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Mount Everest as seen from Drukair [2971x1615] (imgur.com)

submitted ago by lanismycousin

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[–]Brettuss 25 points26 points ago

I have never and will never climb Everest, but this picture and the mountain takes on a whole new aura after reading Into Thin Air. That mountain is home to dozens (hundreds?) of dead bodies that are impossible to recover. People use them as landmarks when climbing. Insane. This video is a quick watch and is indicative of the conditions in which people perish.

[–]natedeeezy 13 points14 points ago

Into Thin Air is one of my favorite books of all time.

[–]Brettuss 3 points4 points ago

I read it a couple of months ago and was enthralled. It wasn't a bird's eye view, it was first hand. I loved it. My mother started reading it at my recommendation and she couldn't get into it - too many names, dates and times to juggle as the story unfolded. I thought it was great and have moved on to another of Krakauer's books.

[–]clintonius 3 points4 points ago

Krakauer is one of the finest climbing and adventure writers. If you're looking to discover other authors, check out some of the compilations edited by Clint Willis, like "High" and "Epic." They're made of snippets from other great climbing books, so you can sample a variety of other writers' works to see who else you might enjoy reading.

[–]kranzb2 2 points3 points ago

His book on Pat Tillman is also fantastic, I strongly recommend it.

[–]agehaya 0 points1 point ago

While not about Everest (although it certainly comes up a number of times), you might also like Buried in the Sky by Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Pandoan, about the deadliest day on K2. I've never read other books about mountaineering or the like, but found it alternating horrifying and fascinating.

[–]tritonice 2 points3 points ago

Ordered. Thanks natedeeezy and Brettuss for the recommedation.

[–]feralcatromance 0 points1 point ago

I just finished reading it for what must be the hundredth time. I read it in the heat of the Phoenix summer to cool me down.

[–]ANewMachine615 0 points1 point ago

I re-read it every few years. Man, it's amazing.

[–]SOPA_NO 1 point2 points ago

Can you imagine that? Being stuck there as people walk past you, as you slowly freeze to death with no hope of being recovered. I can't even imagine what David Sharp) must've gone through.

And what most people don't realize, trying to recover a dead body 9/10 times would simply result in more deaths. If you break both your legs on Everest, you're good as dead.

[–]kiffaliff 0 points1 point ago

I am climbing to base camp in August, not sure if I will encounter dead bodies that high but I will buy and read this book before I go.

[–]Brettuss 1 point2 points ago

As far as I know, you will not encounter them at base camp. That is far below the death zone, where rescue is basically impossible. The book gives a pretty detailed description of what it is like to hike to base camp and the various villages that are encountered as you walk along the river. It was quite interesting.

[–]LurkerPatrol 0 points1 point ago

This is why the nepalese people never climbed it. It's a god to them, they call "Everest" Saagarmaatha - "Mother of the ocean". They treated it with respect as it should be, and now it's just littered with dead bodies. So sad.

Makes me upset when people don't take this stuff seriously and say they're going to "conquer the mountain".

[–]Brettuss 2 points3 points ago

The dead bodies don't bother me, I don't think it's disrespectful to want to challenge yourself and climb the highest mountain on Earth. To die there is no different than dying on any other square foot on Earth - it's all Earth. I guess one could argue that it belongs to them and that their customs and beliefs take precedence over anything else.

I was discussing this with someone recently. I have no sympathy for someone who dies on the mountain. It is not a tragedy. If someone wants to risk their life and climb the mountain and they die, then so be it. That is their final resting place. The risk is well documented and should come as no surprise to anyone. I find it no more disrespectful to die on the mountain than someone who wrecks a speed boat in the ocean. Then again, I don't have centuries of spiritual connection that the various people that live around the mountain do and wouldn't pretend to know what their POV is like.

I find it highly disrespectful that there are literally TONS of litter up there with all of the various oxygen canisters that are discarded during ascent and descent. If I were a local, I think that fact would be much more troubling to me.

[–]LurkerPatrol 1 point2 points ago

I agree on some of your insightful statements.

So I'm an Indian, and the way I was raised, whenever I see people littering when the trash can is close to them, or when someone disrespects a local culture's land and its traditions, it upsets me.

I have no sympathy for anyone that attempts to climb the mountain, be it with respect or no respect. You're making the decision to risk your life to achieve some goal.

I do agree that the littered canisters and tents and whatnot are disgusting, and I really want to start or at least want someone to start a foundation to clean up the mess that people have created/left over the years. Same thing with the ganges. I can't believe the amount of crap that is in a river that his considered highly sacred. I'm very disappointed in the organization that failed to clean up the river.

I do have an issue with the dead bodies, because I feel like it's also littering in a way. I mean this mountain was untouched all this time, pristine, precious, sacred. While I guess you have little control of where you perish, you have the ability to make the decision to back out of the climb if it becomes too perilous. I feel like littering the mountain with dead bodies is like littering a temple with dead bodies. Just seems wrong to me.

[–]charlieisme 0 points1 point ago

Can't believe they just left the poor dude on the mountain to die. I guess there is nothing you can really do if he can't walk himself though.

[–]Phunk131 2 points3 points ago

Theres no chance of rescue. Everyone knows that before they head up.

Stopping to help will only get you killed.

