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allroy

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2004
61
0
That's amazing...

One of my goals in life is to get out there. I climb with some people that have led multiple expeditions there and it gets me very jealous. At the very least I want to travel through Tibet.

It isn't entirely accurate saying it takes 2-3 weeks to climb everest. That's to aclimatise, going up and down between base camp and camp 1/2. Then they pick their window of opportunity and climb, anyway.

I remember a few years back this guy road a bike from Kathmandu to Everest climbed it no O2 or support and rode his bike back. THAT is freakin amazing.

thanks,
-j

Mr. Anderson said:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/05/21/everest.record/index.html

This is nuts! Considering it takes people from sealevel weeks to do the climb. I'm just amazed at how well people are able to adapt to different climates.

Anyone know what sherpas go through when they get to sea level? Some must have made it off the mountains.....

D
 

Mantat

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2003
619
0
Montréal (Canada)
Everest is just a Hollywood joke to me. Yes it is the heighest mountain but with all the logistic used to get there I dont understand the glory one can have there. Its a very commercial trip, cost thousands of $, etc...

Tibet has hundreds of other mountain in the 6000+m which have never/rarely been climbed and offer much better challenge.

Of course, when you come back home, everyone can relate to the Everest and be impressed while other anonymous mountains would say a thing to even other climbers...

I am not saying that people climbing Everest arent in good shape, I am just saying that there is no adventure spirit in these ascend. Adventure is what drives me on top of cliffs / mountains, not the possibility of getting a nice picture or impressing my coworker.

If any of you want to experience the real deal of high mountaineering, do Mnt Washington during the winter. I did it last year on a very nice day: wind 70mph and about -25 celcius (without the wind), that was fun :)
 

Raid

macrumors 68020
Feb 18, 2003
2,155
4,588
Toronto
Mr. Anderson said:
This is nuts! Considering it takes people from sealevel weeks to do the climb. I'm just amazed at how well people are able to adapt to different climates.

It's especially nuts when you consider that even experienced mountain climbers have died because their bodies couldn't take the altitude, never mind rapid changes in altitude that these guys went through!
:eek:
 

wdlove

macrumors P6
Oct 20, 2002
16,568
0
I don't think that it's nuts. It's just human nature to want to excel, looking toward a higher goal. Since the Sherpa lives in that region and climb Mt Everest for a living, their bodies have become acclimated to the the oxygen changes at higher altitudes. That conditioning allows for them to make the changes quicker.
 

wordmunger

macrumors 603
Sep 3, 2003
5,124
3
North Carolina
I don't know what this guy did, but I suspect you could acclimatize yourself a reasonable elevation--23,000 feet or so, then quickly descend and climb back up for the "record." I don't think the guy just showed up at the bottom one day and made the climb.

I don't think it's as difficult to acclimatize to lower elevations as it is higher ones--your body needs to adapt to the lower levels of oxygen in the air at high elevations. Descending to a lower elevation doesn't require any acclimatization--the body has plenty of oxygen; a little extra isn't going to hurt.
 

allroy

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2004
61
0
Hollywood joke...

Mantat said:
Everest is just a Hollywood joke to me. Yes it is the heighest mountain but with all the logistic used to get there I dont understand the glory one can have there. Its a very commercial trip, cost thousands of $, etc...

Tibet has hundreds of other mountain in the 6000+m which have never/rarely been climbed and offer much better challenge.

Of course, when you come back home, everyone can relate to the Everest and be impressed while other anonymous mountains would say a thing to even other climbers...

I am not saying that people climbing Everest arent in good shape, I am just saying that there is no adventure spirit in these ascend. Adventure is what drives me on top of cliffs / mountains, not the possibility of getting a nice picture or impressing my coworker.

