jbeede

Yes! I did see it... wow, that's an enormous question. I side with the Sherpa. I know that's controversial... but here's why:

Steck and Moro were asked by the Sherpa to NOT climb above them on the Lhotse face. The sherpa were fixing rope for EVERYONE else on the mountain, an incredibly important task.

Steck & Moro They basically said, "F you, Sherpa..." in the Sherpa language. That's like going to the Bronx and yelling out racial obscenities. You just don't do that.

They then climbed directly above the Sherpa, kicking ice and rocks in their faces. Everyone descended. At the base of the Lhotse face, name calling continued, and a Sherpa was reportedly held against the ice by shoulders & neck. This is at the word of my Western guide who was on the rope fixing team.

They went back to the tents (fights don't last very long at 23,500 feet, huffing and puffing), and 3-5 sherpa crowded around Moro & Steck's tent. These Sherpa DID throw rocks at their tent, which is a shame. This is where I began watching, as did ~40 others. Not hundreds as was stated in the media. There certainly was no mob in an outright attack!

Also, everyone on Everest has knives, ice axes, and we all have our faces covered because it's Mt. Everest... COLD! And we need equipment! So to say that a mob of armed sherpa came at them with their faces covered with intent of all-out assault is totally ridiculous.

There was another scuffle, not even worthy of being called an Australian bar fight, and Moro and Steck became scared, retreating off the mountain. In the North Face video, they blame it on 'commercialism of Everest.' Me? I think it was caused by two jerks who disrespected the culture and protocols of the mountain and the people surrounding it... and they then blamed commercialism to protect their sponsorships. The $$ they'll make in publicity as a result of their actions is likely 10 times what 10 Sherpa will earn in a year of work. A real shame, as the Sherpa are notoriously peaceful, wonderful, happy people. Yet I believe they had a right to protect their honor... without the rock throwing.

Immensely.

I nearly had a panic attack when I saw a man who was on his last breath, unconscious, but still alive. I stayed with him for some time, but he passed within a few minutes of my seeing him. I talk about this in depth in the 60 minutes story and I've had nightmares about it nearly every night since. In the nightmares, I'm upsidedown on the mountain, my arms frozen into the ice, which is the same position I found the man in, in the dark. In my dream, I'm looking at the summit past my boots, then I look behind me, and it's my family and friends. As I die in the dream, I wake up in a cold sweat.

So, yes, it affected my ascent and every day since then!! (phew...!)

No problem, I know that some people think that! I answered this in a June interview:

"I’ve never once met someone who has actually climbed the mountain and calls it anything less than an enormous undertaking. Yes, with technology and experience, we have some extra protection from the elements and better understanding of weather and logistics for the mountain, but when it comes down to it, the challenges and dangers aren’t that much different from 60 years ago when Norgay and Hillary made the first ascent."

Now adding to that... the main issue isn't staying warm or battling the elements. The issues on this mountain are 1) the icefall... still heinous as ever and goretex can't pad a 150ft. fall into a crevasse 2) oxygen. We're basically using the same technology from 1968 and we're not a lot closer to understanding cerebral and pulmonary edema than we used to be 3) the Lhotse face. 3000ft of ice at a 45-55 degree slope... killed then and kills today.

You're right that there are some mitigated challenges as opposed to years ago. But the same challenges are mitigated on K2, Annapurna, etc. and the reason I won't climb those is because the risk of death becomes even higher... and I've learned I can have just as much fun in the Alps or Rockies, without the altitude risk. All that said, still the toughest thing I've ever done and probably ever will do.

The full interview I referred to is here: http://www.thetraveltart.com/climbing-mount-everest-nepal-john-beede/

I spent 40,000 for my guide service and another 10k in travel, equipment, etc. Now, I am broke!!

As a regular guy, I saved for YEARS. I've had every job you can imagine... chess instructor, climbing instructor, beer promoter, computer sales... I finally settled in on giving speeches at schools and universities about climbing. I also run some websites in my spare time. That's what's allowed me to save up enough.

You make good points about savings of weight, being dry, GPS, and weather forecasts... but those technology advances aren't specific to Everest, they're amenities to the climbing world in general.

The Sherpa do fix ropes and carry loads. They are the incredible heroes of the mountain. They did the same when Hillary and Norgay first reached the summit 60 years ago. It took a team to get those two up as well.

So, you are correct in a lot of what you say, but the main thing that still makes Everest an enormous undertaking is the lack of oxygen. Even when you have supplemental oxygen, it's not like you are climbing in a pressurized airplane chamber. You are slowly yet actively dying. Everyone is. Yes, there are steeper slopes, more technical cliffs, I've climbed many of them, but it's the altitude battle that still makes Everest the king of them all.

The guy taking his last breath was Bangladeshi, an experienced climber who had succeeded on many other 8000m peaks... Due to altitude sickness, which can strike anyone at any time, as it did Scott Fisher in 1996.