What I don't get is why helicopters can't fly at that altitude. I know it has something to do with the rotating blades as opposed to regular airplanes, which regularly fly at altitudes much higher than that.
The air isn't thick enough for the blades to provide lift.
Thats what I thought. At the same time, wouldn't you think they would come up with some kind of system to actually get dead / dying people off the mountain?
what you mean like a system of pulleys or something
a ski lift perhaps
Yeah, basically. I mean it would certainly solve all the moral quandaries and stuff.
Also, I always wondered why they didn't just pack a parachute in with their shit. If they got stuck, or they got into a last ditch situation, they could always just jump off one of the cliffs and put up your parachute.
well it would probably add a lot of weight and require a higher cliff than they are likely to encounter regularly
and i think theres probably more steep hills that actual cliffs
This is from a section about summit attempts:
This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face
Sounds to me like you could jump off either side of that and parachute down a long way, certainly out of the death zone.
i think it'd be pretty bad ass to go to a place where only a hundred other people have ever been
EDIT: okay, like, 2,500, but still pretty cool
Well, you could climb K2. Its like only a few feet shorter than everest but its supposedly alot harder. More people have died there vs those who actually make it. Only like 200 people have actually made it to the top.
This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face
Sounds to me like you could jump off either side of that and parachute down a long way, certainly out of the death zone.
I don't think a parachute would open in those conditions. Not to mention, where are you going to carry a parachute?
i'm pretty sure i could never be capable of climbing either one of them as i lack the discipline needed to get that tough, but the whole adventure intot the unknown thing is hella appealing
This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face
Sounds to me like you could jump off either side of that and parachute down a long way, certainly out of the death zone.
I don't think a parachute would open in those conditions. Not to mention, where are you going to carry a parachute?
Well, I don't actually know how heavy a parachute is.
Plus, when you pay to climb everest you are also paying to have sherpas who carry all the shit you need with you as you go. This includes oxygen tanks, tents, etc. I'm sure they could carry a parachute for each person who is going to the summit, and then if someone gets in trouble they could just send a sherpa up with a parachute, strap it on the guy, and then push him off the edge.
i'm pretty sure i could never be capable of climbing either one of them as i lack the discipline needed to get that tough, but the whole adventure intot the unknown thing is hella appealing
I'm more interested in the adventure of my couch and this rad stack of DVDs.
i'm pretty sure i could never be capable of climbing either one of them as i lack the discipline needed to get that tough, but the whole adventure intot the unknown thing is hella appealing
Oh yeah, definitely. Some of the climbers in the actual show on Discovery didn't really look that fit. The ex-hells angel guy looked like he still had a beer gut. I can tell you this much - if I'm doing something like that, I'm gonna make sure I'm in the best shape of my life before I even think about making an attempt.
This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face
Sounds to me like you could jump off either side of that and parachute down a long way, certainly out of the death zone.
I don't think a parachute would open in those conditions. Not to mention, where are you going to carry a parachute?
Well, I don't actually know how heavy a parachute is.
Plus, when you pay to climb everest you are also paying to have sherpas who carry all the shit you need with you as you go. This includes oxygen tanks, tents, etc. I'm sure they could carry a parachute for each person who is going to the summit, and then if someone gets in trouble they could just send a sherpa up with a parachute, strap it on the guy, and then push him off the edge.
Parachutes are pretty damn heavy, and I'm sure that you would want the loads being carried up the mountain to be as light as possible. Sure you could take 15 extra sherpas with you to carry up the chutes, but then you have to take supplies for each of those sherpas along too, which further increases the load.
It's like increasing the size of a fuel tank in order to increase the longevity of travel. Sure you can go a few extra miles, but you just destroyed your fuel efficiency by increasing the weight of the vehicle.
Slungsolow on
fuck your forums, fuck your administrator and fuck dynagrip for getting away with the long troll.
someone should go for the world hang gliding distance record
I imagine it would take a pretty ridiculous feat of engineering to get a hang-glider up there without dying that wouldn't just drop you like a brick due to the low air pressure.
