countingdown

I know this is off topic, but I am fascinated with Discovery Channel's Everest Expedition. Wondering if any of you climbers have ever attempted Everest? Anybody else watching this? I'm now re-reading Into Thin Air.
Teri

thit_cho

I have taped them all on my DVR (but haven't watched them yet). Right now I'm watching Himalaya (the Michael Palin show), and its great.

I saw Mt. Everest when I was in Nepal, and I have friends that hiked to base camp, which I may try on my next visit to Nepal.

climbhighsleeplow

Yes, I am an avid trekker so I watch these kinds of shows rather religously!

Luckily, altitude does not affect me. I climbed Kilimanjaro 7 times already and in September I climbed it twice in 2 weeks!

On my last climb I spent an hour at the summit all by myself with no-one else in sight to reflect on my life and the things I am grateful for.

I do wish to also stand on the summit of Everest. I feel I have an excellent chance to succeed since I do very well at 19340 feet on Kilimanjaro.

But I just cannot imagine spending $35,000+ for a moment on Everest.

If I had that kind of money, my conscience will demand to build 6 outfitted classrooms at the Maasai Joy Children's Center near Arusha.

Trekking to the basecamp sounds like fun - it is just lower in height than Kilimanjaro I believe.

cynstalker

We're taping it too - more out of morbid fascination than anything else; and as a result of reading Into Thin Air. I was appalled when I read that book: 1 out of 4 will die, other climbers step over bodies on their way to the summit, and all the trash...Really made an impression!

<font color="green">Cyn</font>

waynehazle

I have three episodes on my DVR. haven't watched them yet. I think I missed a few and would like to see them in order.

I read Into Thin Air last year and it was one of my most amazing reading experience ever. If anyone else is thinking of reading it, try and get the version with photos taken on the mountain.

Yes the thought that Everest is littered with the bodies of the climbers who died up there is gruesome.

A very nice companion piece to that book is THE SAVAGE SUMMIT: The First Five Women to Climb K2.

K2 is the second highest mountain in the world and is considered much harder than Everest. There is no Sherpa support and every woman that has climb K2 is now dead. {whether they died on K2 or a short time later on another mountain)

* This was true last year when the book was published and since then a woman may have summitted.

waynehazle

OK, I just Googled &quot;Climb K2 women&quot;

and found: http://tinyurl.com/y4ybxn

&quot;Yesterday, July 26, (2004 I think) Edurne Pasaban summited K2 at 16.30 hrs local time. She suffered frostbite and is just being helped down to BC, from where she will be evacuated tomorrow. With 7, 8000ers under her belt, Edurne is now the only living female K2 summiteer in the world. &quot;

countingdown

Thanks for the replies, and thanks for the recommendation Wayne! I was wondering if perhaps there was a book about a female climber's experience with Everest.
During the 3rd episode, I believe, Russell Brice has gathered his clients in camp to discuss the seriousness of what they are about to attempt. They all looked exactly like I would, terrified...and yet, unlike me, on they go!

napamatt

A former boss of mine climber Everest a few years ago, having also climbed McKinley, Elbruz, Aconcagua and Vinson, I asked if he was going for the seven summits and he said, no point now he had done Everest. I love all those shows and watch them avidly, and must have read Krakauer's book five or six times, I think I'm fascinated with what some people seem to think they need in their lives. Listening to Beck Weathers now, reflect on what drove him to attempt Everest, you realize just how selfish someone who is married and a parent has to be to put themselves in a spot where they have a 1 in 4 chance of not coming back.

waynehazle

I think Beck Weathers himself admits to being quite selfish &amp; self-centered.

And of course the world judges women even harsher for doing the same thing.

This is part of what makes The Savage Summit such a great read. What makes <b>a woman, wife &amp; mother</b> leave her family behind for months at a time to climb a mountain?

napamatt

Wayne

Yes I didn't word that quite right, he is the one who says that.

martync

I'm watching also, fascinated. I could not handle that altitude now, but what really gets to me is that it just doesn't look like fun. So much work.

waynehazle

I have yet to ever hear anyone describe the misery of high altitude climbing as fun.

Even my friends who scaled Kili a few months ago are thrilled that they did it, now that they are home

I think they spent 10 minutes at the summit, and they really did appreciate their accomplishment, and then were like &quot;I want to get back down and shower&quot;

countingdown

Hope you check back in Wayne...wanted to say thanks for the recommendation of Savage Summit! I often read at night before going to bed to relax, but while reading this book I found my heart racing instead. Great book! Thanks again!
Teri

waynehazle

Of course I am am checking back in yes an amazing book. Whenever I am trying to psych myself up for someone I think <b><font color="GREEN">&quot;One Day As A Tiger...&quot;</font></b>&quot; you just gotta read to know

I watched one of the episodes of Everest on my DVR, the one with the firefighter who tries to get through the whiteout and ...

the episode I will watch next is with the traffic jam right before the summit.

In reading Into Thin Air it made my heart stop to think of people basically in a traffic jam up there, waiting in line and PRECIOUS minutes are burning!

countingdown

Wayne,
The next episode you are going to watch (the traffic jam) is great! Talk about your &quot;cliffhanger&quot; !!!
While reading Savage Summit, I found it interesting to read conflicting information about some of the hi-profile guides in Into Thin Air. Reading and watching this has made me wonder which camp I might fall in...Every man for himself..or..Leave no man behind. I can't get to the third rung on a ladder w/o heart palpitations, so I'll never know.

waynehazle

Yeah talk about cliffhanger! I had a bunch of drama scripted shows on my tivo, I was going to watch a few minutes of Everest and then go to ER or Law &amp; Order

But I watched Everest without moving from my couch.

waynehazle

OK, I need to bring this to the top again.

Tim &amp; Gerard will need to take a good hard beating when they come down... if they come down.

countingdown

Again, last nite after turning the television off I could not go to sleep. I can't believe those two! My hat's off to Russell for keeping his cool (perhaps they just edited out screaming and cursing)! I wonder who it is that is going to be carried down next week? Whatever they pay the sherpas it isn't nearly enough.
It appears they are going to show the man that died on the mountain the day these teams summit, by any chance have you read about this?

napamatt

Watched last night, struck by the following

The Doctor may lose his livelihood - why is he up there?

Way too many inexperienced climbers.

Why do older people feel compelled to do this?

Why would anyone want to facilitate this kind of nonsense, there must be better ways of making a living.

thit_cho

I had DVR'd the entire series, and watched it this week (great for TV, but not nearly as interesting as Touching the Void). A few questions and observations:

1. I found it interesting that no license/special training/etc. is needed before permission is granted (I would have thought they would limit climbs to those that have successfully summitted at least one 8,000m peak).

2. Makes you appreciate Edmund Hillary's and Tenzing Norgay's feat, when they climbed without ladders, pre-laid ropes, pre-established base camps, etc.

Michael