There are people who seek excellent challenges in life to
examine themselves both physically and emotionally. One of the most significant
challenges, is to climb Mount Everest and people often ask how long does it take to climb Mount Everest or how difficult is
it? It is the maximum glimpse of our planet. Its breathtaking scenery has
been a source of fascination for most people for decades.
Mount Everest was first summited by Edmund Hillary and the
Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. It has claimed the lives of 210 others and has
been summited by 2,700 people since. Everest, although not the most technically
demanding mountain to climb, is among the hardest due to its extreme altitude.
Each year expeditions experience cases of high altitude sickness, high altitude
pulmonary edema (HAPE) and in worst cases, higher altitude cerebral edema
(HACE). HACE, on the other hand, is a swelling of the mind. Cerebral edema
strikes unless immediate descent in the climber will likely die and very
quickly.
The toughest aspect of attaining the summit of Everest is
without a doubt the Death zone. The Death zone is once the climbers reach the
altitude of 8,000 meters. At this point, just 1/3 of the oxygen at sea level
can be found, making any movement extremely fatiguing. The shortage of oxygen
has many important impacts on the human body. To make up for the shortage of
oxygen, your body shuts down non-vital functions such as the digestive tract.
Less oxygen reaches the mind, making simple tasks feel quite complex; some
people have difficulty just zipping in their coat. More worrying is the way the
absence of oxygen could cloud the judgment of expert climbers, directing them
into making bad decisions that have cost the lives of several. The body isn't
intended to reside above that altitude and so individuals can simply stay there
for two days or so. Too much a stay may cause the body to completely
deteriorate. The most popular being the South East route. The base camp with
this route lies on the Nepal side of the mountain; climbers should then ascend
the Khumbu icefall, which is considered by most as the most dangerous part of
the climb. Climbers now approach the passing zone and make their way around to
the SE ridge, after past the 8,000-meter mark, they must conquer the famed
Hillary step that's a huge stone wall that is dreadfully exposed. All that
remains is the summit ridge that's relatively simple and then lays the summit
of Everest, the roof of the planet.
A debate that's been raging on for many years on Everest is
whether climbers should be allowed to use bottled air or not. 9 out of 10
climbers will utilize oxygen to get to the summit of Everest, very few have
tried to climb to Everest without it, and even fewer have reached the summit.
The use of supplemental oxygen has opened the door to experienced climbers to
get on the slopes of Everest that would normally not attempt the climb, which
has been the cause of the growing crowds on the mountain. Too many people on
the mountain at the exact same time cause bottlenecks close to the summit where
there is less room for people to ascend. In the end, this causes people to fall
behind schedule on their summit push, which has become the cause of death for
many climbers previously, as they found themselves in the summit too late and
were unable to make it back into the camp. Many climbers would like to
determine bottled oxygen get prohibited unless for emergencies. This would
significantly lower the number of climbers that swarm the mountain every year.
There are lots of great books that could allow you to learn to allot on Everest and take you on a journey like none you've ever been on
before. Personally, my favorite book on Everest is “Into thin air",
written by Jon Krakauer, who took part in an expedition in 1996 if the biggest
tragedy on Everest happened. Many teams were caught from the passing zone by a
freak storm which came in without warning about precisely the same day they
summited. Eight people died on this day and 7 would lose their lives on the
mountain that season, which makes it the deadliest season in Everest history.
Jon's book lets you relive the trip that he and his teammates experienced, and
giving you his personal account of the tragedy that happened high on the hill.
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