This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face
Sounds to me like you could jump off either side of that and parachute down a long way, certainly out of the death zone.
I don't think a parachute would open in those conditions. Not to mention, where are you going to carry a parachute?
Well, I don't actually know how heavy a parachute is.
Plus, when you pay to climb everest you are also paying to have sherpas who carry all the shit you need with you as you go. This includes oxygen tanks, tents, etc. I'm sure they could carry a parachute for each person who is going to the summit, and then if someone gets in trouble they could just send a sherpa up with a parachute, strap it on the guy, and then push him off the edge.
Parachutes are pretty damn heavy, and I'm sure that you would want the loads being carried up the mountain to be as light as possible. Sure you could take 15 extra sherpas with you to carry up the chutes, but then you have to take supplies for each of those sherpas along too, which further increases the load.
It's like increasing the size of a fuel tank in order to increase the longevity of travel. Sure you can go a few extra miles, but you just destroyed your fuel efficiency by increasing the weight of the vehicle.
I was a part of a space station design competition judged by JPL and Boeing engineers. I got to do the easy, computer stuff. I felt sorry for the poor fucker who had to calculate the cost of fuel.
People have hang-glided from the top of Mt. Everest. Was I couple of years ago, but I was into hang-gliding at the time and remember it well. Must have been hard dragging the paragliders up there, they are heavy.
Anyway, I think someone landed a helicopter on the top sometime last year. It was a specially modified helicopter with a stronger engine, but it can be done. As for the practical logistics of pulling of a high-altitude rescue, I don't know.
I actually trekked to the Mt. Everest base-camp some seven years ago. It was a fantastic experience and I can not recommend visiting Nepal highly enough. The highest I went was 5500 meters, at the top of a small mountain were you can see the top of Mt. Everest some 9 km. away and more than 3 kilometers higher. That was one of the most deeply moving experiences of my life... I swore that some day I would climb at least a 6000 meter mountain, and I still intend to one day. But it was hard just getting myself to 5500 meters. You really feel the altitude, and on the way there I spent a couple of days with altitude sickness since I walked to fast...
Someone mentioned Into thin air. This book is alright, but in addition to reading it I would recommend "The Climb" about the same incident but written more from the perspective of Anatolij Boukrejev, the russian guide who took a lot of flack from the writer of "Into thin Air". When I was there there were still posters from the companys that organised the fatal expeditions in 96... that was wierd.
There is also a book about the swedish climber Göran Kropp, but I do not know what it is called in english. I do know there is a translation though. This guy was hardcore (he died in a climbing accident in 00), He rode his bicycle from sweden to Mt. Everest with all his gear, climbed to the top solo without supplemental oxygen, then biked back to Sweden....
Wow, this was a long post. Always been interested in climbing, and know I feel the need to see the mountains again....
What I don't get is why helicopters can't fly at that altitude. I know it has something to do with the rotating blades as opposed to regular airplanes, which regularly fly at altitudes much higher than that.
The air isn't thick enough for the blades to provide lift.
Space hel-
Oh wait that's only funny when Metalocalypse does it.
What if the helicopters were on a treadmill?
Then they have to take off before they get dumped off the back of the treadmill into the ravine.
I "climbed" Mt. Manadnock my second year in scouts. It was little more than a very rocky nature trail. In terms of h ikes though, it was a good time. We crossed a river on stepping stones and ate lunch at the peak. The whole top of the mountain is bare rock and you can see for miles. That's about the closest to mountain climbing I've done and it was many, many years ago.
That was back when I was a fatty so I needed the workout.
People have hang-glided from the top of Mt. Everest. Was I couple of years ago, but I was into hang-gliding at the time and remember it well. Must have been hard dragging the paragliders up there, they are heavy.
Anyway, I think someone landed a helicopter on the top sometime last year. It was a specially modified helicopter with a stronger engine, but it can be done. As for the practical logistics of pulling of a high-altitude rescue, I don't know.