[–]SandyNipples 10 points11 points ago

Amazing. It looks so much smaller from this view.

[–]MorningLtMtn 14 points15 points ago

man I'm an idiot this morning. For whatever reason, I read it as Mount Rushmore and sat there looking for president's faces for a good 30 seconds before I realized my error.

[–]football_wizard 7 points8 points ago

If you look carefully you can actually see Obama

[–]Fuck_my_username 1 point2 points ago

He got a little ashy

[–]RichieCunningham 8 points9 points ago

Am I crazy to think that this is a really lucky shot? As in, there is usually so much weather, clouds, snow, etc. around the mountain that it is difficult to get this shot. I spent a weekend in Zermatt, Switzerland and couldn't see the Matterhorn until I went above the cloud level.

[–]flcknzwrg 9 points10 points ago

In the (admittedly short) summer climbing season on Everest, you apparently have clear weather often.

Oh, and I've been to Zermatt once, and the weather was fine almost every day (was in winter) :)

[–]mclongboard 6 points7 points ago

Can someone photoshop the empire state building or something into this picture as a size comparison?

[–]Alpacalex 7 points8 points ago

The problem is, what appears to be the bottom of the mountain is also an elevated plane. This plane is about 4-5km above sealevel. The empire state building would be under ground in this image. As would any man-made structure.

[–]flcknzwrg 3 points4 points ago

Mount Everest rises around 3000 meters or so from its base, so it wouldn't look any different from comparing the empire state building or something to any other mountain that rises similarly high above its base.

[–]zombiebarbie 1 point2 points ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea Taller than Everest from its base.

[–]flcknzwrg 1 point2 points ago

I guess we need to define "base" a bit to avoid confusion. With still a good bit of handwaving left, let's just say "base" is the height of the surrounding terrain around a mountain (sans other mountains).

With Everest, this is the tibetan plateau (I guess) - anyway, the mountain rises ca. 4100 meters above its more or less immediate surroundings. (I checked the number now, my previous post is 1000 meters off, sorry).

With Mauna Kea, its base is the ocean floor surrounding the island. That makes Mauna Kea the highest mountain-like thing on earth with more than 10000 meters.

By this measure, another awesome mountain would be Denali (aka Mount McKinley), which rises ca. 5300 - 5900 meters above its surroundings in Alaska.

(See here for a paragraph from Everest's wikipedia article on the subject.)

So, to sum it up: making a comparison mountain - building on a picture would probably look coolest with Denali - unless you can make a nice pic of Mauna Kea that also shows the portion that is under water.

[–]Machinax 2 points3 points ago

Just think: that is the highest point on our planet. There is no other place on Earth like Everest. You climb that, you survive that, you are literally, figuratively, on top of the world.

[–]penjsface 2 points3 points ago

This is not technically true if you measure from the center of the planet since it bulges at the middle. Also, there are much harder climbs.

[–]TryingToSucceed 2 points3 points ago

I've considered flying Druk Air even though I have really no reason to fly from Kathmandu, Nepal to Paro, Bhutan.

[–]lordspidey 1 point2 points ago

OP are you in bhutan?

[–]lanismycousin[S] 5 points6 points ago

I wish I was. Found this pic using stumbleupon, If I'm not mistaken I've seen the pic on national geographic before but I could be wrong.

[–]lightstaver 2 points3 points ago

I think it was the Drukair reference that threw him off as that is the national Bhutanese airline. I have a few photos like this myself from the Thimphu-Kathmandu flight.

[–]lordspidey 1 point2 points ago

Aye I was there a few months ago incredible place to do some voulunteer work. :D

Drukair is also an awesome airline.

[–]awkwardponyshow 2 points3 points ago

The only way in and out by air. I went to Bhutan two summers ago and it was a once in a lifetime experience. Very, Very cool.

[–]terrible0ne 1 point2 points ago

What is the distance from peak to peak?

[–]Shooey_ 3 points4 points ago

I think it's an airline called Drukair, as opposed to another mountain.

(I did the same thing.)

[–]amirrorbehind 1 point2 points ago

Gorgeous. Is anyone interested in doing some Photoshopping on it for reasons of desktop wallpaper glory?

[–]ibarkatdogs 1 point2 points ago

Doesnt look that big...

[–]H3000 0 points1 point ago

Wow, Drew Carey is a great photographer.

[–]cuteprincess204 4 points5 points ago

Clever and stupid at the same time.

[–]H3000 1 point2 points ago

That's me!

[–]pozorvlak 0 points1 point ago

That's gorgeous!

[–]scrambles57 0 points1 point ago

Pffff, that's not so scary.

[–]Ym4n 0 points1 point ago

am i the only one here curious about the specs of this shot?

[–]northendtrooper 0 points1 point ago

It's so hard to get a reference of height with this picture.

[–]MrStavanger 0 points1 point ago

...he grasped his hair in despair when he suddenly realized; "Fuck! I climbed the wrong fucking mountain!"

[–]p8ntslinger 0 points1 point ago

I was about to ask, "Is it the highest one in that pic?"

But then, I used my brain to facepalm.

[–]michellengineer 0 points1 point ago

How does someone go about seeing the mountain like this? Do any commercial flights do this, or is it a special tour?

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