Why this year has been so dangerous for Mount Everest's climbers:
Everest has always been extremely dangerous, but this climbing season has had 11 deaths so far, that are not related to one event as it usually is, but to several factors.
Mountaineers have suggested difficult weather conditions, a lack of experience and the growing commercialization of expeditions are contributing to the danger.
During the week beginning May 20, crowds of climbers became stuck in a queue (fila) to the summit (cima), above the mountain's highest camp at 8,000 meters.
Most people can only spend a matter of minutes at the summit without extra oxygen supplies, and the area where mountaineers have been delayed is known to many as the "death zone." (It causes high altitutes sickness)
Alan Arnette, who has climbed Everest four times, explained that Nepal issued a record number of permits to foreigners this year. Because each of them requires a Sherpa guide, there are about 800 people trying to climb from the Nepalese side.
In addition, bad weather produced that there were only five days when people could climb toward the summit, so all the people tried to climb at the same time.
About inexperience, it is not only of the climbers that are on the mountain but also the operators supporting those climbers.
More than 200 mountaineers have died on the peak since 1922, when the first climbers' deaths on Everest were recorded. The majority of bodies are believed to have remained buried under glaciers or snow.
I saw the picture of the mountaineers waiting in a queue to get to the summit. I think the commercialization of expeditions is largely responsible .
ResponderEliminar