Mount Everest has gotten so crowded that climbers are perishing in the traffic jams

[demmiblue]

Anjali Kulkarni, a 55-year-old Indian mountain climber, trained for six years to make it to the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world.

She finally reached Everest’s summit this week, fulfilling a longtime goal. It was coming back down that killed her.

Her son, Shantanu Kulkarni, told CNN that she died after getting stuck in a “traffic jam” on the mountain.

“She had to wait for a long time to reach the summit and descend,” Thupden Sherpa, who organized tours on the mountain, told Agence France-Presse. “She couldn’t move down on her own and died as Sherpa guides brought her down.”

Two other Indian hikers, Kalpana Das, 52, and Nihal Bagwan, 27, also died on Thursday. Keshav Paudel, who organized tours on the mountain, told AFP that Bagwan was “stuck in the traffic for more than 12 hours and was exhausted.”

She is one of at least seven people believed to died on the mountain this week, as a few days of clear weather attracted hundreds of climbers hoping to scale the 29,029 feet to Everest’s peak. This season, Nepal has issued 381 permits for hikers hoping to climb the mountain, AFP reported. They cost about $11,000 each, and hikers are accompanied by local guides.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/05/24/mount-everest-has-gotten-so-crowded-that-climbers-are-perishing-traffic-jams/?tid=sm_tw_wd

[ffr]

1. That's crazy!

I'm sure it wasn't worth it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. If everybody is doing it, is it really that special any more?

Sounds to me like climbing Everest has become just a more dangerous and difficult version of visiting a major tourist attraction where you have to climb a lot of stairs, like the Eiffel Tower. Why would you want to risk your neck just to be part of a mob of tourists?

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. and people complain how long the lines are at Disneyland.

I'm with you. It's insane. Paying 11 grand to be in a mob is even crazier.

Notice that people don't talk about the sherpas who climb up and down as a matter of course.

[3Hotdogs]

3. That's fuckin' nuts.

Looks like more than 35 peeps on that line to the top.

[Historic NY]

4. They need a funeral home.