Why I’ll Never Climb Mount Everest

If you’ve seen anyone’s bucket list, you’ll often see that climbing Everest may be one of the main list items. After all, who wouldnt want to stand on the highest place on earth, and look into the reaches of Tibet and Nepal?

To be honest, the world of high altitude mountain climbing, and the people who do it, is a topic that has fascinated me for years now. I’ve read books and watched a bunch of YouTube videos about it, but not because I want to do it myself. I think it’s because I don’t know why people do it. And, from my years of amateur research, I’ll explain why I’m actually further from wanting to climb Mount Everest now.

A Fear of Heights

Mount Everest is among a group of 14 mountains called the “Eight-Thousanders”, mountains that are above 8,000 meters above sea level (roughly 26,000 feet above sea level) from the base to the peak. That’s the cruising altitude of an airplane, as a comparison.

However, we don’t feel the shift in pressure or temperature that occurs with a change in altitude when we sit in a plane, because the inner cabin is built to retain similar conditions to those we’d feel on the ground. Other than feeling our ears pop, our bodies don’t feel the difference.

When you climb any mountain, you’re fully exposed to the elements, and it takes a toll.

Everest's North Ridge Route. This route is less technically challenging than the other routes on the climb. Base Camp is situated at an elevation of 17,000 ft. Source: Tibet Vista

Weather Troubles and Mountain Conditions

Spring in the Himalayas is relatively mild. As I write this, the weather on Everest is a spicy 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and sunny. Then, out of nowhere, the weather can turn from mild and idyllic to hurricane-like conditions, where visibility is nearly zero, and the windchill brings negative temperatures.

In fact, this was one of the main issues for the infamous 1996 Everest disaster. The Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness expeditions both summited Everest mostly intact, but as they started their descent, the previously nice weather changed into a winter storm. Eight of the eleven climbers who died on Everest on May 10-11, 1996, died during this blizzard, either from hypothermia or issues related to HAPE or HACE, which I'll explain in a bit.

For more information on the 1996 Everest Disaster, I'd recommend Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster.

Get it on Amazon

The Khumbu Ice Fall

The Khumbu Ice Fall is a landmark of anyone wanting to climb Everest.

Crossing deep crevasses sometimes requires ladders and patience. (Source)

Between Base Camp and Camp 1, the Khumbu Glacier cascades like a frozen waterfall. It constantly shifts, moving about 3 or 4 feet downhill every day. That doesn't seem like very much, but this movement makes crossing the ice fall an unpredictable experience, causing deep crevasses to open up without warning.

Seracs, which are house-sized pieces of ice, hang precariously, waiting to collapse.

Seracs, with climbers for scale (Source)

If deep fissures and falling ice weren't enough, then you might be pleased to know that the route changes every climbing season, since the glacier shifts so often.

Clients who pay commercial guides to help them up Everest may cross the glacier about 5-6 times on their expedition. Sherpa porters, who lay rope and carry supplies, may cross it at least 20 times in an expedition, facing even greater danger.

Health Issues in the Death Zone

Sometimes, climbers don't even need their outer layers, because the air is so thin, and the Sun's rays are so strong. UV radiation is more intense the higher you are, and on Everest, or other tall mountains, the snow only reflects more of that sunlight. It's strong enough that one might get a particularly nasty sunburn if they aren't careful.

However, when you're at 26,000 feet, a sunburn is the least of your worries. People have taken to calling the region of the mountain that is above 26,000 feet the Death Zone.

Why?

This is because the human body begins to break down due to a lack of oxygen. We need oxygen for a lot of things. Breathing, for example. Digesting food, another example. There's a whole host of things we need oxygen for, but perhaps the most important thing is the brain.

Our brains use oxygen to reason and make decisions throughout our days. And honestly, we take this for granted.

“Above 26,000 feet, moreover, the line between appropriate zeal and reckless summit fever becomes grievously thin. Thus the slopes of Everest are littered with corpses." - Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air

Summit fever is when a climber loses all sight of reason in their persuit of their goal. The climber may ignore all warning signs of danger (like ignoring an impending blizzard), disregard signs of frostbite and hypothermia, and even ignore agreed-upon protocols--like when to turn around for the day--in their feverish desire to summit the mountain.

Summit fever is a psychological phenomena that is only exacerbated by hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and can be a sign of two major medical conditions, HAPE and HACE.

