Mt. Everest has become a vast garbage dump. Persons of all persuasions, limitations (be the first without oxygen), handicaps (be the first asthmatic), ages (be the first over 70), and genders (the first transsexual – just kidding, at least so far) – if they have the funds – can pay an outfitter to get them to the summit. Some outfitters are better – and more reliable and honest – than others. Some steal supplies, others try to make it on the cheap. Base camps are now filled with prostitutes and hustlers, trash is everywhere (including bodies on the way up.) Aside from the fact that only an idiot would want to face the hazards and hardship of preparing for, and then climbing the mountain, which I do not need to remind anyone, has already been surmounted numerous times, it kills people. The base camps are virtually lawless and Kathmandu resembles nothing more than a shanty town.Kordas follows the climbs of two parties. One, led by an unscruplous guide, is fraught with difficulty and leaves a member, a Bolivian doctor, to die. His own party bickers and becomes downright nasty. Sure is fun to read about though. Best on a summer day when the temperature is over 90.
By the way, the TV series on climbing the mountain, Everest: Beyond the Limit, is outstanding. You can get it cheaply through iTunes. My hat is off to the cameramen, who not only had to climb the mountain, but lug the frigging camera along with them.
Other titles to read with this one:
Into Thin Air A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
[b:Dark Summit The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season|2841802|Dark Summit The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season|Nick Heil|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416L1IhMbqL._SL75_.jpg|2867915]
