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Avalanche on Everest kills 12

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saskskier
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There has been a lot of tragedy on Everest over the years, but apparently this is single deadliest accident in history. I can't imagine climbing Everest at the best of times, but I imagine spring is a pretty sketchy time to be doing it. It sounds like there were around 50 climbers who who got hit by the avalanche and most were Sherpas. Tragic day....

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mount-everest-avalanche-kills-12-nepalese-guides-1.2614711

[URL]http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/18/world/asia/nepal-everest-avalanche[/URL]/
Apr 18 2014 3:25PM
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saskskier
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Apr 18 2014 3:30PM
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Z-Juice
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I'm curious to know whether it was a loose snow avalanche or a slab avalanche. That article mentions pulling people out of mounds of snow and ice, but I think a loose snow avalanche is much more likely on Mt. Everest.
Apr 18 2014 3:38PM
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Astomp
Posts: 10090 - Karma: 344
i just watched two seasons of some everest climbing video on netflix and was wondering how all these people climbing up that seem so inexperienced haven't had a major accident until now.

read this amazing book by Ed Viesturs called No Short Cuts to the Top. Amazing read, also if only everyone could climb this way. He climbed these peaks that are the highest in the world with a fatality rate of 1 for 3 and never had major injuries or or partner fatalities.
Apr 18 2014 3:45PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,896
Astompi just watched two seasons of some everest climbing video on netflix and was wondering how all these people climbing up that seem so inexperienced haven't had a major accident until now.

read this amazing book by Ed Viesturs called No Short Cuts to the Top. Amazing read, also if only everyone could climb this way. He climbed these peaks that are the highest in the world with a fatality rate of 1 for 3 and never had major injuries or or partner fatalities.


Also have to read Into thin Air:



Pretty powerful book.
Apr 18 2014 3:54PM
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theabortionator
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That sucks
Apr 18 2014 4:08PM
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Xanadoo
Posts: 729 - Karma: 1,237
Mr.HuckAlso have to read Into thin Air:



Pretty powerful book.


i read this book when i was like 14 and it has stuck with me more than just about any other book ive ever read. really crazy story. its incredible that this happened to him after he wrote 'Into the Wild'.
Apr 18 2014 4:42PM
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SkiBum.
Posts: 3600 - Karma: 3,909
No good.

Planning on being there next May
Apr 18 2014 4:49PM
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j_romero
Posts: 124 - Karma: 345
Fucking crazy shit going on this year. Worst disaster since '96 when 15 died. Khumbu icefall and the Nepl side is some sketchy shit.
Apr 18 2014 9:09PM
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freestyler540
Posts: 13078 - Karma: 18,713
Its really sad.

Some guides refused to go out because of the poor stability in their tests. Since Everest became a tourist resort, sherpas and guides feel forced to risk themselves for cash. My thoughts go to them and their families.
Apr 18 2014 10:11PM
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saskskier
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raymeraFucking crazy shit going on this year. Worst disaster since '96 when 15 died. Khumbu icefall and the Nepl side is some sketchy shit.



If I read right, 15 people died in all of 1996 on Everest and there were eight fatalities in the May 10-11 blizzard.

It sounds like there are still a bunch of people missing so there i guess the number of fatalities could be higher than 12. Hopefully we'll hear some survival stories come out of this.
Apr 18 2014 10:22PM
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JAHpow
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Mr.HuckAlso have to read Into thin Air:



Pretty powerful book.


I read this book while a family friend climbed Everest two years ago. One of the best books I've ever opened.
Apr 19 2014 2:08AM
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MLB
Posts: 4462 - Karma: 298
Mr.HuckAlso have to read Into thin Air:



Pretty powerful book.


This so much. Plus i also read a book on the last major incident at K2. Just so crazy how some people just have this insane will to live, and how people can just be so stupid. I think there is just so much stupidity right now around Everest in particular.

Everest isn't a marathon, or an Ironman. Something that you can go home and say you did, or have a medal and be proud of. It is one of the most dangerous places on the face of the earth, and sometimes crazy stuff happens to remind people what that place is.I just feel terrible for the people who have to suffer so rich dentists can have something to brag about.
Apr 19 2014 2:19AM
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IDMT_BC024
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Alpine style or nothing.
Apr 19 2014 2:25AM
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Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
The referenced post has been removed.


not true. the overall death rate is better than 1/10, and in the last couple decades it's closer to like 1/100. Which is surprisingly low for an 8000er, especially considering how many people climb it with inadequate experience.