I actually trekked to the Mt. Everest base-camp some seven years ago. It was a fantastic experience and I can not recommend visiting Nepal highly enough. The highest I went was 5500 meters, at the top of a small mountain were you can see the top of Mt. Everest some 9 km. away and more than 3 kilometers higher. That was one of the most deeply moving experiences of my life... I swore that some day I would climb at least a 6000 meter mountain, and I still intend to one day. But it was hard just getting myself to 5500 meters. You really feel the altitude, and on the way there I spent a couple of days with altitude sickness since I walked to fast...
Someone mentioned Into thin air. This book is alright, but in addition to reading it I would recommend "The Climb" about the same incident but written more from the perspective of Anatolij Boukrejev, the russian guide who took a lot of flack from the writer of "Into thin Air". When I was there there were still posters from the companys that organised the fatal expeditions in 96... that was wierd.
There is also a book about the swedish climber Göran Kropp, but I do not know what it is called in english. I do know there is a translation though. This guy was hardcore (he died in a climbing accident in 00), He rode his bicycle from sweden to Mt. Everest with all his gear, climbed to the top solo without supplemental oxygen, then biked back to Sweden....
Wow, this was a long post. Always been interested in climbing, and know I feel the need to see the mountains again....
That's awesome. When you were looking at everest, did you have to like crane your neck to look up at it?
Wise_a:
Yes, I had to. It was more a feeling of looking UP rather than looking AT. It is hard to describe how huge everything is in that landscape, but I have never felt smaller in my life than sitting there surrounded by the highest peaks on the planet. Pictures really do not do the landscape justice, but I was at the top of the black peak in the foreground:
From there you have this view of Everest (which is the top in the background):
The basecamp is somewhere in the shadow of the mountain on the glacier, the climbers following the normal route follow the glacier around the bend upwards.
As for paying that amount of money, I do not know. When I was there the climbing permit alone was 10k dollars, and then there is all the equipment you need, even if you do not join a commercial expedition. After the 96 disaster there was a lot of talk in the climbing community about the ethics of commercial expeditions taking non-experienced climbers up that really had no business being there. Also, some people were saying that using oxygen should be reserved for emergencies... but then a majority of the people attempting the climb would never summit.
Anyway, if I had the money I would love to do it. Nothing can match the feeling of knowing that if you make a mistake it will be the last one you make, and that the only thing standing between you and certain deatch is your own knowledge and skill. No safety nets... if you live or die is entirely up to yourself.
As for K2, that is one mean mountain. Much harder than Everest and in my opinion much more beatifull:
One day I would like to go there, but it is really remote.
Oh, if we are talking climbing books/films, I have to recommend "Touching the void". Best drama-documentary I've ever seen. There is a book as well.
Yeah, everything I have read said that K2 is much harder than everest.
Like you said, alot of the death toll on Everest is a result of unprepared people who just want to climb the highest mountain in the world. They said on the Discovery Channel series that many of the multi-national teams have absolutely no requirements of the climbers other than paying the money. The team that was being filmed by Discovery had a rule that you had to climb above 26,000 (into the death zone) at least once before you could go on the expedition. So I guess that although the hells angel guy was flabby as shit, he must have already met those requirements.
This is the closest we have to a mountain near me:
Its the delaware water gap between NJ and PA. Alot of my friends have hiked to the top, which is kinda cool because of how much higher it is than all of the surrounding landscape. I'm planning on going and checking it out this summer.
Someone, I don't know who, an old sherpa perhaps as that makes the sroy better, said:
"Anyone can reach the top of Everest, getting down alive is the hard part."
Powered exo-skeleton! I would not mind playing with one of those even if I did not intend to go climbing. I also like the fact that the company who is developing it is called Cyberdyne....
This is the most exposed section of the climb as a misstep to the left would send one 2,400 m (8,000 ft) down the southwest face while to the immediate right is the 3,050 m (10,000 ft) Kangshung face
Sounds to me like you could jump off either side of that and parachute down a long way, certainly out of the death zone.
