This has to be disappointing

"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus) 05/28/2019 at 14:48 • Filed to: None

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when I hiked Mt Washington, I was disappointed with the amount of other people on the trail. I would think the people going to Mt Everest to climb are not expecting to be in a Disney World style line.

I was expecting to pass maybe one or two people on the entire trip but it ended up being many many more than that . One group, that I could only describe as some blend of something like German Gothic death metal wackos were hiking in all black leather and jeans with giant platform boots while blasting death metal screamer music from a boom box. that really disrupted the peacefulness of nature. We also passed a woman (T ibeta n) who was rather upset to be waiting for he friends to catch up.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 14:59

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Other humans continue to be the #1 worst thing about the human existence

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/28/2019 at 15:01

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CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 05/28/2019 at 15:03

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legit made me lol.  Almost owed my company a new laptop!

DipodomysDeserti > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:07

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Half those people are sherpas, who were hired to carry gear for all the doctors and lawyers.

Ash78, voting early and often > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:10

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The Nepalese government is largely to blame for their weak (or nonexistent) impact-management practices in exchange for permit money . That stuff would never fly in most of the West. Plus with the proliferation of the internet, ever DudeBro who hires a couple Sherpas can call himself a guide whether he’s got real experience or not. It’s sickening.

The barrier to entry of certain hikes and climbs is your skill level and experience. When people shortcut that “natural order of things,” people die.

Maybe they should force you to climb K2 first.

Ash78, voting early and often > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:10

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The Nepalese government is largely to blame for their weak (or nonexistent) impact-management practices. That stuff would never fly in most of the West. Plus with the proliferation of the internet, ever DudeBro who hires a couple Sherpas can call himself a guide whether he’s got real experience or not. It’s sickening.

The barrier to entry of certain hikes and climbs is your skill level and experience. When people shortcut that “natural order of things,” people die.

Maybe they should force you to climb K2 first.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:11

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I’ve always joked that anyone on a guided trip who doesn’t know any better should just be helicoptered to a different less lethal mountain and then told it is Everest. Or just ban the use of oxygen.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:14

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It sounds like a lot of those deaths would have been preventable if the person could have summited then started down climbing immediately. That was not the case. It appears some spent 4-6 hrs on the last pitch waiting for a chance to stand on the summit.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Ash78, voting early and often 05/28/2019 at 15:17

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Isn’ t that how some of the bigger marathons work? you have to complete some other marathon before getting to the top ones?  i think you are right though, they should have to have some sort of qualification system.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:18

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Part of me likes the idea of carving stairs up the inside of Mt. Everest, then charging people to use them.

Ash78, voting early and often > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:21

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Yep, an article I read made the same analogy.

One of the beautiful things about climbing (rock, alpine, etc) is that you CAN go up against the hardest stuff in the world without having to qualify for it. That’s pretty unique in sports. But a lot of these people aren’t taking those experiential steps, they’re basically just paying for the escort.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Ash78, voting early and often 05/28/2019 at 15:45

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I think most people would be challenged to climb No b H ill.

Ash78, voting early and often > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 05/28/2019 at 15:49

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That might as well be the new name for Everest.

(I did Nob hill a couple years ago in a full business suit. I tried hard to keep a straight face amid the exertion . All I could think was that SF is missing out on an amazing Zipline opportunity. They could sell transit passes for it.)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 15:58

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Except that if a tree fell and blocked the trail, you and all of the other hikers would not in all likelihood lose your lives.

ttyymmnn > Ash78, voting early and often 05/28/2019 at 16:02

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What they need is a lottery system for permits and a limit on the number of climbers. But when there’s money to be made, we know how that goes. 

DipodomysDeserti > Ash78, voting early and often 05/28/2019 at 16:03

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“The Nepalese government is largely to blame for their weak (or nonexistent) impact-management practices in exchange for permit money.”

When’s the last time you visited a National Park in the US? If this were in America they’d have built a road to the summit. Nepal issues about 800 permits a year. I know it’s not a direct comparison, but Denali already has over 1k permits issued for this year.

I think you have yourself to blame if you die climbing a mountain, but the Nepalese government should reduce permits.

Ash78, voting early and often > DipodomysDeserti 05/28/2019 at 16:09

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When’s the last time you visited a National Park in the US?

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

I go to the Smokies almost every year; others a little less frequently. What’s amazing there is zero entry fee, yet the trails are pretty pristine. Despite being the most trafficked NP in the US, I read that over 90% of visitors never go beyond 1 mile from a trailhead. Self-selection :D

On the flipside, if you want to stay at certain spots within the park, it’s like the Grand Canyon — booked a year in advance, first come first served .

That Denali stat is shocking! I had no idea it was so busy. I’m also surprised when I read about the number of people who make it up Half Dome, even with half- assed planning. That’s another one that needs at least some gatekeeping.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 16:43

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When I see that picture — when I saw that Everest picture — I could only think of one word:

bubblestheturtle > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 05/28/2019 at 17:26

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When there is a Disney line at Mt. Everest, there may be too many of us. The planet gives us signs.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 20:29

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did you go on a weekend or weekday? A couple freinds have made multiple trips and have said some similar stori es of woefully unprepared folks.

OPPOsaurus WRX > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 05/28/2019 at 21:47

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it was a saturday.

facw > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/28/2019 at 23:10

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Sometimes. My brother did London as his first marathon because he got a slot from Amazon, who is a sponsor. A friend of mine did NYC last year as his first, without having to do the qualifying NYRR events through some special mechanism as well.

facw > BaconSandwich is tasty. 05/28/2019 at 23:13

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Gondola to the top! Not enough space for people to get their views? Build a giant observation platform!

functionoverfashion > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/29/2019 at 10:12

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Top of Mt. Washington, October 4, 2017:

This is a line of people waiting to take a picture with the summit sign. All of whom came to the summit by bus, car, or train.

I had hiked there with a group from work and we marched ourselves up to the sign for a quick picture, ignoring the line completely. I figured, sure, it’s rude to cut a line. But NOT IF I HIKED HERE FROM THE BOTTOM WITH MY OWN LEGS.

It was beautiful up there that day. Wind was only blowing about 40mph.

Then, this was last September - same spot, but the weather was overcast for 99% of the state, except peaks above about 5,500' -

And...

OPPOsaurus WRX > functionoverfashion 05/29/2019 at 10:19

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when i hiked I started out with jeans over shorts and a sweatshirt voer a t shirt. I quickly took off the jeans and sweat shirt. About 3/4 of the way up, clouds came pouring over the ridge and down the mountain (kinda like in your photos). It went from 70's to 40's in a few minutes.  The way the clouds poured over the ridge looked like something out of a horror movie.

functionoverfashion > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/29/2019 at 10:34

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It is amazing how different the weather is up there, even from the other higher peaks in NH, although the whole Presidential Range kinda gets hammered. Pretty sure it snowed up there last night. 

functionoverfashion > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 05/29/2019 at 10:34

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The weather up there changes so fast and is so different from that in the valley that even well-prepared people die up there every year. This year has been no exception, already.