Post: #51

Krakauer was legit though. He had been a climber and mountaineer his whole life. Read his book "Eiger Dreams" (published 1990), talks about some of his other climbs in the 80's. Real Climbing.

I watched a documentary series on Everest last year. Seems these people on Everest now are mostly posers. They are mid-age crisis types that have a lot of money to spend on guided, non-technical summits. They only climb "7-summits" and this type of non-sense that is marketed directly at them. They are not genuine. It was pretty off-putting.

Mountaineering is awesome though. If you have an interest in it, just get out there and do it. Invest in some proper gear and training. There's thousands of mountains, the possibilities are endless. It does not have to be expensive. Don't get fixated on Everest or the marketing. You can climb 6000m peaks in LA on the cheap and bang latinas while you're there.

Post: #52

I, too, am fascinated by Everest and the multiple climbing stories surrounding it. I've read a lot about the mountain, the disasters and I've probably seen every single documentary there is out there.

This being said, I have no desire whatsoever to ever attempt the climb. Even if I had the money (a spot on a top expedition team goes for around 60k USD), the thought of being stuck in a queue at 8000+ metres is enough to throw me off. At that point, you're not in control of the situation anymore and your life is depending on questions of logistics. Dying or getting injured is part of sports; but I want to be in charge of my own destiny as much as possible.

Some of my happiest memories so far have come from adventure thrills. (Hiking and climbing in the Rockies; cycling trips across the unknown; sea-kayaking trips). Whenever I think back about those moments, there's one thing that strikes me: I was alone with nature and some chill music in my ears. It's as good as any therapy session or bang as it gets.

Being able to say you've been on top of the world is quite tempting, I undersand. But at the end of the day, what's the point if it was done with the help of some poor Sherpa carrying most of your gear? What's the point if you can barely enjoy your moment of glory on the summit because there's about 50 people waiting next to you to take that same picture and you're running short on oxygen? Anyway, major respect to those who've done it; it's still a major feat. I'll most likely do the trek to Base camp in the next couple of years just to finally see and feel it all but that's about it.

vs

Post: #53

Hilarious Bill Burr bit on the stupidity of mountaineering. Talks about how they put other lives in danger (Sherpas, rescue teams that have to come and get them etc)

Post: #54

(12-11-2018 11:06 AM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  Hilarious Bill Burr bit on the stupidity of mountaineering. Talks about how they put other lives in danger (Sherpas, rescue teams that have to come and get them etc)

Sherpas are among the baddest dudes on the planet. And their job is among the most deadly. I wonder how many Sherpas have kept some well-moneyed 40-something white lady CEO on her vision quest to conquer the planet warm while she shivered in her tent in base camp? How many a Sherpa's hardened hands have warmed the frozen labial folds of said white lady's vaginal Khumbu icefall? How they navigated the bodies of other climbers who had fallen there? Watch out, there's Green Thots; he was her date to prom in 1934. The frostbite he developed in his fingertips trying to get the old badger off eventually turned gangrene and he met his end.

Respect.