Climbing mountains is not a logical choice, it's a passion,
says veteran climber
Four people died, two climbers are missing on Mount Everest
Climbing had been halted for two years after earthquake,
avalanche
(CNN) — Danger and death lurk with every step. It's difficult
to breathe -- the oxygen level is a third of what's available at
sea level. The winds are fierce and brutal. The weather is
unpredictable. Temperatures at the summit can be colder
than minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mount Everest is an inhospitable place for humans, standing
at a majestic 29,028 feet, the cruising altitude of a plane.
Yet every year, hundreds try to scale the world's tallest peak.
Dozens die in the attempt.
This has been a particularly deadly week for those seeking
adventure on the mountain. Four people died in the span of
four days, two others are missing.
On Thursday, crew member Phurba Sherpa fell to his death
while working to fix a route about 150 meters near the
summit, according to Mingma Sherpa, the Nepal rescue team
leader who was at the Everest Base Camp.
Eric Arnold, 36, of the Netherlands, died Friday night of a
suspected heart attack while heading back after a successful
summit, according to Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, the owner of
Seven Summit Treks.
On Saturday, Maria Strydom died after experiencing altitude
sickness. The 34-year-old Australian woman was climbing
along side her husband, Robert Gropel.
And on Sunday, 44-year-old Subash Paul died at Base Camp
II from altitude sickness, according to Wangchu Sherpa,
managing director of Trekking Camp Nepal.
The tragedies come as Mount Everest opens for the first
time in two years after back-to-back disasters crippled all
ascent. In April 2014, a deadly avalanche left at least a
dozen dead, in the single deadliest accident on Mount
Everest.
Last year nearly 9,000 people died in a 7.8 magnitude
earthquake and its aftershock. The earthquake set off
avalanches that left more than a dozen climbers dead, and
others injured or trapped on the mountain.
This week's deaths may have shaken the mountaineering
community, but those who love the sport say they can't
resist the lure of Everest.
Veteran mountaineer Jim Davidson was airlifted to the base
camp of Mount Everest last year after the earthquake and
subsequent avalanche.
"I was certain we were going to die," Davidson said. "The
glacier was shaking back and forth like a hammock tied
between two trees."
But he is back climbing mountains again in Colorado, and is
planning to go back to Everest in 2017.
"It is not a logical choice, it is a passion -- it is a way to
refine yourself into a better version of you, " Davidson said.
"It's a place where you can distill yourself into the best
version of yourself ... what it does helps build personal
resilience for the challenges and opportunities that come
later in life!"
David Morton has scaled Mount Everest six times. He said
the words on his website best sum up his passion for
climbing.
"After many years I still think it's beautiful that people dream
of climbing mountains. It's wide-eyed, childlike and magical."
"The great thing about the sport of mountaineering is it is
open to everyone," said Kenton Cool, speaking to CNN
International from Cotswald, England. Cool has reached the
summit of Mount Everest 12 times, including this season.
"However on the flip side, we do hope that most people who
go to Everest understand the dangers. ... It is not
considerably dangerous, it is very, very dangerous. And you
do need the depths of experience, you do need the
understanding and the skill set to be able to operate and
even survive at such altitudes ... you can be the fittest
Olympic athlete or you can be a so-called couch potato,
altitude is a great leveler."
High altitude cough and acute mountain sickness are just
some of the problems. Besides excessively cold
temperatures and the possibility of frostbite, climbers face
another extreme: heat. On Everest, the snow and ice act as
a giant reflector for the sun's glare.
A lot is riding on this year's climbing season. The Nepali
government is hoping to revive tourism in a country still
reeling from recent disasters. Since the 2016 climbing
season opened on Everest, at least 300 people have scaled,
according to data from Everest Base Camp as of Saturday.
"Mount Everest is a huge mountain, and it can accommodate
a lot of people at one time," said Alan Arnette, a mountaineer
who has attempted to climb Everest four times, reaching the
summit in 2011. But he said the mountain is getting too
crowded, citing the example of May 19, when about 200
mountaineers tried to scale Everest.
"One of the issues on that particular day was that you had a
very large team of about 40 climbers on one team and they
were going extremely slowly, and so other climbers got stuck
behind them. It's very difficult to pass somebody on Mount
Everest, because you are using a single nylon rope as a
safety line and you are clipped into it ... so in order to unclip
you put yourself at danger," Arnette said. "So you are kind of
stuck behind slow people. And then over time, potentially you
run out of oxygen, and you go slow, you develop fatigue, you
get cold and frostbite, so certainly crowds are an issue."
More than 250 climbers have died since Tenzing Norgay and
Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent in 1953.
But that doesn't faze Jake Norton, climber, photographer,
filmmaker, philanthropist and inspirational speaker. He has
been to the summit of Mount Everest three times, and on
expeditions on all seven continents. He said he finds solace
and joy in the mountains.
"For me it's a place of catharsis," Norton said, speaking by
phone from Evergreen, Colorado.
"Life gets reduced to its most fundamental elements ... I'm
reminded by the mountains that me, my ambitions and
problems are nothing in this great machinery of the universe
... any time we step deeply into nature, we are reminded how
insignificant we are, and I find that incredibly enriching and
uplifting."
Phurba Sherpa and Sugam Pokheral contributed to this rep

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