HAPE & HACE: Two Things You Definitely Don't Want in the Death Zone

“Every minute you remain at this altitude and above,” he cautioned, “your minds and bodies are deteriorating.” Brain cells were dying. Our blood was growing dangerously thick and sludgelike.” - Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air

HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) and HACE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) are two serious medical conditions that occur in the Death Zone. Aside from the extreme weather and extreme height, HAPE and HACE are probably the most dangerous things climbers can experience, especially because they quickly can become deadly.

HAPE: When Fluid Fills the Lungs

HAPE occurs when high altitude causes your blood vessels to leak into places that should be filled with air, AKA your lungs. Essentially, the end stages of HAPE are akin to drowning while on dry land. People have described HAPE as similar to trying to breathe through a wet sponge.

This condition often starts off subtly, with climbers seeming to be unable to catch their breath, even while sitting down. As they ascend higher, climbers often begin to have a wet cough, bringing up pink, frothy fluid from their lungs. Because they can't breathe, their fingers, toes, and lips begin to turn blue from lack of oxygen.

HAPE doesn't discriminate, with amateur climbers and experienced climbers alike being afflicted by it. Even more alarming is the fact that stronger climbers often don't notice it right away, due to being able to climb for longer periods. It may take them awhile to notice it until it's become its most severe. In the Death Zone, where judgement is already impaired, it may be even more difficult to make the decision that would save one's life.

HACE: When the Brain Swells

HAPE is scary enough, but that makes HACE its evil step cousin.

High Altitude Cerebral Edema is when fluid leaks into the brain, making it swell. It mimics high altitude sickness, with symptoms of nausea, dizziness, and extreme headaches. Soon, as climbers with HACE ascend to higher altitudes, they may experience confusion, hallucinations, and lack of coordination, all things you don't want to experience while climbing along icy cliffs.

In its final stages, climbers lose consciousness and then death, since the brain stem controls breathing and your heart.

Of course, you can recover from HAPE and HACE, but you have to ascend the mountain back to a safe altitude. This is easier said than done, since the air at extremely high altitudes is thinner, and rescue helicopters often can't reach the altitudes that HAPE and HACE occur.

People have survived through a combination of quick thinking from climbing partners, portable oxygen, and special steroids that stimulate the lungs to provide temporary relief.

However, the relief is only temporary. The real solution is proper acclimatization (the method climbers use to get their bodies used to the higher altitude), or perhaps not climbing the mountain at all.

Commercialization and Its Effects

Since Everest was first summited in 1956, more and more people have been inspired to climb it. This has caused a whole industry to boom, feeding in to the tourism industry in Nepal and Tibet, as well as being the main source of income for many of the native peoples of the Himalayan region.

There's been a lot of talk about the fair treatment of the sherpa peoples and the ethics surrounding mountain tourism, but in this article I'm going to talk about two things I found very interesting (and kind of gross).

Trash (and Poop) Mountain

When you have many people climbing Everest at the same time, carrying food, water, and bottled oxygen, litter quickly becomes an issue.

Because climbers are already exhausted from the long climb and suffering from the effects of high altitude, carrying extra weight in the form of trash can not only be inconvenient but also dangerous.

It's almost impossible to know how much trash is left on the peak and the surrounding national park every year, but estimates has the number as somewhere in the tons.

And, the waste isn't just expended equipment, but also includes human waste, which freezes in colder months, but then melts and then runs down the mountain and into nearby villages.

There have been many attempts to clean the mountain, from cash incentives, to new rules being enforced that require every climber to carry a certain amount of garbage down with them.

Article: Trash and Overcrowding at the Top of the World

The Long Lines

Back in May 2019, a certain photo went viral. The photo showed a long line to the summit of Everest. All of them were waiting to get their turn to celebrate their momentous achievement. In that same year, climber Don Cash died on the mountain. Can his death be directly correlated to the long queues and overcrowding?

Long lines at the top of the world

In the article from Outside Online, journalist Alan Arnette chronicled the conditions Don Cash may have experienced on the Hillary Step.

“When Cash and his Sherpa guides got to the Hillary Step they were forced to wait their turn for at least two hours.”

2019 was one of the deadliest years for climbing Everest, with 11 losing their lives, and it may be attributed to the long lines and the extended time that climbers spend in the Death Zone.

This has led many to ask whether Everest is still a natural wonder of the world, or just another tourist attraction, and whether or not we've gone too far in our pursuit of exploring the unknown.

I'll never be climbing Mount Everest, and I think anyone reading this will know why. Did I also mention that it can cost $50-$100k? but that hasn't stopped me from feeling a fascination with this extremely dangerous hobby and those who enjoy it, as well as the mystique of Sagarmatha (Everest's name in the local language). But for now, I'll stick to local hikes where I have plenty of oxygen.