If any of you want to experience the real deal of high mountaineering, do Mnt Washington during the winter. I did it last year on a very nice day: wind 70mph and about -25 celcius (without the wind), that was fun :)

All the logistics in the world can't compensate for actually climbing the mountain. No adventure, seriously what fantasy world do you live in. Everest is -20's on a perfect day and Mt. Washington is a day hike, it's not even high enough to get altitude sickness, let alone HAPA. A few years ago we did a winter trip and hiked through the White Mts to Mt. Washington and back in conditions similar to what your talking about and that isn't 1/1000 of what Everest is. 6288' vs 29,035'

Everest isn't the most technical mountain and yes it is expensive more so than others in the Himalayan... but your ignorance makes me question if you have any credibility what-so ever no mountain can be taken for granted and I have almost lost friends on Everest who are most likely more experienced than you will ever be along with myself.
 

allroy

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2004
61
0
interestingly...

wordmunger said:
I don't know what this guy did, but I suspect you could acclimatize yourself a reasonable elevation--23,000 feet or so, then quickly descend and climb back up for the "record." I don't think the guy just showed up at the bottom one day and made the climb.

I don't think it's as difficult to acclimatize to lower elevations as it is higher ones--your body needs to adapt to the lower levels of oxygen in the air at high elevations. Descending to a lower elevation doesn't require any acclimatization--the body has plenty of oxygen; a little extra isn't going to hurt.

I have more trouble going from high altitude to low altitude than the opposite. Whenever I come back it feels like I have a weight on my chest. One of those crazy things I guess

The guy was a sherpa so he's indigenous to Nepal... so yeah he probably walked out of his house and climbed it.
 

Frohickey

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2003
809
0
PRK
I thought that Mt Everest was in Nepal, and not Tibet.

Actually, the only time I would want to go to the top of Mt Everest is when they finally perfect the Buck Rogers flying backpack. Be at the top and back in 30 minutes. :D

Oh, as far as travelling to Tibet... no thanks. I have no desire to live under the Communist Chinese. Now, if someone were to airship modern weapons systems into Tibet, much like what we did to Afghanistan when Russia took over them...

Somehow, I doubt the Tibetan monks would turn out as bad as any of the Afghani Taliban did. I like the Dalai Lama
 

allroy

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2004
61
0
Actually

Frohickey said:
I thought that Mt Everest was in Nepal, and not Tibet.

Actually, the only time I would want to go to the top of Mt Everest is when they finally perfect the Buck Rogers flying backpack. Be at the top and back in 30 minutes. :D

Oh, as far as travelling to Tibet... no thanks. I have no desire to live under the Communist Chinese. Now, if someone were to airship modern weapons systems into Tibet, much like what we did to Afghanistan when Russia took over them...

Somehow, I doubt the Tibetan monks would turn out as bad as any of the Afghani Taliban did. I like the Dalai Lama

Everest splits the Nepalese and Tibetan border.

Well yeah, live and visit are different. The culture in Tibet is just so amazing, but living under Communist China, no thanks. I saw a movie at the Banff Mt. Film Festival last year where the Tibetan people risk their child's live on a 30 day trek to India to escape communist rule through the himalaya's in clothes we wouldn't wear on a 20 degree day. Makes you appreciate things. :)
 

Mantat

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2003
619
0
Montréal (Canada)
allroy said:
All the logistics in the world can't compensate for actually climbing the mountain. No adventure, seriously what fantasy world do you live in. Everest is -20's on a perfect day and Mt. Washington is a day hike, it's not even high enough to get altitude sickness, let alone HAPA. A few years ago we did a winter trip and hiked through the White Mts to Mt. Washington and back in conditions similar to what your talking about and that isn't 1/1000 of what Everest is. 6288' vs 29,035'.

Ahh.. First of all, I never said that Everest was easier than Washington. I said that if you wanted to experience high mountaineering spirit, you could do Mnt Washington. Now that I reread myself I must admit that it was a bad wording with the previous sentences.

And I still beleive that Everest sucks. Why would you want to climb it? To tell others, or yourself, that you have been on the top of the world (Actually, Cotopaxi is the tallest mountain, from the center of the earth). Nothing else. Everyone can relate to this mountain and its fame.

I only respect technical climbs. These are the stuff that test your will/stamina/power. Everest is a big loto: you need good weater, lucky to feel in shape that day, good snow condition, etc.. Too much randomness there for me. If I cant do a climb, I want to blame only me, not some freaking outside conditions.

allroy said:
Everest isn't the most technical mountain and yes it is expensive more so than others in the Himalayan... but your ignorance makes me question if you have any credibility what-so ever no mountain can be taken for granted and I have almost lost friends on Everest who are most likely more experienced than you will ever be along with myself.

