Everest - Lethal Traffic Jam

[nowonmai]

Ridiculous - the permit clowns are too busy coining it in to notice that it's overcrowded, they need to build another one to improve their business model.

21 May 2012 .Three climbers die on Mt Everest Over 300 climbers have received permits to climb the mountain this season, according to officials

At least three climbers have died while returning from the summit of Mt Everest, Nepali officials say.

The three are believed to be a South Korean, a German and a Nepali-born Canadian woman.

Conditions were favourable on Friday and Saturday morning but a wind storm swept the mountain later on Saturday, Mountaineering Department official Gyanendra Shresth told AP.

Two more climbers are currently missing, he added.

There are reports at the mountain's base camp that the death toll may rise further.

"There was a traffic jam on the mountain on Saturday. Climbers were still heading to the summit as late as 14:30 [08:45 GMT] which is quite dangerous," Mr Shresta said.

Officials named the Canadian woman as Shriya Shah, and the German as Eberhard Schaaf.

The South Korean climber died at The Balcony, an area near the top of the 8,848m (29,029ft) peak, Ang Tshering Sherpa of the Kathmandu-based Asian Trekking adventure agency told Agence France Presse.

The two currently missing on the mountain are believed to be a Chinese national and his Nepali guide.

Over 300 climbers belonging to 33 different teams have received official permits to climb the mountain from the Nepali side this season, mountaineering official Dipendra Poudel told the BBC.

That figure does not include local Nepalis who are assisting the climbers, working as porters or helpers.

A study published in the British Medical Journal in 2006 stated that, on average, there had been one death for every 10 successful attempts to scale Mt Everest.

The mountain's worst-ever climbing season was in 1996, when 15 climbers died, eight of them in one day.

[Mikethehack]

Get high, then die.

[Detroit_Pierogi]

The 'bucket list' phenomenon is, ironically, at least partially responsible for this.

[marie-angelique]

you couldn't pay me to climb everest.
i was scouting out a paying gig working elbrus - but after spending time up there, decided i never wanted to go back there or to any of the "7 summits".
the babushkas did make some excellent borscht though :)

part of me says let them issue as many permits as they like and generate as much revenue as possible from rich tourists. but i get sick of seeing mountains getting trashed, and covered with poo. if they used part of the fee to keep the place clean, i would be all for it.

if you climb mt everest and expect it to be safe then you deserve a darwin award.

[ReptilianKittenEater]

you couldn't pay me to climb everest.
i was scouting out a paying gig working elbrus - but after spending time up there, decided i never wanted to go back there or to any of the "7 summits".
the babushkas did make some excellent borscht though :)

part of me says let them issue as many permits as they like and generate as much revenue as possible from rich tourists. but i get sick of seeing mountains getting trashed, and covered with poo. if they used part of the fee to keep the place clean, i would be all for it.

if you climb mt everest and expect it to be safe then you deserve a darwin award.

Interesting point about "having" to bag the 7 summits. Some mates I climbed with last year are headed to Aconcagua. Main thing I've heard about it is the extreme weather and throngs of climbers. I might still cave and join them though.