Thread by @MedCrisis

You've probably seen this viral Hillary Step pic taken by ex Gurkha & SBS speed climber @nimsdai. 10 people have died this yr on Everest, 20 including other peaks.

Everyone you see is in the death zone >8000m. Every minute spent queueing brings death closer, waits up to 2 hrs.

For a recent influx of new followers (welcome!), I made a video about what makes the Sherpa such amazing climbers. They are superhuman. At the end I mention the conditions they face & how you can help

A great Twitter account to follow if you're interested

https://twitter.com/EverestToday/status/1132197122646913024

To bring into context how shocking these images are, at 8000m there is 33% as much oxygen available vs sea level. An unacclimatised person dies within 2 minutes. Fully acclimatised *fit* climbers have this ABG:

PaO2 3.28 kPa (24.6 mmHg)
PaCO2 1.77 kPa (13.3 mmHg)

The Nepalese government pockets large sums from foreigners & hundreds of park permits are granted. If weather windows are narrow, everyone attempts to summit at once. Many climbers are just not fit enough to be climbing this high & risk their own & Sherpas' lives.
Pic:2012

Traffic jams are lethal. The South Col to the Balcony has 1 fixed line. At the South Summit exposed rocks means inexperienced climbers move at a snail's pace. The line supports 100+ climbers, more than intended. Sherpas secure these pre-season. Jams are just as bad going down.

I'm no expert climber. I had a chance to attempt Everest yrs ago but money sets a bar few can afford, however I wouldn't attempt it now. Not just because I'm decrepit & poor but does this look very special?

The Himalaya are a deeply spiritual place for locals. This is sad.

Wonder what Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary would think of this spectacle, worse still the reported oxygen tank thefts which can be death sentences.

381 permits this yr (new record) = almost 800 people climbing (inc guides)

Pic: Khumbu icefalls that claimed many lives in 2015

Apart from reducing permit sales, some propose that people seeking to summit Everest should have climbed a similarly-challenging peak before.

The average age of 10/20 deaths whose ages have been released is 49.

To end on a bittersweet note, Furdiki Sherpa and Nima Doma Sherpa, who lost their husbands to the mountain have successfully summited themselves. They prepared by climbing two 6000m+ peaks.
#Everest