I’ve been watching a show on Netflix that has been driving me a bit crazy. I alternate between being amazed at the strength of these people and their stupidity. The series is called “EVEREST”. I guess it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what this show is about, but there are plenty of things in the show that might also amaze you. Here are some things I did not know.
- There are traffic jams of teams and people climbing the mountain at times. The window of opportunity to climb is so small because of the weather that everyone tries to do it at once and it gets to the point that it’s like waiting in line at the DMV.
- It’s a crap shoot whether you can make it or not. Example…amputee guy makes the summit, but healthy Danish kid doesn’t. There are plenty of ways not to make it. I guess the amputee didn’t have to worry about frostbite.
- They send these sherpas up ahead to string safety rope. These native Tibetans climb Mt. Everest all day long setting up the rich guys to come along and get their picture taken.
Anyhow..climbing Mt. Everest has about every single barrier in the world for me to get past. You have to be in incredible shape. You have to be able to endure extreme weather conditions. You should have an affinity to Yak meat. Last but not least? You have to have some weird compelling desire to risk your life to do something that probably won’t even get you a free beer if you tell people about it…unless they’ve seen the show. Think about it. What would you say to a guy at a party that happens to mention that he climbed Mt. Everest? “Wow…cool” What else? Some other guy would come along and tell a story about a fish and everyone would forget Everest guy. No thanks.
