Not only is Mount Everest the highest point on earth at 29,000 feet above sea level, it is also one of the most sought after destinations for climbers and outdoor enthusiasts. While it's not considered one of the most dangerous mountains on earth, every year people die while trying to reach the summit, prompting many to wonder what it's like to climb Everest and whether it's worth it. Despite the cost, danger and extreme endurance, many climbers claim to be.
Since the success of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953, Mount Everest has inspired people to reach the top, romanticizing the ultimate feat of humanity conquering nature and pushing the limits. What makes Mount Everest so mysterious is that not all those who climb it have survived, as evidenced by the number of corpses on the mountain. Technological advances such as weather forecasting have improved everest survival and reduced the mountain's danger.
With more and more climbers visiting the mountain each year, causing garbage problems and devastating consequences for the summit route, Everest should not be taken lightly; there are still plenty of ways to die before and after the top selfie. British climber George Mallory may have climbed the mountain "because it's there", but according to those who have already summited Mount Everest, it will take more determination and effort.
First, the Everest expedition will take about two months
照片: Olaf Rieck / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5
No matter how much mountaineering experience there is, reaching the summit of Mount Everest is a process of nearly two months. While it only takes about five days for climbers to get from base camp to the summit and back, climbers must first stay at different altitudes on Mount Everest for a while to adapt their bodies to the altitude before they can reach the summit. "If you climb straight up to the top of Mount Everest now, you'll die in a matter of minutes because you don't have enough red blood cells to carry the oxygen your lungs are trying to provide," John Bide wrote on Reddit.
From Everest Base Camp, the expedition team practiced climbing, and the height gradually increased with each practice. This process allows the body to adapt and produce more hemoglobin, which is necessary to help transfer oxygen from the lungs to other organs through red blood cells. Bede explains, "You climb to Camp 1 and go back to base camp. Then go to Camp 2 and head back to base camp. Then head to Camp 3 and head back to base camp. Every time you go back to base camp, you have to rest five to eight days until your body produces more red blood cells... Everyone, including the Sherpas, has to go through this process..."
Forced to spend a lot of time at base camp in the process, climber Alan Arnette recalls:
In many ways, every day feels the same. Start with an breakfast of eggs, toast, and jam, and then many people will need a few hours of hiking to continue getting used to the environment. Then it's lunchtime. Afternoons are spent dealing with emails, perhaps bathing and shaving, taking a nap, or visiting neighbors. In the late afternoon, the team often gets together to watch a movie on their laptop or socialize before dinner, eating rice, noodles, and sometimes meat. Most people go straight to bed after dinner, but some teams will play movies on the screen on laptops in restaurant tents.
Breathing feels like you're "running on a treadmill and breathing through a straw."
照片: WorldNavigata / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Although a very small number of mountaineering purists climbEd Everest without supplementing with oxygen, many climbers believe that using oxygen can better improve their chances of survival. However, even with the use of oxygen, climbers will feel the effects of altitude. "Even climbing above 26,000 feet with bottled oxygen is like running on a treadmill and breathing with a straw. Everything tells you to turn around. Everything is saying: It's cold, it's impossible," David Braehills said.
Climber John Beede endured an oxygen tank leak and spent about 30 minutes without additional oxygen during the descent. "Depending on the steepness, it takes three to five breaths to take a step. In addition, my hands and feet quickly got colder, my vision was narrow and I didn't have much motivation to solve these problems," he said. He expanded on his experience on Reddit, writing: "Totally hypoxic, totally exhausted, in many ways you can't even evoke energy to care." It's horrible. ”
You will face companions on the verge of collapse and corpses on the side of the road
照片: Maxwelljo40 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
At least 11 people died on Mount Everest in 2019, compared with an estimated 295 deaths in previous years, giving climbers about a 1 in 100 chance of losing their lives during the climb. Although modern weather forecasts and outdoor gear improve the chances of reaching the summit and surviving, it is estimated that there are more than 200 bodies on Mount Everest, some of which are visible to climbers. "Of course, crawling over corpses is terrible. But it was something I was mentally prepared for," recalls climber John Beide. "If nothing else, they're frozen sentinels, reminding others of what's at stake." Due to harsh conditions, altitude and the extreme cost of retrieving them, the bodies of many climbers have remained in place for years. Bede writes, "Moving a corpse a few hundred meters takes 6 to 12 Sherpas." "People may die by moving their bodies down the mountain, and there's no point in the risk-reward ratio..."
In addition to the corpses, climbers must be prepared to witness others dying in front of them. Bede remembers, "I almost had a panic attack when I saw a guy who was dying, unconscious, but still alive. I stayed with him for a while, but I saw him leave after a few minutes... Since then, I've had nightmares almost every night. ”
You will be in danger of avalanches and falling ice, and you will need to start climbing ice peaks in the dark of night
照片: James Ketchell / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0
As climbers ascend from base camp to Camp 1 on the south side of Mount Everest, they pass by a glacier called the Khumbu IceFall. Climber John Beede described the area as "a 3,000-foot-tall frozen waterfall ... Huge cracks, 100 tons of ice can fall on you at any time, snow bridges can collapse on any steps, and the danger of avalanches is always there. Depending on the climber's acclimatization and weather conditions, crossing the icefall can take three to eight hours, as climbers use fixed ropes for their guide ropes and occasionally have to use metal ladders as bridges to cross deep cracks.