I don't think a parachute would open in those conditions. Not to mention, where are you going to carry a parachute?
Well, I don't actually know how heavy a parachute is.
Plus, when you pay to climb everest you are also paying to have sherpas who carry all the shit you need with you as you go. This includes oxygen tanks, tents, etc. I'm sure they could carry a parachute for each person who is going to the summit, and then if someone gets in trouble they could just send a sherpa up with a parachute, strap it on the guy, and then push him off the edge.
Parachutes are pretty damn heavy, and I'm sure that you would want the loads being carried up the mountain to be as light as possible. Sure you could take 15 extra sherpas with you to carry up the chutes, but then you have to take supplies for each of those sherpas along too, which further increases the load.
It's like increasing the size of a fuel tank in order to increase the longevity of travel. Sure you can go a few extra miles, but you just destroyed your fuel efficiency by increasing the weight of the vehicle.
Or you could get the sherpas to haul up the chutes and then tell them to fuck themselves when you get to the top. If they forgot to bring their own food, that's not your fault is it?
Posts
That does it.
I'm not going to the peak of Everest. I'm going to climb it just to find these bodies and throw them off the edge. Man, that would be cool to watch.
EDIT: okay, like, 2,500, but still pretty cool
This is from a section about summit attempts:
Sounds to me like you could jump off either side of that and parachute down a long way, certainly out of the death zone.
Well, you could climb K2. Its like only a few feet shorter than everest but its supposedly alot harder. More people have died there vs those who actually make it. Only like 200 people have actually made it to the top.
I don't think a parachute would open in those conditions. Not to mention, where are you going to carry a parachute?
ROBIN FALLS
WHO KNEW
Well, I don't actually know how heavy a parachute is.
Plus, when you pay to climb everest you are also paying to have sherpas who carry all the shit you need with you as you go. This includes oxygen tanks, tents, etc. I'm sure they could carry a parachute for each person who is going to the summit, and then if someone gets in trouble they could just send a sherpa up with a parachute, strap it on the guy, and then push him off the edge.
I'm more interested in the adventure of my couch and this rad stack of DVDs.
Imagine a boot sitting on a couch watching DVDs
Forever
ROBIN FALLS
WHO KNEW
Oh yeah, definitely. Some of the climbers in the actual show on Discovery didn't really look that fit. The ex-hells angel guy looked like he still had a beer gut. I can tell you this much - if I'm doing something like that, I'm gonna make sure I'm in the best shape of my life before I even think about making an attempt.
ROBIN FALLS
WHO KNEW
Parachutes are pretty damn heavy, and I'm sure that you would want the loads being carried up the mountain to be as light as possible. Sure you could take 15 extra sherpas with you to carry up the chutes, but then you have to take supplies for each of those sherpas along too, which further increases the load.
It's like increasing the size of a fuel tank in order to increase the longevity of travel. Sure you can go a few extra miles, but you just destroyed your fuel efficiency by increasing the weight of the vehicle.
I imagine it would take a pretty ridiculous feat of engineering to get a hang-glider up there without dying that wouldn't just drop you like a brick due to the low air pressure.
ROBIN FALLS
WHO KNEW
I was a part of a space station design competition judged by JPL and Boeing engineers. I got to do the easy, computer stuff. I felt sorry for the poor fucker who had to calculate the cost of fuel.
Anyway, I think someone landed a helicopter on the top sometime last year. It was a specially modified helicopter with a stronger engine, but it can be done. As for the practical logistics of pulling of a high-altitude rescue, I don't know.
I actually trekked to the Mt. Everest base-camp some seven years ago. It was a fantastic experience and I can not recommend visiting Nepal highly enough. The highest I went was 5500 meters, at the top of a small mountain were you can see the top of Mt. Everest some 9 km. away and more than 3 kilometers higher. That was one of the most deeply moving experiences of my life... I swore that some day I would climb at least a 6000 meter mountain, and I still intend to one day. But it was hard just getting myself to 5500 meters. You really feel the altitude, and on the way there I spent a couple of days with altitude sickness since I walked to fast...
