Everest – been there, done that
Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record May 22, 2024 as the person that has scaled Mount Everest the most times, achieving the milestone 30th ascent of the world’s highest peak. The 54-year-old, known as “Everest Man,” reached the summit for the 29th time earlier this month, before climbing to the top again for a record 30th time, three decades after his first summit. Kami climbed the 29,000-foot peak for the 29th time earlier this month, has previously said that he was “just working” and did not plan on setting records. “I am glad for the record, but records are eventually broken.” “I am more happy that my climbs help Nepal get recognized in the world.”
Last year, Kami climbed Everest twice to reclaim his record after another guide, Pasang Dawa Sherpa, equalled his number of ascents. He has also conquered other 8,000-metre peaks including the world’s second-highest mountain, K2 in Pakistan. Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest, earning more than $5 million in royalties. Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds typically calm. Last year more than 600 climbers made it to the summit of Everest but it was also the deadliest season on the mountain, with 18 fatalities.
In Nepal, Mount Everest is known as “Sagarmatha,” meaning “forehead in the sky.” Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people known to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. It was a death-defying feat of endurance that captured the world’s imagination. Since then, thousands of visitors have flocked to the mountain, and it is starting to take its toll. Today, Everest is so overcrowded and full of trash that it has been called the “world’s highest garbage dump.” The Nepali National Park receives around 100,000 visitors each year, and all those people place a strain on the natural environment. Deforestation plagues the local area, as people fell trees to make lodges and firewood for tourists. During peak season, the park receives as many as 500 people per day making the hike to Base Camp, and the intense volume of visitors is eroding footpaths. But the biggest problem is on the mountain itself.
Over 600 people attempt to summit Mount Everest every climbing season. In addition, for every climber there is at least one local worker who cooks, carries equipment, and guides the expedition. The mountain has become so overcrowded that oftentimes climbers have to stand in line for hours in freezing cold conditions to reach the top, where the air is so thin an oxygen mask is needed to breathe. They walk single file at a snail’s pace over the Hillary Step, the last obstacle before the summit. When climbers finally reach the summit, there is barely room to stand because of overcrowding.
Top of the mountain humor
I hear the view from Mount Everest is breathtaking…
Literally.
The reason I climb mountains is because they are there.
That is the reason everyone else goes around them.
I just finished this book on climbing Mt. Everest. Now I’m no mountain climber, but I smoke and I live on the third floor, so I can kind of relate. Everest is a lot like laundry day.
Remember that every dead body on Mt. Everest was once a highly motivated person.
Stay lazy, my friends.
May 23rd Birthdays
1978 – Kelly Monaco, 1966 – Melissa McBride, 1933 – Joan Collins,1928 – Rosemary Clooney
1958 – Drew Carey, 1997 – Akeil Julien, 1951 – Anatoly Karpov, 1954 – Marvelous Marvin Hagler