some questions about everest

From what I understand, there's already a huge problem with the camps on the mountain - what with stealing, trashing and even sabotage between rival expeditions! I can only imagine how a high-tech emergency facility might fare. But anyway, if you added all sorts of safety and emergency facilities, I doubt serious mountaineers would go near Everest. It would kind of defeat the purpose since it's the extreme challenge of the mountain that draws climbers.

With all the commercial enterprises organizing expeditions these days, Everest has alread become something of a circus. It's beginning to attract a lot of inexperienced climbers, which is making the mountain even more of a hazard. I'm sure climbers take every precaution necessary regarding frost bite, but let's face it ... there is only so much cold the human body can handle, which makes waiting around,- while the 40 people in front of you climb a ladder - extremely dangerous.

Costs will vary, wether your climbing independently or with a pro expedition, but I'm sure it will set you back somewhere in the region of 40 - 65 Grand.

Naughty Peach

In regards to the high camp hospital...weather gets bad...real bad. Look up pictures of Camp IV, tents are in shreds merely from wind. There are hospital type setups at base camp.

They do use heater packs some...-40degrees though.

Interesting post, brings up some good questions. The previous posters mostly nailed it. The Solar Energy Camp would be very difficult to build and run and would cause quite an uproar, not only with the climbing community, but with the Nepalese, Tibetans, and the sherpas, more specifically. They regard the mountiain as a spiritual entity and respect it too much to allow it (although with that said, money talks, even in the Himalaya). You should remember most of those ideals from Into Thin Air.

I'm sure the climbers use heat packs and every other technology they can conceivably carry up to the Death Zone, but the problem with it being so cold is that when the core temperature begins to drop, the body restricts blood flow and sacrifices the extremities to keep the torso functional. You can have the best mittens, socks, and heat packs but when it's 40 below your body temp is going to start dropping and you'll be at high risk of frostbite.

If I can remember correctly, the price Krakauer estimated in '96 was around $65,000 per person, so it is probably even higher now, 10+ years later.

As mentioned above, the cost now rising into the high five-figures pretty much limits Everest to wealthy thrill-seekers. But to me, with most of that cost going to pay for the services provided by Sherpas, it would be worth every penny, given all that they do. Were it not for these Sherpas, none of these "civilian" climbers would be getting anywhere near the peak of Everest.

That said - for the rest of us who ever had dreams of ascending Everest, you can get a taste for the experience at a fraction of the cost by making a "trekking" expedition out of Kathmandu, Nepal. Essentially a high-altitude "hike," Everest "trekkers" can often walk as far as Base Camp at 17,000 feet, which at least gets them within sight of Everest and Lhotse without the dangers or physical demands of summiting.

"I do not want to not live because of my fear of what could happen."
- Laird Hamilton

The cost for joining Rusell Brice's expedition is $42,000, you can get more details from his website www.himex.com. But his may not be the best out there.

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