One of Everest's deadliest disasters occurred in the region in 2014, when a piece of hanging ice fell and triggered an avalanche that killed 13 Sherpas. It is estimated that from 1953 to 2016, 25% of deaths on the south side occurred on the Khumbu Ice Falls. "Khumbu is probably the most dangerous place in the climbing world," said climber Conrad Anker. "You can sit at base camp during the day and watch the avalanche roar over the climbing route. It scared everyone. ”
Not only is this route dangerous, but in order to reach the summit during the day and begin to descend, climbers begin their journey at night. "From 7 p.m. to 5:48 a.m., I climbed to the top of the mountain in the dark, with only the visibility of the headlamp illuminating the road in front of me." Once a climber reaches the summit, the risk of falling from the side increases. According to Bede, "At the summit of Mount Everest, you have an 8,000-foot drop on one side and a 10,000-foot drop on the other. We joke that if you're going to fall, you want to fall to the side of 10,000 feet because you're going to live longer. ”
Your brain and lungs can swell due to edema
照片: Mountaineer / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0
Some climbers may develop acute alpine sickness, which can lead to drowsiness and headaches, but despite having adapted to the mountain environment, entering the dead zone can turn the disease into a potentially fatal health problem. In addition to the risk of a stroke or heart attack due to increased heart rate, a person's lungs and brain can also swell due to edema. High-altitude pulmonary edema, called HAPE, causes the lungs to fill up with fluid and can lead to shortness of breath, coughing for fluid, fatigue, and a feeling of suffocation. According to climber John Bide, "Every climber experiences some degree of pulmonary edema, so medical staff told me." In some people, the symptoms are unrecognizable, while in others, like me, they are audible... You can hear noise from your lungs. ”
Edema can also affect your brain through a condition called altitude cerebral edema or HACE. This causes the brain to swell due to lack of oxygen. In addition to causing nausea, HACE can also cause delirium. Affected climbers may talk to imaginary people, take off their clothes in cold temperatures, or make the wrong decision. Bede remembers, "I saw a guy showing off his frostbitten fingers like, 'Hey! Check this out! ' at sub-zero temperatures. While climbers can't fully protect themselves from HACE or HAPE, some Western climbers have recently started taking the steroid dexamethasone, which has been shown to minimize the risk.
Fight hypoxia in the area of death
照片: Pavel Novak / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5
Although climbers have adapted to mount Everest's oxygen-starved environment, human life at 8,000 meters (about 26,300 feet) has become difficult and unsustainable. The area between this point and the summit is called the death zone, the air is thin and oxygen-deficient, and the human body cannot function properly. "You're really at the altitude where small commercial aircraft are flying," John Bide noted. While climbers carry oxygen, they can't carry much. One can't stay in the area for long and expect to survive; as climber Shaunna Burke explains: "Your body is collapsing and basically dead." It became a race against time. ”
When climbers enter the area, dangerously low oxygen levels begin to appear and hypoxia occurs, making people more likely to make mistakes or suffer potentially damaging health effects. To learn more about blood oxygen levels in the area, the researchers took blood samples from climbers located in a portion of Mount Everest at 27,500 feet. "The results show that climbers survive on only a quarter of the oxygen needed at sea level," doctor and climber Jeremy Windsor noted. "These data are comparable to those of patients who are dying."
Climb 2,500 meters and you will begin to feel the effects of hypoxia
Photo: Shrimp 1967 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
At 17,600 feet above sea level, the base camp has 52% less oxygen than sea level. Even before reaching this height, some climbers may have found it difficult to breathe. At about 2,500 meters or 8,202 feet, most people's breathing rates and pulses grow faster to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the air. Reddit users/u/Andromeda321 remember their trip to base camp, "Even though the last section was supposed to take an hour's journey, I spent two hours gasping for air along the way. I was amazed at how climbers would start from that moment! ”
When climbers ascend the mountain, they encounter less than 50% of the oxygen levels at Camp 1 and even lower when continuing upwards. Climbers passing through Camp 3 usually need to start using oxygen tanks. "When you go higher, the differences become deeper, especially in the dead zone," John Beide wrote on Reddit. "From 10,000 feet to about 24,000 feet, the body will still adapt and try to adapt. If you walk slow enough (a few days), you'll be fine. But, in the dead zone, your body can't withstand much adaptation, and eventually, even with oxygen, you'll die. ”
You may experience snow blindness
Photo: Mário Simoes / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Climber Brian Dickinson witnessed the glare reflected in the ice and snow of Mount Everest while his guide returned from illness and climbed Mount Everest alone. Before reaching the summit, Dickinson dropped his goggles, which ruptured, leaving him snow blind as he began to descend. His eyes burned and blurred, and his vision began to decline, forcing Dickinson to rely on naval training to find his way back to camp unassisted. "It should have taken three hours to descend, and it took seven hours. I was completely snow blind, so I held hands during the descent. It took my left eye a month and a half to come back, and my right eye took two days," he remembers.
In addition to glare, the fact that climbers are closer to the sun at the top of Mount Everest can lead to blindness and severe pain. Low oxygen can also cause blood vessels in the eye to burst, and low temperatures can be extremely dangerous. "Not only may you be snow blind due to intense light radiation, but you may also freeze your eyeballs like a frozen grape in your skull," wrote John Beide on Reddit. "This happened to a climber during my expedition. When the weather warmed up, I replaced my goggles with glacier glasses... I've always had eye protection. ”
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