It’s climbing season in the Himalayas. The brief weather window favorable for human survival at altitudes usually reserved for commercial jet liners stays open only for a short time each year. If you’re so inclined – and can afford the steep fees associated with extreme adventure – now’s the time to have at it.
On This Day in History, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and sherpa Tenzing Norgay of Nepal reach the summit of Mt. Everest for the first time. Read here for a blow-by-blow account of their trek. There’s also an interesting summary of the many failed attempts on the summit prior to their success in 1953.
More recently, this article appeared in the NY Times under the headline, “It Was Like a Zoo: Death on an Unruly Overcrowded Everest.” The title pretty much says it all. Have a look at this surreal traffic jam near the summit in 2019:
Such exertions are not for the faint of heart.
Also not for anyone with a lick of sense.
But I digress.
“steep” fees. high places, pinnacle of your career? reaching your peak potential? mountaintop experience? etc
I stood in a line that long to go on Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom… does that count? I don’t think anyone died along the way.