Runaway Adventure Capitalism on The Roof of The World

Claimed by both Nepal and China, the highest mountain on planet Earth has multiple names.

For the Nepalese, Everest is known as, “Sagarmatha,” meaning “forehead in the sky.”

For the Tibetan Culture, it is called Chomolungma, or “Goddess of the Sky.”

We Westerners have since, 1856, called it Everest, after George Everest, a British geographer who surveyed the Himalaya in Northern India and Nepal.

Though there is indeed another name that is gaining traction 70 years after New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzig Norgay become the first humans to stand on top of the world and it is perhaps a lot less flattering, “World’s highest garbage dump.”

A report by National Geographic written last year, confirms the effects of overcrowding and pollution on Everest which is taking a toll. Specifically, the pollution is effecting the native populations who live in the high slopes of the Himalaya. The report states:

“…..each person (climber) generates, on average, around eight kilograms (18 pounds) of trash, and the majority of this waste gets left on the mountain. The slopes are littered with discarded empty oxygen canisters, abandoned tents, food containers, and even human feces. At Base Camp, there are tented toilets with large collection barrels that can be carried away and emptied. But that is where the toilet facilities end. For the rest of their expedition, climbers have to relieve themselves on the mountain. No one knows exactly how much waste is on the mountain, but it is in the tons. Litter is spilling out of glaciers, and camps are overflowing with piles of human waste.”

The overcrowding issue, has led to literal standing lines near the summit of Everest that has become both a clusterfuck and a new added danger to climbers, guides and local Nepalese Sherpas.

In 2024 the average cost to climb the tallest peak in the world was around $53,000, leaving it accessible to only the most wealthy of climbers. Indeed on Everest each year, you will find Dentists, Lawyers, Trust Fund Beneficiaries and bountiful of other Wealthy men who arent there by the good graces of their climbing skills or experience, but by the good graces of their corporate ladder climbing skills.

Long before 2024 and the current fiasco on Everest, I always thought Yvon Chouinard said it best about the endevor that is climbing the highest Mountain on Earth:

“You get these high powered plastic surgeons and CEO’s, they pay $80,000 and have sherpas put the ladders in place and 8000ft of fixed ropes and you get to the camp and you don’t even have to lay out your sleeping bag. Its already laid out with a chocolate mint on top. The whole purpose of planning something like Everest is to affect some sort of spiritual and physical gain, and if you compromise the process, you’re an asshole when you start out and you’re an asshole when you get back.”

To be clear, personally I have not climbed Mt. Everest, nor have I completed the renowned Trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal at 18,373ft.

I have however, visited the Himalaya through China’s Northwest Yunnan Province, worked for a Mountain Guide Service in Washington State and have done a good deal of mountaineering throughout the much smaller peaks of North America.

I have met Jim Whittaker (though briefly), the first American to summit Everest and his equally prestigious Brother Lou, together considered America’s first Family in Mountaineering.

Would I like to take a crack at the summit? You bet your ass I would, however when observing the current situation, it is difficult not to lose enthusiasm. Currently there are people attempting to climb the mountain whose qualifications mostly reside in the thickness of their wallet.

I have also met many less known climbers and alpinists who live for the high peaks, while often living out of their cars and working as dishwashers, bartenders, cooks, carpenters, etc just so they can spend their off days on the trails or hanging from a cliff.

The reality of it is, the vast majority of these types of climbers, typically the kinds of people you would want with you on expeditions into the mountains, will never set foot on The Hillary Step.

Yes I believe, it is these types of people who more accurately embody what it is to be a climber, than the Dentist Asshole currently on Everest.

The Dirtbags, on average have a much better understanding of the spiritual and psychological aspects that go into climbing big mountains and the necessary preparation that is required.

What makes climbing and mountaineering so rewarding, is this preparation and planning it.

Along with it, no one but yourself gets to the top for you and many times, you will not succeed. And thats okay!

I am not sure if there is a genuine solution for the adventure capitalism extravaganza that has become Mt. Everest. It is true, that many of the high costs associated with climbing it are due to the high price of a permit ($11,000), oxygen canisters that are required to climb at such a high altitude and the complicated logistics that are involved in traveling to the roof of the world. By Nepalese law, every foreign climber is required to hire a local Sherpa for a summit attempt.

While Everest is located in both China and Nepal, most expeditions take place through the Nepal side. Nepal is a historically poor country and the government there has indeed taken advantage of the allure of Everest to boost their country’s frail economy.

And to be sure, no matter how one gets to the top of Everest, it is an extremely difficult endeavor and those who succeed, even with a sherpa tied in front and back of them, have earned a significant achievement.

However, this achievement departs from the very ethos of mountaineering and considering the damage that is currently being done to the mountain, climbing Mt. Everest is far cry from what it once was.

What Everest has become is compromising not only the environmental health of the region which it resides, but arguably the very endeavors of exploration and mountaineering.

Besides climbing, The mountain has of course, long held important cultural value to the local Tibetan and Nepalese people. It is a pristine icon and sacred place, deserving of respect and reverence.

Hard to argue that this precedent is being followed at the moment.