Your insults only proved my point: too much external factors that can kill you. One bad luck day and you are a goner, experience means squat there.
 

Frohickey

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2003
809
0
PRK
How about all the dead bodies left around Mt. Everest? Must be like looking into a freezer full of meat. :eek:
 

ThomasJefferson

macrumors 6502
Jul 17, 2002
428
25
Virginia
Well, I got out of bed today and made coffee.
By the time I made it out of the house this afternoon, it was 92 degress.
I actually broke a sweat walking across the lawn.

Is that good for something?
 

Frohickey

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2003
809
0
PRK
thecow said:
They must be getting some really bad freezer burn by now.

Just imagine... a few thousand years from now, if Mt Everest were to get eroded, and get back down to a tropical climate, some coyote or mountain lion is gonna be having a feast. :eek:
 

Mantat

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2003
619
0
Montréal (Canada)
billyboy said:
I know an Everest sherpa, and he reckoned the hardest thing he ever did was ice climbing in Scotland!

Normal... Ice climbing use the arms and montaineering use the legs. The poor guy, no matter how much in shape he was is probably not trained for sustained climbs.

Personnaly, I am an excellent rock climber (5.11+) which basicaly means that I am supposed to have strong arms/back/abs. But when I did ice climbing, it didnt helped me much because you climb in a totaly different way that my muscle werent used to.

Moral of the story: you cant excel at everything...
 

Inspector Lee

macrumors 6502a
Jan 24, 2004
590
0
East Lansing, MI
Mantat said:
One bad luck day and you are a goner, experience means squat there.

Tasker, Boardman, Estcourt, Breitenbach, Buhl, Casarotto... All the experience in the world can't guarantee a safe return.

I am impressed with all this talk about Mt. Washington and winter ascents. The highest wind speed in US history (231 mph) was recorded there. I believe you can die on just about any mountain whether it is 6,000 feet or 29,000 feet.

Sadly, Everest is also the world's highest garbage dump.
 

allroy

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2004
61
0
yup...

Inspector Lee said:
Tasker, Boardman, Estcourt, Breitenbach, Buhl, Casarotto... All the experience in the world can't guarantee a safe return.

I am impressed with all this talk about Mt. Washington and winter ascents. The highest wind speed in US history (231 mph) was recorded there. I believe you can die on just about any mountain whether it is 6,000 feet or 29,000 feet.

Sadly, Everest is also the world's highest garbage dump.

Experience minimizes the risks of stupid mistakes (usually) but anything can happen. The thing that gets me is the populatrity of freeclimbing... F-THAT! Simply put climbing with no support (roped in or belay). One mistake and splat.

Anywy yeah world's highest garbage dump. I got to attend a photo essay lecture thingy about some people that were working on cleaning-up Everest. Some pretty influential climbers, the one that stands out was Conrad Anker.
 

Apple Hobo

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2004
796
0
A series of tubes
allroy said:
The thing that gets me is the populatrity of freeclimbing... F-THAT! Simply put climbing with no support (roped in or belay). One mistake and splat.

Climbing with ropes is for sissy boys. :p ;) ;)

rockclimb1.jpg

rockclimb2.jpg
 

junior

macrumors 6502a
Mar 25, 2003
553
67
Wow. Just looking at those pictures increases my heart rate. :eek:
I can't believe how those people can do that! Scary.
 

Inspector Lee

macrumors 6502a
Jan 24, 2004
590
0
East Lansing, MI
allroy said:
I remember a few years back this guy road a bike from Kathmandu to Everest climbed it no O2 or support and rode his bike back. THAT is freakin amazing.

That was Goran Kropp, the Swedish soloist. I believe he biked from Stockholm actually. And he hauled all of his gear all the way. He didn't hit Cabela's at the Makalu exit and load up. Unreal. I'd like to get a hold of his book. I heard people were throwing rocks at him along the way (in some unsavory parts). Nonetheless, on his first attempt, he turned back 300 feet from the summit because he believed he wouldn't have the strength to get down alive. He supposedly received support from the IMAX crew in the form of a half stick of butter before he summitted.

Sadly, he died on a roped climb in Washington 2 years ago. I don't think I'd classify him as a "sissy" either.
 
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