Sagarmatha

Sagarmatha, meaning "forehead in the sky," is located on the border of Tibet and Nepal. The Nepalese named this place Sagarmatha. We call it Mount Everest, the tallest mountain above sea level in the world. Each year, approximately 1000 attempt to summit Everest with only ~ 500 successful. I checked out Nepal's tourism site for some statistics and for the Spring 2019 climbing season, 367 permits were issued to a total of 37 teams. The government collected ~ $4 million which equates to just under $11,000 per climber. A country of climber origin table shows that 74 climbers were from the US, 75 from India, 60 from China and 43 from the UK. Statistics show that there are a median of 4 deaths on the mountain each year since 1921. Many of the bodies have never been recovered. My attention was grabbed after learning that 11 climbers died this past May alone. I wanted to know more about what it takes to get there, the risks involved, causes of death and any evident trends. Making the summit at Mt. Everest is not on my "bucket list" and I will limit my experience at 29,029 feet to the pressurized cabin of an airplane.

Here is what I learned:

• The total cost of climbing shakes out in a range of $30,000 - $70,000, with some outliers. This all-in cost includes travel, permits, rescue insurance, gear, base camp costs, sherpas, guides, on-site medical services and other ancillary expenses.

• This is a two month + adventure. First attempt at summit is at about day 50, plus or minus depending on weather conditions. Then you have to climb back down! First you fly into Kathmandu, Nepal where all pre-climbing checklists are reviewed. A few days later, you fly to Lukla and spend the next 10 days trekking to the base camp for the acclimatization process - essentially adjusting your system to the climate and relatively higher altitude. The next 30 days are spent climbing to the summit, with stops at different camps along the way.

• Overcrowding + poor weather conditions = more deaths in 2019. Most of my source material has identified a trend of higher concentrations of people creating bottlenecks and hours long wait times near the top of the mountain, coupled with challenging weather. Weather plays a key role because it limits the safe windows of opportunity for summit attempts. The bottlenecks are a problem because the human body cannot sustain extremely high altitudes for protracted periods of time. I chose a photo from a NY Times article showing climbers in line at the top of Everest. (Photo credit: Nirmal Purja - @nimsdai Twitter)

• HACE & HAPE. Altitude sickness is a major cause of death and typically manifests itself in two ways. High-altitude cerebal edemas (HACE) is a swelling of the brain while high-altitude pulmonary edema is the accumulation of fluid in the lungs. Lack of oxygen is the contributing factor and there is just 1/3 the amount of sea level oxygen near the summit. Avalanches and falls account for even more deaths each year. Hypothermia is another big one - climbers simply freeze to death. Temperatures at Everest range from 10 to -25 Celsius.

• The allure of the "ultimate Instagram post" is bringing inexperienced and unprepared climbers out of the woodwork. Climbers are not pre-screened by permitting authorities and the message is that many of them do not belong at Everest. I analogize it with going to the roller skating rink, where a few kids (or adults) keep falling down in front of you as you're trying to build momentum. You can change paths, slow down to avoid a collision or, in some cases, fall yourself. The key difference is a flat surface and surrounding safety wall at the rink. Inexperienced climbers put themselves and others, including experts, at risk. Major injuries and death can be the end result. Putting your life on the line to collect a bunch of "likes" on social media seems like a foolish proposition to me. This may be more of a current societal problem affecting many aspects of life but I won't philosophize.

As promised in my first post, topics for shared research and writing will be diverse. The goal is convert my journal scribbles to something comprehensible once a month and possibly more if time permits.

Humbly yours,

W.

Sources: mounteverest.net, mental floss, CNN, insider.com, BBC.com, National Geographic, theatlantic.com