Everest Anyone?

Everest Anyone?

BY Jen Hoffman

In Print - February 13, 2007 | View Print Version (PDF)

Here's your routine for the next few months: You will probably acquire a wracking cough; you might even break a rib after continuous spells of hacking. You'll be freezing cold at all times, especially your fingers and toes; you will be constantly gasping for air, have splitting headaches, and bloody noses.

Your family and friends will be thousands of miles away, you won't have running water, and because you are drinking so many fluids to

stay hydrated, you'll have to wander outside three times a night to relieve yourself. You'll want to give up.

This is just part of the Mount Everest experience. Long shrouded in the mystery and legend of the world's highest peak, it calls to adventurers and thrill-seekers alike. But the only thing keeping you from doing it might be the cash required; on average, it can run as high as $70,000 just to get you to the mountain, of course, there's no way to assure safety even at this fee. The blind, the paralyzed or amputated, the young and old- all can get the green light to climb Everest as long as their checks don't bounce.

Slate Stern-a mountaineer and attorney-summited Everest in May 2006 in an expedition echoing the deadly 1996 climb chronicled by John Krakauer in "Into Thin Air." An experienced climber with the Seven Summits-the tallest in each continent-on his resume, Stern marveled at the inexperience of some of his team members.

"It's the highest mountain in the world," he said. "Some people climb it because they want to put a notch in their belt, but there's climbing in Alaska that is more dangerous. If you can pay, you can find someone to take you there. So many people end up on Everest who don't have the requisite skills to be there."

Stern noted one climber who came to him at advanced base camp, only days before the summit would be attempted, and asked to review the basic task of belaying, or lowering another climber by controlling the amount of rope that is fed as they descend.

The "because it's there" mantra, the numerous climbers killed en route, the mass media that tout it as the ultimate challenge-these are the things that bring the focus to Everest, while other, often more difficult peaks get less traffic, and the bodies of both the experienced and unqualified lie frozen in time on its slopes.

For a recognized member of the elite few who claim successful mountaineering as their lifestyle, such a request would seem to be a slap in the face. Usually the requisites for a major expedition read something like: seriously fit, living life with only this mountain and its summit in mind-and many, many climbs on other 8,000-meter peaks already done. Now, it's something like: have money, will climb.

However, Everest is not choosy about who it claims for its list of victims. On Stern's expedition, two were lost: Igor Plyushkin of Russia died in his tent after summiting, along with Thomas Weber, a blind man from Germany who fell. A third-the most experienced and skilled climber on the trip, Australian Lincoln Hall-was left for dead.

"Of all the people on that expedition he had the most experience," Stern said of Hall. "He seemed like the person that would run into the least trouble on Everest. Thomas fell and died, and previously we lost Igor, so by the time the incident with Lincoln was unfolding, we were on our way to losing three people. We went forward and decided to spend the next eight or 10 hours trying to save his life. When we finally made the decision to leave him at 28,000 feet, I could only think: how is this happening?"

Two Sherpas, quickly losing strength themselves as they brought Hall tea and tried to carry him off the mountain, were eventually forced to leave him. Hall's wife and children were informed of his death by satellite phone. Hours later, an American climber found a delirious but conscious Hall who made a miraculous descent despite the swelling in his brain.

"Lincoln seemingly had all the cards stacked in his favor," Stern said. "But he became ill, which is something you can't control. On a big expedition, you can be standing at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, often what occurs shouldn't because some people shouldn't put themselves in those positions. What happened-why did they make that judgment call? They made those calls because they were doing something that was beyond their capabilities. They're lying on top of the mountain today."

Whether you're fit for Everest doesn't make a difference to Everest, but what about the ones left at home? For those who don't live the mountaineer lifestyle, the single-mindedness of these climbers is difficult to understand.

"It's a selfish thing, and part of my challenge when I decided to climb Everest was to find a way that was not so self-centered," Stern said. "That's why I went into schools and talked to kids about what I was doing. I did a presentation to schools and am working on a documentary film. There's a lot to be learned from Everest. I try to incorporate it into other things to make it not so much about myself."

"I was dealing with a lot of death coming off the mountain, and that made me question if it is worth the risk," Stern said. "At this point in my life, it is worth the risk because I feel I can contribute and make a difference in people's life that I could not otherwise do. That's why I do it."

Though he still climbs, Stern questions the motivation.

So, when does the desire to do something great become an obsession with just tallying up another experience? The question might not even be "Why Everest" anymore. What about why so many unqualified people try to climb Everest?

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Jen Hoffman is a writer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She can be reached at jenlhoffman@msn.com.