High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed

High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed

As any of you who visit The MountainWorld Blog know, ethics on Everest is a very important topic to me and one I've written about at length here and elsewhere. From the tragedies of 1996 (made famous by Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air) to the recent incidents involving David Sharp and Lincoln Hall in 2006 and Usha Bista in 2007, ethical dilemmas continue to play out on the slopes of Mount Everest.

And, sadly, as more people flock to the mountain each year, things will likely get worse before they get better.

In 2004, I was on Everest for my 5th expedition, this time with my good friend Dave Hahn. It was a busy season and ours was a small team amongst armies of big expeditions, but early on we met a great guy, Michael Kodas, who was there - like Krakauer 8 years earlier - to climb the mountain and document the expedition for his home paper, the Hartford Courant.

And, again like Krakauer's trip in 1996, Michael's trip would become quite...interesting. I won't go into all the details as I only know a shadow of them.

However, the expedition sparked Michael to delve into the subject of ethics on Mount Everest, and the
issues its recent popularity have brought to the fore. Several years of work and research have finally yielded a book - High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed. And, if the web chatter is true (which I'm quite sure it is), it will be a great read and one which will spark needed dialogue about the fate of climbing in the high Himalaya.

Michael is now on a book tour, and will be coming to Colorado this week for two engagements where he will speak and sign copies of the book. Be sure to come by one of these locations and hear for yourself about High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed:
   

    March 6, 7:30 PM
    Boulder Book Store
    Boulder, Colorado

    March 8, 7:00 PM
    Steamboat Mountain Theater
    Steamboat Springs, Colorado
    Tickets free with book purchase, $10 without

Hope to see you at one of the events...They should be great!

- Jake Norton
is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational
speaker from Colorado.