Entitled, Driven, Arrogant

"As I got closer I could see the yellow of a down suit - it was a climber lying still on his side.  His oxygen mask was off and his nostrils were white, frostbitten.  I asked him his name and what group he was with but only got a slurred, unrecognizable response."

That was a scene that played out on the slope of Mount Everest on May 20, when a Polish climber had been abandoned by his team, which decided to leave him there, in the death zone, and themselves push on to ascend the peak of Everest, achieving their goal, and sacrificing one of their members to do so. 

Another team of climbers, coming across the dying man abandoned their summit attempt.  They spent their time instead in the humanitarian effort to bring the man down to one of the lower camps, from the South Col where he was lying in the snow, close to unconsciousness and death.

Ten climbers have died this climbing season on Mount Everest.  The month of May is seen as the window of opportunity, after which weather conditions are considered to be far too violently inclement to attempt the push to the summit.  Even with ideal weather people are exhausted, disoriented by the high altitude and oxygen deprivation.

They die on the slopes, some falling down crevasses, never to be seen again, others suffer from strokes, and yet others, like the Polish mountaineer, left to perish, freezing to death, while others climb right past them, unflinching in the reality of death, disbelieving that it could happen to them, fiercely determined to make the summit and realize their ambition.

That was a British team that had made the decision to bypass their ambition and instead save another human life.  Another British climber spoke later of the effect it had on him, seeing the human carnage on the mountain slope.  "On our ascent, we actually passed three of the dead and another two who were in an awful state."

In the opinion of an American summiteer who himself ascended successful as part of a team from the National Geographic Society on May 25, "a fully 25%" of those he witnessed attempting the ascent obviously lacked adequate training, let alone useful experience.  "This is a mortal sport, not tennis or bowling.  You make one mistake, the mountain might forgive you, but if  you make two or three, you die."

It would appear that over a four-day period this year, no fewer than 548 people decided to make the effort to the top.  Averaging out to 137 people each of those four days.  "Experienced climbers can make their own way and get away from the crowds.  But for those that have to stay on the fixed lines, everyone has to move at the speed of the slowest person."

People become besotted with the very idea of achieving the seemingly impossible physical feat of endurance and strength that it takes to commit to the climb of Everest.  They don't do this independently, since they are, at best, amateur climbers, people of athletic ability and skills who envision themselves being able to boast that they succeeded.  They pay between $70,000 to $110,000 to commercial guides.

After paying that kind of money, they are resistant when and if their guides tell them they risk losing their lives and it's best to turn back.  They insist on going forward, exhaust themselves, and become liabilities to the other climbers.  One man spent four days near the 8,000 'death zone' area, despite the low oxygen level and freezing temperatures, refusing to descend without reach the summit.  He was finally rescued, suffering frostbite.

"The mountain didn't kill these people, they killed themselves.  In many cases, the Sherpas told the client, 'You are moving too slowly, you are going to die' and the client refused - and they died.  They viewed the summit as more important than their own life."  Likely they viewed the attempt as possible, refusing to believe they hadn't the strength, stamina and determination to make it.  Reality occasionally escapes people.

The Nepalese government charges $10,000 per permit per person.  "More expeditions mean more royalty and more revenue for the government.  Because expeditions have become so commercial, there is much less stress on training.  Poorly trained climbers without enough exposure to the climate are going up who have no idea about the need to acclimatize to the oxygen levels and hardships."

And they simply do not come back down again under their own steam.  It's estimated that the commercial tour guides earned something in the neighbourhood of $31-million from the estimated 446 foreigners who aspired to climb the mountain this year, with $5-million going into government coffers.