Everest: Beyond the Limit

[TrophyHusband 0]

when people climb alpine style, do they remove all of their ropes? could mountains over 8000m even be climbed if people had to leave enough gas in the tank to remove all of their shit? i would say if that was the standard, far fewer people would be able to summit everest.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[Butters 0]

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when people climb alpine style, do they remove all of their ropes? could mountains over 8000m even be climbed if people had to leave enough gas in the tank to remove all of their shit? i would say if that was the standard, far fewer people would be able to summit everest.

The people that climb alpine style often following the principle that you only take what you need. So instead of fixing ropes all the way, they use the same ropes over and over again. This would make it easier to remove all the ropes (especially if you need them on your descent). Yes, if you can bring it up you should be able to bring it down (although going down is often more dangerous it is also easier since you have gravity working with you instead of against you). The people that summit now often don't bring anything up or down, they hire sherpas to do everything for them, turning the whole event into nothing more than a hike in an environment with low oxygen and low temperatures.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[lawrocket 3]

I'm always in awe of people whom I consider to actually be crazier than I am. High altitude mountaineers - they are some crazy freaking mofos.

I look at these cats and the price they paid to do it:
- A guy who'd lost his legs to frostbite almost 25 years ago lost more of them to frostbite this year;
- A guy was losing his toes to frostbite 1,000 feet below the summit and turns around;
- A guy loses parts of every toe and finger

I just see this as crazy - just about everyone got frostbitten. They were miserable most of the time. And of course, that poor guy who was weeping while trying to help the dying climber is something I doubt I could handle.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[cloudseeker2001 0]

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Best book on everest I ever read was 'Into thin air' by jon krakauer. Thrilled me from beginning till end! Anybody here read this? What's your opinion?

All of his books are good!

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[cloudseeker2001 0]

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shitty thing is that if he hadn't been held up by other climbers or he had started just 20 minutes earlier, he may have made it.

watching this stuff about everest has made me curious about one thing; at what altidude does "leave no trace" no longer apply?

Leave no trace only applies to base camp.....Maybe! There is junk on the mountain from the Mallory expeditions. Kinda of funny, the Chinese have gone up the mountain and retrived some of this stuff for their R&D! When global warming really kicks in, they are going to find all kinds of crap!

A really good read is the book about the team that found Mallory's body. It's full of good pictures and history!

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[Hipwrddude 0]

The limits of human endurance fascinate me. Especially when one son-of-a-bitch, this Italian guy named Reinhold Messner, scales 14 of the world's mountains over 26,250 feet. Then, in August of 1980 he scales Everest. Solo.
Now, allow me to put this in perspective for you. Ever climb in the plane to altitudes of 15k or 16k and feel woozy without oxygen and you're not even stressed climbing up a mountain? Place yourself alone, at temps 30 degrees or more below zero carrying 100lbs of gear up a 30% grade. It's beyond misery. But here's the real shocker. Messner climbed without oxygen bottles.

You're always the starter in your own life!

[NWFlyer 2]

Yeah, Ed Viesturs was the first American to do it, in 2005. He spoke at my old company's managers meeting a couple years ago (before he'd finished all 14 - at the time he still had Annapurna to do). The man is an absolute freak of nature.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Scoop 0]

Im confused, was this show the one with the British Army going up the dangerous (north if I recall correctly) face?

I watched some of that, was amazing stuff. I love survival and human endurance challenges like that (to watch and rarely participate!)

Had the extreme skier who died in an avalanche

[murrays 0]

A book that will amaze you with its true story of human endurance and the will to survive is "Touching the Void" by Joe Simpson.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[Andy_Copland 0]

I watched the film. Have to borrow the book off Shropshire though and read that.

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[NWFlyer 2]

Nope, nothing whatsoever to do with the British Army. It was a show about a private expedition.

Here's the link to the site:

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/everestbeyond/everestbeyond.html

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[shropshire 0]

Hi Matey, that was a different prog'... the Britisg Army one... I saw a few of the episodes.. very good it was too.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Scoop 0]

Yeah that was good. Good old HARDCORE brits conquering the difficult face. Go on lads!

I've seen touching the void too, that was amazing. Also on the same subject but different setting was the whole Bravo Two Zero legend. Simply amazing