"Because it's there."

[Peregrinator]

Haven't climbed any mountains. Have no intention to do so. Went to Nepal to "feel" the climbing thing. Didn't feel it. Learned the climbers of Everest, and most other challenging mountains, leave a ton of junk on the mountain, as well as what feces their bodies allow them to evacuate. Aparently climbers climb because of the challenge and don't care at all for the mountain itself. Very strange.

Not even close to "most" other challenging mountains, and there's a huge push at Everest and among climbers as a group to leave the mountains cleaner than when you show up. There have been several Everest cleanup expeditions, and most local climbing orgs sponsor cleanup days every year.

The "clean climbing" movement begin by Yvonne Chouinard back in the 70's started a lot of people thinking about how to avoid damaging the rock itself.

The reason Everest has so much trash on it is the sheer number of people that attempt it and the incredible difficulty of doing anything in that environment. It's not some sort of neglectful attitude or something, for the most part.

 

[thør]

An English mountaineer who stood atop Mount McKinley only days ago is dead as the result of an accident during a weekend rafting trip on the Kenai Peninsula's Six Mile Creek.

Link

 

[Peregrinator]

An English mountaineer who stood atop Mount McKinley only days ago is dead as the result of an accident during a weekend rafting trip on the Kenai Peninsula's Six Mile Creek.

Link

Fuck.

 

[thør]

Fuck.

Indeed.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

An English mountaineer who stood atop Mount McKinley only days ago is dead as the result of an accident during a weekend rafting trip on the Kenai Peninsula's Six Mile Creek.

Link

Out of his element, so sad. I've always admired people who push the envelope.

 

[thør]

Out of his element, so sad. I've always admired people who push the envelope.

Chuck runs a damn fine rafting company. Six-mile is a son-of-a-bitch when it's high. Fuck, it's an SOB when it's low. He has experienced guides, puts people in the safest gear. has safety people to pull folks out who get dumped. If you want an adrenalin rush, it's a premier spot. His whole crew is wiped about this.

When I wore a younger man's drysuit, I paddled portions of six-mile, in an open solo canoe. I fear I'm not quick enough or fearless enough to do it at medium water, much less at high water, now. I'll be a low water paddler on that creek and limit myself to the first and second canyons.

 

[SinCityBaby]

So not only the thrill of climbing it, but of jumping off of it...

This is the First BASE Jump off Mt. Everest

 

[Peregrinator]

So not only the thrill of climbing it, but of jumping off of it...

This is the First BASE Jump off Mt. Everest

Awesome, though not quite as ground breaking as it might seem at first. I think it was Jean-Marc Boivin who flew a parapente off the summit back in the crazy eighties.

 

[SinCityBaby]

Happy 60th Anniversary! A day late...

 

[SkAoUt]

A short vid about Ueli Steck.

http://www.newyorker.com/video?rXFb&mbid=su_ppc_video&rQZb

 

[Peregrinator]

Happy 60th Anniversary! A day late...

I like you.

A short vid about Ueli Steck.

http://www.newyorker.com/video?rXFb&mbid=su_ppc_video&rQZb

Amazing, isn't he?

 

[thør]

"I was ahead all day and was the first ever to set foot on Mt. Denali." Walter Harper

Read his notebook

 

[thør]

It was 100 years ago, today.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/8681_577108955654506_748825308_n.jpg

Walter Harper was first.

 

[Peregrinator]

The equivalent of the early polar explorers. Denali is an unforgiving bitch.

 

[thør]

The equivalent of the early polar explorers. Denali is an unforgiving bitch.

Don't piss her off.

 

[Peregrinator]

Don't piss her off.

I guess it's okay, though, to piss off her.

 

[thør]

I guess it's okay, though, to piss off her.

LOL......the Ruth River has to flow!

 

[Peregrinator]

LOL......the Ruth River has to flow!

True, dat. I forget who it was, but someone once said of a glacier-fed river that he wouldn't drink the water because "There's people ground up in there."

 

[sigh]

Not even close to "most" other challenging mountains, and there's a huge push at Everest and among climbers as a group to leave the mountains cleaner than when you show up. There have been several Everest cleanup expeditions, and most local climbing orgs sponsor cleanup days every year.

The "clean climbing" movement begin by Yvonne Chouinard back in the 70's started a lot of people thinking about how to avoid damaging the rock itself.

The reason Everest has so much trash on it is the sheer number of people that attempt it and the incredible difficulty of doing anything in that environment. It's not some sort of neglectful attitude or something, for the most part.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/mount-everest-crowded.jpg

I suspect a fair number of people who are climbing Everest these days don't respect the mountain quite as much as you do, Perg. I've been hearing a lot about crowding on Everest lately and some of the pics are telling a tale of absurd excess. The following photo does credit to those trying to clean it up. What do you think, guys? Is it really this bad or has the press just cherry-picked some photos to perk up a story?

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67836000/jpg/_67836655_rubbish464getty.jpg

 

[Peregrinator]

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/mount-everest-crowded.jpg

I suspect a fair number of people who are climbing Everest these days don't respect the mountain quite as much as you do, Perg. I've been hearing a lot about crowding on Everest lately and some of the pics are telling a tale of absurd excess. The following photo does credit to those trying to clean it up. What do you think, guys? Is it really this bad or has the press just cherry-picked some photos to perk up a story?

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67836000/jpg/_67836655_rubbish464getty.jpg

I've heard it's pretty bad. In the seventies and eighties, a lot of people were up there on the ragged edge of surviving, and packing out empty O2 canisters was impossible, whether you wanted to or not. The same with shredded tents, food packaging, and dead climbers. I think it's become such a non-event that people climb it ("blipty-noonk people summited this year, out of eleventy-seven attempts") that we forget just how severe, dangerous, and difficult it is to do anything up there. People are taking three to five breaths for every step, in arctic conditions with gale force winds. It's not like hiking in my beloved White Mountains of NH, where leaving anything behind in any but the direst of circumstances is inexcusable. Everest and the other highest peaks are a survival event. Even so, there are initiatives, like a foundation that pays Sherpas for garbage they collect up high and pack down while delivering supplies--no point in descending with an empty pack, after all, and the various cleanup expeditions, as well as an awareness that's slowly spreading to the less Leave No Trace oriented cultures. As attitudes, abilities, and equipment change, as what used to be impossible becomes routine, the notion of leaving anything behind becomes less and less acceptable.

 

[thør]

True, dat. I forget who it was, but someone once said of a glacier-fed river that he wouldn't drink the water because "There's people ground up in there."

Homeopathic cannibalism.

 

[thør]

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2013/06/11/21/45/1sGw7B.AuSt.7.JPG

Not super smart.

 

[thør]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1008193_514335511965132_1418831367_o.jpg

Not a mountain, but in a smaller boat than this, it seems like one.

 

[SuprSalor]

Wonder if this is real...
http://img.pandawhale.com/post-16265-Ice-Climber-Falls-gif-Rutx.gif

Definitely an "Oh Shit!!" moment

 

[Peregrinator]

Wonder if this is real...
http://img.pandawhale.com/post-16265-Ice-Climber-Falls-gif-Rutx.gif

Definitely an "Oh Shit!!" moment

It's real. I remember when the video came out. In fact, it might be posted in this thread already. Scary shit.