Someone mentioned Into thin air. This book is alright, but in addition to reading it I would recommend "The Climb" about the same incident but written more from the perspective of Anatolij Boukrejev, the russian guide who took a lot of flack from the writer of "Into thin Air". When I was there there were still posters from the companys that organised the fatal expeditions in 96... that was wierd.
There is also a book about the swedish climber Göran Kropp, but I do not know what it is called in english. I do know there is a translation though. This guy was hardcore (he died in a climbing accident in 00), He rode his bicycle from sweden to Mt. Everest with all his gear, climbed to the top solo without supplemental oxygen, then biked back to Sweden....
Wow, this was a long post. Always been interested in climbing, and know I feel the need to see the mountains again....
Then they have to take off before they get dumped off the back of the treadmill into the ravine.
That was back when I was a fatty so I needed the workout.
People are putting a crazy amount of money into something that they, at some point, have to look into the mirror and think "I may die doing this".
The show is intense, the book "Into Thin Air" is far better.
That's awesome. When you were looking at everest, did you have to like crane your neck to look up at it?
Nothing technical, no ropes or anything.
Just an old fashion slog.
:winky:
(This was not recent.)
Yes, I had to. It was more a feeling of looking UP rather than looking AT. It is hard to describe how huge everything is in that landscape, but I have never felt smaller in my life than sitting there surrounded by the highest peaks on the planet. Pictures really do not do the landscape justice, but I was at the top of the black peak in the foreground:
From there you have this view of Everest (which is the top in the background):
The basecamp is somewhere in the shadow of the mountain on the glacier, the climbers following the normal route follow the glacier around the bend upwards.
As for paying that amount of money, I do not know. When I was there the climbing permit alone was 10k dollars, and then there is all the equipment you need, even if you do not join a commercial expedition. After the 96 disaster there was a lot of talk in the climbing community about the ethics of commercial expeditions taking non-experienced climbers up that really had no business being there. Also, some people were saying that using oxygen should be reserved for emergencies... but then a majority of the people attempting the climb would never summit.
Anyway, if I had the money I would love to do it. Nothing can match the feeling of knowing that if you make a mistake it will be the last one you make, and that the only thing standing between you and certain deatch is your own knowledge and skill. No safety nets... if you live or die is entirely up to yourself.
As for K2, that is one mean mountain. Much harder than Everest and in my opinion much more beatifull:
One day I would like to go there, but it is really remote.
Oh, if we are talking climbing books/films, I have to recommend "Touching the void". Best drama-documentary I've ever seen. There is a book as well.
I looked at pictures and they look like nipples compared to what I am used to.
Like you said, alot of the death toll on Everest is a result of unprepared people who just want to climb the highest mountain in the world. They said on the Discovery Channel series that many of the multi-national teams have absolutely no requirements of the climbers other than paying the money. The team that was being filmed by Discovery had a rule that you had to climb above 26,000 (into the death zone) at least once before you could go on the expedition. So I guess that although the hells angel guy was flabby as shit, he must have already met those requirements.
Its the delaware water gap between NJ and PA. Alot of my friends have hiked to the top, which is kinda cool because of how much higher it is than all of the surrounding landscape. I'm planning on going and checking it out this summer.
"Anyone can reach the top of Everest, getting down alive is the hard part."
But maybe there is hope for those of us who aren't the superhuman you need to climb under your own power:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/03/climber-to-wear-hal-cyborg-suit-carry-quadriplegic-man-to-summi/
Powered exo-skeleton! I would not mind playing with one of those even if I did not intend to go climbing. I also like the fact that the company who is developing it is called Cyberdyne....
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Or you could get the sherpas to haul up the chutes and then tell them to fuck themselves when you get to the top. If they forgot to bring their own food, that's not your fault is it?
fuck
Go spelunking.
your = belonging to you
their = belonging to them
there = not here
they're = they are
You were in a Wiki-trance.
It happens to the best of us. And also the worst of us. Possibly even the most mediocre of us.