Not to say it's a walk in the park, but comparatively it's not that dangerous, especially if you are not the sherpa who lays out the fixed rope for everyone else.

K2, Annapurna, Nanga Parbat are all around a 1/4 chance of death. And most people who attempt those are much more experienced than your average everest climber.
Apr 19 2014 2:40AM
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Turkelton
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The referenced post has been removed.


It's clear to see why people die up there. There's kids I know in school who say "I want to climb blah blah big mountain ranges" and I'm there like "mhhm ok you won't die, mhhm". They can barely walk to school in snow, let alone up the largest mountain in the world. And hiking above 3000m is a bitch, I hiked in Bolivia at 4900m last year and holy shitballs, it's like being high with no breath. It's not fun or feels accomplishing, it just feels bad at that height and that's half of Everest.

You're paying 60,000 dollars plus to be out of breath for 2 months and you might not even get a view at the top. Anyone read 101 things not to do before you die? This had a great quote. "Everest is one of those poncey things that the businessman dickhead you know did this summer and always says how he hiked it at dinner parties. He says things like how it changed him and how zen he was" - not exact, don't have the book on hand.
Apr 19 2014 3:51AM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
Also the people that do it read things like this cos they're boring and think Everest is the be all and end all accomplishment ever and they're better than you. http://www.lifed.com/bucket-list-225-things-to-do-before-you-die this list made me angry
Apr 19 2014 3:55AM
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IDMT_BC024
Posts: 224 - Karma: 129
TurkeltonAlso the people that do it read things like this cos they're boring and think Everest is the be all and end all accomplishment ever and they're better than you. http://www.lifed.com/bucket-list-225-things-to-do-before-you-die this list made me angry


Truth.
Apr 19 2014 4:35AM
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paige.
Posts: 1932 - Karma: 924
TurkeltonAlso the people that do it read things like this cos they're boring and think Everest is the be all and end all accomplishment ever and they're better than you. http://www.lifed.com/bucket-list-225-things-to-do-before-you-die this list made me angry


Oof that is awful. They tell you to join the Peace Corps because it is a big 'ego trip'.
Apr 19 2014 5:22AM
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saskskier
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DugskioI'm curious to know whether it was a loose snow avalanche or a slab avalanche. That article mentions pulling people out of mounds of snow and ice, but I think a loose snow avalanche is much more likely on Mt. Everest.



Rescuers recovered the body of one mountain guide on Saturday after an ice avalanche swept the lower slopes of Mount Everest, bringing the death toll to at least 13 in the deadliest accident on the world's highest mountain.

The avalanche struck a perilous passage called the Khumbu Icefall, which is riddled with crevasses and piled with serac - or huge chunks of ice - that can break free without warning.

The fatal incident was the result, some climbers said, of a so-called ice release and not a more typical snow avalanche.

"When the serac hovering off the West Shoulder of Everest collapsed, it sent house-sized ice blocks all over the route,"
Apr 19 2014 1:32PM
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Spagett+
Posts: 3499 - Karma: 14,884
I really don't understand the appeal of climbing Everest. To me it just seems like the people who do it are having a dick measuring contest with the earth so when they climb it they can say, "i am a person and can climb up a mountain, take that earth you cant limit where i go." It just seems dumb to put your life at risk to achieve something that really means absolutely nothing.
Apr 19 2014 1:48PM
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SkiBum.
Posts: 3600 - Karma: 3,909
SpagettI really don't understand the appeal of climbing Everest. To me it just seems like the people who do it are having a dick measuring contest with the earth so when they climb it they can say, "i am a person and can climb up a mountain, take that earth you cant limit where i go." It just seems dumb to put your life at risk to achieve something that really means absolutely nothing.


Thats why you stay in the flat lands
Apr 19 2014 2:09PM
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Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
SpagettI really don't understand the appeal of climbing Everest. To me it just seems like the people who do it are having a dick measuring contest with the earth so when they climb it they can say, "i am a person and can climb up a mountain, take that earth you cant limit where i go." It just seems dumb to put your life at risk to achieve something that really means absolutely nothing.


climbing mountains in general is just one of those things that if you don't do, you wont understand. The type of people who climb everest are not always real mountaineers though.

when you go skiing you put your life in danger for "no reason". sure it might be a safer than climbing mountains, but in the end you are still going up and down mountains for no reason. what's the point of any of it?
Apr 19 2014 5:39PM
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Wallisch_pl
Posts: 5260 - Karma: 1,022
Like most of you are saying. There are risks of going up there, if you want to climb the biggest mountain so you can brag to people the rest of your life.

