I read this morning the great news that 13-year-old
Jordan Romero became the youngest climber to reach the top of
Everest on Friday.
Good for him. A lifetime goal for many has been trounced by a 13 year old who will be able to look back on it forever and apply what he has learned to structure his adult life.
But I blame the parents.
It was a foolhardy and, some might even say, stupid thing for them to do.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not some limber climber who spends every waking moment dreaming of climbing Everest or hiking to it's Base Camp. I'm an armchair athlete who is happy to comment on almost anything. I do have an interest in Everest though.
As most of the English speaking world knows, there was an horrific day on Everest back on May 9th 1996. Its well written about repeatedly but my favorite book about that day, and climbing Everest in general, is
Jon Krakauer's '
Into Thin Air'. Its a great read and was the first book that I know of that brought out the subject of people paying to get to the top of Everest, irrelevant of skill or experience.
'Into Thin Air' had a lot of critics. There was little proof of what happens above 28,000 feet in The Death Zone and armchair expeditionists and family of those that died, were up in arms about getting to the truth.
Anatoli Boukreev, who had been one of the main characters in 'Into Thin Air' spoke from the grave* with his book '
The Climb, Tragic Ambitions on Everest'. This is probably one of the least read books about Everest, even though it was a 'National Bestseller' because it is written in an arrogant, stuttered manner. But the truth, or Anatoli's version of it, lays there and needs to be read.
So whats all the noise about? Its a mountain. You go there, climb for a bit, have an energy bar or two, climb for a bit more and then put on a bottle of oxygen and get to the top. Smile for the camera - phone your Mum, and back down in time for tea and crumpets with the charwallwahs.
First of all I'd like to point out that a number of people die every year on their way to
Everest Base Camp. Its not like they're going to hike up the mountain itself, they've gone to see it from a long way away and the
altitude sickness kills them. So Everest is a killer from afar too.
There are TV shows all about Everest such as 'Everest Beyond The Limits', 'Everest' and 'Bear's Mission Everest'. And they all repeatedly state the bare facts:
People die on Everest.
People die easily on Everest.
Sending your 13 year old to climb it seems like the crappiest Bar Mitzvah present I've ever heard of.
My further thoughts of climbing Everest in Part 2.
kthanxbai!
*Anatoli died in an avalanche on Christmas Day 1997.
