14ers.com

JDip wrote: I think there are just waaaay too many nosey people butting in where they shouldn't.

Isn't that what internet forums are for?

Personally I think it's good entertainment and good conversation. Hard to see why people get so upset about a few opinionated comments, or the multiple threads that have been started over this...touchy subject for some i guess.

14erFred wrote:

davebks wrote:here's the guy who wanted to take his bike to the summit. Amazingly he made the summit sans bike. Well maybe not that amazing anymore... never climbed before in his life.
http://www.outsideonline.com/photo-gall ... -Bike.html

Goran Kropp would be proud...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ran_Kropp

YES! That guy is amazing!! I remember in college watching a Banff Mountain Film Fest movie about his trip. Unbelievable.

winmag4582001 wrote:

JB99 wrote:

winmag4582001 wrote:What puts me off is that the majority(not all) of the people on that mountain seem to be there with feelings of entitlement rather than passion. IMO

I'm curious how you came up with that opinion? Seems like a big assumption to make of a large group of people that you couldn't possibly know all of.

opinion........ that's why I didnt claim it as a statistical fact.
I also have the opinion that Ashton Kutcher is not an astronaut no matter how much he pays to get into space. :D

I know it's your opinion, I read the IMO part of your first comment, my question is how did you come up with that opinion? I'm trying to figure out how you claim to know the state of mind (entitlement) of so many people, or if you're just making a huge assumption about a ton of people you don't know.

Putting aside the opinions of all on whether oxygen is cheating or not, whether it should be illegal to have that many people on everest or not, and so on...
The death toll is up to 11 now.
As of yesterday statistically based on number of people climbing Everest vs death rates they were on par. Now that we are up to 11 I think that sets it higher then normal, and the second push is about to happen.

Regardless of how you feel I wish them all safe climbing so they can get home safe and sound to their loved ones.

http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/evere ... -dead.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As a side note, I don't know who Monterosa is but they seem to have lost a fair amount of climbers in this season. now that is something I think that needs to be looked into. Why are their climbers dying of exhaustion?? Is no one watching their times? I am guessing they are on their permit but climbing on their own.

IMO if someone wants to climb Everest, more power to them. The risk of death is something that everyone knows about on that mountain and if you think it's ok to try to climb it without enough experiance then that's your own opinion. Personaly, I think it's a really bad idea, but I can't control others and they have the right to try if they're willing to accept the risks. I'm planning on climbing Everest within the next few years, but I'm going to be doing a lot of training and plan on picking up a lot more experiance between now and then. I'm impressed with anyone who makes it to the top, no matter how much experiance they have, no matter if they have someone else carrying their gear most of the way or use fixed ropes or what. 14,000 feet in Colorado gives a lot of people altitude sickness and a lot of people struggle at that altitude, I've been to over 17,000 and noticed a big differance between that and 14,000 I can't imagine what it's like at 29,000. To those of you who think using tools at 29,000 feet who've never been above 14,000, I'd like to see you make it up there without using any of those tools.

well said. I found a HUGE difference between 12K ft, 14K, 18K, but nothing like being over 20,000ft.
Its amazing how things change so quickly up there.

The level of oxygen lost at altitute changes exponentially as you go up. For example, your SaO2 (saturation of oxygen in your blood) at 14 breaths per minute at sea level is 98% at 14,000 feet it's at 69% and at 29,000 it's 0% and at 28 breaths per minute (breathing twice as fast) it's still only at 13%. So on top of Everest, breathing at a normal rate is the same as holding your breath, and if you're breathing twice as you were on top of a 14er, you're getting about 1/5 as much oxygen as you would there.

Out of the madness, comes a Ray of Hope.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/25 ... latestnews" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Ben-Yehuda said his military training in Israel helped shape his reflexive decision to rescue Irmak.
"You never leave a friend in the field," he said."

ajkagy wrote:

JDip wrote: I think there are just waaaay too many nosey people butting in where they shouldn't.

Isn't that what internet forums are for?

Personally I think it's good entertainment and good conversation. Hard to see why people get so upset about a few opinionated comments, or the multiple threads that have been started over this...touchy subject for some i guess.

Umm... I was upset about something else at the moment I wrote that , funny how the smartest person I know could do something so stupid and costly...and then reading that using oxygen and ropes are cheating... That just conjured up a PO'd thought in my head because I've had trouble breathing on some mtns before.. HAHh That didn't ruin my day that's for sure!

It really does keep the mind entertained (intellectual conversing and reading), I don't care what people generally think. I respect opinions like mine generally are. Hell, if someone feels like a pansy or a poser for wearing a air tank, than let them take it off. I don't give a s**%.
It's not like I want to wear a breathing apparatus when I climb!!! I knew I shouldn't have bought that six foot bong in high school Dang it.

Guardian UK: Everest mountaineer says crowding by 'hobby climbers' is path to tragedy
Ralf Dujmovits, who photographed 'human snake' of 600 climbers on ascent, pleads for stricter curbs on tourist flows

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ma ... by-tragedy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Without a doubt Steck is an animal, but don't disrespect supplemental O2 and then admit you clipped in to a fixed rope... that makes baby Messner cry.

Boggy B wrote:Without a doubt Steck is an animal, but don't disrespect supplemental O2 and then admit you clipped in to a fixed rope... that makes baby Messner cry.

Messner would cry if you claimed you've read all of his 50+ books. Oh wait, he did that to Ed Viesturs...