Nepal 7.9 Earthquake

Khane_sl said:

Don't you know? If B is harder than A, then A is super easy. It's logic man. Take a math class.

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Doh! What on earth was I thinking?

CaughtCross_sl said:

Killed a bunch of Everest Climbers too... really sad stuff. And since it is rich white people that climb Everest maybe the media will care more.

Log In - The New York Times

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Mt. Everest heroic mode.

Ho Le SheetNepal Earthquake Before And After Pictures Show Devastation Of 7.8 Magnitude Tremor

I like reading about high altitude mountaineering and watching videos too. I'm not a climber or have any inclination but it just fascinates me and blows my mind, especially K2. I think "easy" is the wrong way to look at it. Just that by comparison, K2 or Annapurna are orders of magnitude more dangerous and technically challenging, but Everest gets all the attention because its the highest. K2 is not that much lower yet scarier in every way. But that doesn't mean climbing Everest is just some walk in the park that anyone with money can just jump off the couch and handle.

Hell even Kilimanjaro, which is literally a walk to the top, can be tough on people just from altitude and that doesn't even involve the freezing ass death temps. No eight thousander is "easy".

Famm_sl said:

...Hell even Kilimanjaro, which is literally a walk to the top, can be tough on people just from altitude and that doesn't even involve the freezing ass temps with ice and snow. No eight thousander is "easy".

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Good point. I have a friend here who is on attempt #3 at Kili. First time was just shitty luck and caught a cold on the flight over. Did not complete. Second attempt was turned back by altitude sickness.

God damn altitude sickness, levels the playing field. You could be a world class olympic athlete and be crippled by it or in less than optimal shape and be perfectly fine. No rhyme or reason to it. Just have to take things incredibly slow and climb high / sleep low, optimally with some rest and acclimatization days mixed in.

I'm sure if you live in high altitudes it helps. But I think part of the thing with Kili is youcanmove pretty quick due to the relative ease of the actual route. But that means you're going to be moving to higher altitudes faster than you can adjust. People do shit like live at base camp in the alpine mountains for a week or some shit to acclimate. People who aren't high altitude climbers go after Kili in less than a week of hiking and it leads quickly to the sickness.

Killi also has more than half a dozen routes of varying length and difficulty. Just depends on what you want to do.

Generally speaking though, you are right. If you don't know any better, one could blaze up the easier routes and get fucked by the altitude.

A trek to look would be amazing in its own right I'm sure. Unless you got avalanched by an earthquake or something.

Barraco Bisi_sl said:

I'd spend a few weeks in someplace like Denver before even attempting a Himalayan trek to LOOK at Annapurna.

But here I am ... sitting at 100 feet above sea level

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I am right at sea level and did a section of the Annapurna Circuit a few years back. Again, it really just depends on your suscepibility and hiking methods. Having access to altitude prior to a trip would be hugely beneficial, of course.

Barraco Bisi_sl said:

Dying because K2's serac at the bottleneck falls on your head is much more badass.

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Didn't a bunch of people die above the bottleneck after a serac broke the fixed lines and they were stuck in the death zone with no way to descend back down through it?

Famm_sl said:

Didn't a bunch of people die above the bottleneck after a serac broke the fixed lines and they were stuck in the death zone with no way to descend back down through it?

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It's on Netflix I believe. The doc itself is a little disjointed, but great footage and will keep you on the edge of your seat.