Climbers’ traffic jam blamed for Mount Everest deaths

Climbers’ traffic jam blamed for Mount Everest deaths

Every few years you read a story like this. It happened in 1996. It happened a few years ago when two men were left for dead and one ended up surviving. This is not news, people. This happens ALL THE TIME. This is a large reason for the 1996 tragedy on Everest. Too many people, too many unqualified people, too many people who have no business being anywhere on the slopes of Everest beyond base camp but have the money to pay for other people to put their own lives in danger to guide them up and down, are up there. And too many of these people don't realize that getting up the mountain is only half the battle - in order for it to be considered a successful climb, in order for your loved ones to be happy back home, you have to get back down safely.

I love reading about Everest. I love reading about the men and women who, for whatever reason, feel the need to push themselves completely to the limit, who need to climb to the top of the world and almost die in order to feel alive - I consider it a sporting activity, which is why I am writing about it here. But the fact that this is a mountain that is the literally the top of the world and there are TRAFFIC JAMS there??? There's something wrong with that. Traffic jams at the top of the world put EVERYONE'S lives at risk. Between that and the garbage and waste accumulating on the mountain...things on the Nepal/Tibetan China border have to change. Seriously. Or we'll keep reading non-news stories like this every Himalayan climbing season.