone behind that person turns back from the summit in order to rescue that person. Has that ever happened? <br /><br />In what sport or hobby or whatever do participants care so much about winning that they leave their colleagues to die?<br /><br />I have had a (very) little experience with skiing in the Alps (another dangerous alpine sport) and it's the polar opposite in terms of basic humanity and caring, safeguards, regulations, etc.<br /><br />One of the needs for a rant on this issue is that despite the tons of stuff written about Everest, there is still this starry-eyed view of it as a place to go to be free and test your mettle and become a hero and all that. To me, it is just the opposite. It's tawdry and barbaric. It's about cheap thrills and showing off. It's a nasty kind of tourism. That some good people get caught up in it is not the point.<br /><br />(Sorry - I usually try to be more conciliatory but I'm still in rant mode I guess.)Yappahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18126433451905766475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23053767.post-86347249588182637672012-07-04T05:21:53.371-04:002012-07-04T05:21:53.371-04:00yes.. it is a rant .. you wrote.. about Mount Ever...yes.. it is a rant .. you wrote.. about Mount Everest ..<br /><br />I've also read 'Into Thin Air' among dozens of other books and essays .. and attended presentations by climbers who 'summited' or had to turn back. And not just on Everest, but on Lotse or K2 or other high peaks.<br /><br />Somehow you've decided its OK to brand everyone as 'tourists' or suppliers to tourists.. and that they all politely but resolutely step over or around the dead bodies littering Everest ... Its as if they are sipping latte's as they follow the rope upwards to easy glory.<br /><br />I think Krakauer would take you to task wickedly for the loose assumptions you have arrived at. So too would any sherpa. You tackle pertinent aspects of the Everest reality and mystique.. but have ventured too far as an armchair critic. Best to retreat.. you're way out there on a rotting cornice, enjoying your splendiferous view.. Its a long way down.<br /><br />I have a lifelong interest in all things Everest.. but have not, and never will, be a climber.. or a visitor to Base Camp.. or help remove oxygen tanks or bodies from the higher levels.<br /><br />Read more.. expand your horizons re Everest ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com