Reading the BBC article below reminded me of the idiocy of mountain climbing.
I know that people like a physical challenge, especially the young, fit, athletic types, but given the extreme danger that mountain climbing poses, I think it's idiotic to do it. This is especially so for very high mountains like Everest which have a literal death zone (it's not even in quotes) since above a certain altitude, the air is too thin and cold for a person or animal to survive it without oxygen.
To give a better understanding of the death zone, if the typical jetliner develops a fault and depressurises above 10000 feet, the pilot will quickly dive it down to 10000 feet, since above this altitude, people start finding it hard to breath and can faint or even die due to hypoxia, especially those with health issues like breathlessness. The death zone on the other hand is at an enormous 26000 feet and is the absolute limit of what a person in top physical condition can endure, so no wonder people die there. On top of this, climbers are seriously exerting themselves the whole time they climb, requiring even more oxygen, making this problem worse. Everest's summit is well above this too, at 29032 feet, so you can see the problem.
Picture credit: Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa
These high mountains are literally littered with bodies of victims who have succumbed to the harsh conditions, including falls. It then takes other people to risk their lives to bring the bodies back home. Often the bodies are just left there since even companies who specialise in recovery don't want to go into the death zone due to the risks to their staff and yet people do this for "fun".
Sorry to be so blunt, but the whole thing is just stupid and pointless and I think it should be banned. There are plenty of other physical challenges which will give one's body a serious workout without putting their life in danger.
en.wikipedia.org
I know that people like a physical challenge, especially the young, fit, athletic types, but given the extreme danger that mountain climbing poses, I think it's idiotic to do it. This is especially so for very high mountains like Everest which have a literal death zone (it's not even in quotes) since above a certain altitude, the air is too thin and cold for a person or animal to survive it without oxygen.
To give a better understanding of the death zone, if the typical jetliner develops a fault and depressurises above 10000 feet, the pilot will quickly dive it down to 10000 feet, since above this altitude, people start finding it hard to breath and can faint or even die due to hypoxia, especially those with health issues like breathlessness. The death zone on the other hand is at an enormous 26000 feet and is the absolute limit of what a person in top physical condition can endure, so no wonder people die there. On top of this, climbers are seriously exerting themselves the whole time they climb, requiring even more oxygen, making this problem worse. Everest's summit is well above this too, at 29032 feet, so you can see the problem.
Picture credit: Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa
These high mountains are literally littered with bodies of victims who have succumbed to the harsh conditions, including falls. It then takes other people to risk their lives to bring the bodies back home. Often the bodies are just left there since even companies who specialise in recovery don't want to go into the death zone due to the risks to their staff and yet people do this for "fun".
Sorry to be so blunt, but the whole thing is just stupid and pointless and I think it should be banned. There are plenty of other physical challenges which will give one's body a serious workout without putting their life in danger.
Everest: Bodies of fallen mountain climbers finally recovered from 'death zone'
A clean-up team removed four bodies from the Himalayas in this year's operation.
www.bbc.co.uk
