There is Something Seriously Wrong With The Current Generation of Everest Climbers

“In a few short weeks the Yaks will be loaded, the porters will be marching and the climbers will make their way to Everest base camp, the front line for many chasing after yet another repackaged title.”

I spent weeks debating whether or not I was going to weigh in on this hot button topic and, Yoda forgive me, it turns out I couldn’t resist. Yes my dear readers, I speak of the slopes of Mount Everest. In a few short weeks the Yaks will be loaded, the porters will be marching and the climbers will make their way to Everest base camp, the front line for many chasing after yet another repackaged title.

This year, as with every year, “mountaineers” are readying themselves to climb over the hills, the ice falls, the slopes and indeed each other for a chance of earning a new “title”. A title that only two people can ever really claim as their own, but who thousands of people have repackaged in order to sell it off as a new first: The title of first (fill in the repackaged subprime mortgage) to climb Everest.

On the 29th of May, 1953, Sir Ed Hillary reached the summit of Everest, he did so as part of a team. Anyone of those team members could have been in the right climbing condition when the weather window opened to make a push for the summit, and it was incumbent on the rest of the team to support that effort. Ultimately, the goal was something far greater than one man or one team. It was about what a group of people could achieve at the edge of human existence. It was about the human race coming together to push the boundaries of what was possible and show generations who come after what they did and how they did it: together.

“Reaching the summit should be so much more than a rush to the top to claim a title, and no summit more so than the roof of the world. It is about coming together as people, as a humanity, to show ourselves and indeed the universe what the human condition is capable of when we come together.”

A New Zealander and a Nepalese on a British expedition reached the summit of Everest.

Today, it saddens me to see parts, at least the most social media active parts, of our mountaineering community get pulled into the nonsense that is attempting to become the first (fill in the blank) to summit Everest. There was one first. It was Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Ed Hillary. Reaching the summit should be so much more than a rush to the top to claim a title, and no summit more so than the roof of the world. It is about coming together as people, as a humanity, to show ourselves and indeed the universe what the human condition is capable of when we come together. Become one team. Do it because you love it. Do it because it’s there. Because at the end of it all, we are mountaineers. We rely on each other in the harshest environments on the planet. We dig steps in the ice so that the person behind us can use them to go beyond where we were able to go. That is the core beauty of the human experience.

When Sir Ed Hillary came within steps of the highest point on Earth, he turned to his friend, his brother, the native of the region who grew up in the shadow of the mountain, and offered the first step on the roof of the world to him. Today, I’d hardly be surprised if climbers would offer an elbow to the face as opposed to a hand to the top just to claim a title. The only title worth an elbow to the face is Mother of Dragons and it’s taken at least until the end of Game of Thrones season 8.