no real point in climbing it, only to brag to people, go hiking at a smaller mountain.
inb4 rage
Apr 19 2014 8:22PM
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Anathema
Posts: 21048 - Karma: 5,061
Mr.HuckAlso have to read Into thin Air:



Pretty powerful book.


i read that when i was younger and dont really remember a lot of it. i feel like i got the message and the gist of the story, but a lot of those subtleties are lost. i might have to pick it up again. it was a really good read. that and krakauer's into the wild. guy knows how to tell a mean story.
Apr 19 2014 8:25PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37322 - Karma: 118,974
SpagettI really don't understand the appeal of climbing Everest. To me it just seems like the people who do it are having a dick measuring contest with the earth so when they climb it they can say, "i am a person and can climb up a mountain, take that earth you cant limit where i go." It just seems dumb to put your life at risk to achieve something that really means absolutely nothing.


yeah definitely, climbing to the highest points on earth really means jack shit, and is just a dick measuring contest. its not like they're pushing the limits of what humans can do or anything.
Apr 19 2014 8:46PM
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Wallisch_pl
Posts: 5260 - Karma: 1,022
DeebieSkeebiesyeah definitely, climbing to the highest points on earth really means jack shit, and is just a dick measuring contest. its not like they're pushing the limits of what humans can do or anything.


Yeah, what millions have done probably, lol. It is a dick measuring contest, people just like to brag that they can travel to a 3rd world country, hire someone to tell them what to do, follow them, and not die. I can guarentee 90% of the people that do it brag about it nonstop.

People that do it are fucking retarded, no real skill involved. Really though, I have no clue as to why all of you care so much when people die on Everest every day, and only 12 people died?
Apr 19 2014 9:41PM
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saskskier
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I watched 'The Summit' on Netflix this afternoon. About the (up until yesterday) the 11 people who died climbing K2 in 08'. Crazy stuff. I can't imagine making my way up under the giant serac between 4th camp and the summit.

I've got more respect for the people who do K2 than Everest, but still have a tough time with the whole 'I'm going to climb this mountain, but with __ number of Sherpas'. (of course I say this fully recognizing I'm from the prairies and haven't climbed anything over a few thousand feet and don't truly appreciate the challenges that go into big alpine climbs)

The fact that 13 Sherpas died making sure the trail up Everest is clear and 'safe' for rich dudes checking off their bucket list is a hage tragedy.
Apr 19 2014 11:09PM
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Holte
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If you're going to read Into Thin Air, read The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev too. It's a second (and by many accounts more accurate) telling of the 96 Everest disaster.
Apr 19 2014 11:39PM
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DockEllis
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HolteIf you're going to read Into Thin Air, read The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev too. It's a second (and by many accounts more accurate) telling of the 96 Everest disaster.


Couldn't agree more. The climb >Into thin air, Krakauer's book is more of a novel and for entertainment purposes where as Boukreev's is more of a factual explanation of what happened.
Apr 20 2014 11:34AM
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Astomp
Posts: 10090 - Karma: 344
i will admit i know nothing about mountain climbing. i did very little rock climbing and that community was awesome, so i always assumed alpinist would be very similar. I from what i have read and watched it seems like everyone just wants to do it for themselves with no intention of helping anyone else out. They seemed to not even care for their own sherpas.
Apr 20 2014 11:40AM
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Astomp
Posts: 10090 - Karma: 344
i will admit i know nothing about mountain climbing. i did very little rock climbing and that community was awesome, so i always assumed alpinist would be very similar. I from what i have read and watched it seems like everyone just wants to do it for themselves with no intention of helping anyone else out. They seemed to not even care for their own sherpas.
Apr 20 2014 11:40AM
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profa_212
Posts: 8850 - Karma: 35,326
Astompi will admit i know nothing about mountain climbing. i did very little rock climbing and that community was awesome, so i always assumed alpinist would be very similar. I from what i have read and watched it seems like everyone just wants to do it for themselves with no intention of helping anyone else out. They seemed to not even care for their own sherpas.


Change that alpinist to rich 35 year old doctors and that statement is correct.
Apr 20 2014 12:04PM
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Astomp
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totally agree.
Apr 21 2014 6:16AM
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Turd.Ferguson
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DugskioI'm curious to know whether it was a loose snow avalanche or a slab avalanche. That article mentions pulling people out of mounds of snow and ice, but I think a loose snow avalanche is much more likely on Mt. Everest.


slab
May 4 2014 9:04PM
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