Is Climbing Mount Everest Worth it?

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Ghoomophiro

The growing appetite for climbing the highest mountain of the world brings with it, tons of pros and cons. The ones who make the dream come true are the unsung heroes who attain the trophy of lifetime – eternal glory. To climb the Mt Everest is a mighty undertaking and not only does it take enough courage and confidence but also an intense amount of prolonged training.

In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest and, encouraging the mountaineering community spirit of the time, they agreed not to reveal who actually set foot on the top first.

Tenzing’s legacy is that about 10,000 Sherpas are employed in Nepal’s mountaineering and hiking industry, earning wages well above the national average. They have solely devoted themselves to plan routes, prepare meals at the harshest of situations, and help their clients achieve the biggest dream of their bucket list. They also save the lives of numerous people, carrying them and assisting them during sickness and injuries.

However, as adventurous as it seems, climbing Mt Everest is nevertheless, not a bed of roses. According to estimates, 2019 has become one of the deadliest climbing seasons in history on the world’s highest mountain – with inexperienced adventurers, bottlenecks and climbing firm cutting corners.

Pros of climbing Mt Everest –

1. Sense of Achievement: One of the mightiest benefits of Climbing Mt Everest that come with the completion of this expedition is the sense of achievement – an accomplishment of one of the biggest challenges. This totally gives an outright boost to your self-esteem and encourages you to try new adventures in life.
2. Fitness increment: To climb Mt Everest, one needs a great intensity of patience, perseverance, and training. It takes months and years to prepare for the day, hence, you would need to have the excellent physical fitness to complete the expedition. This is like an add-on to your accomplishment as you will prefer to keep your fitness intact even after you go home.
3. Life-Changing experience: If you succeed in this expedition of yours, your entire outlook of the world is bound to change. Climbing Mt Everest is one of the hardest things in the world and with its accomplishment, you will start to believe more in your capabilities and accept even harder challenges of life with a smile. So, if you love challenges and extremely open to prolonged hardcore training and preparation, this is for you.

Challenges of climbing Mt Everest-

1. Intense traffic: Due to the overwhelming quest for Climbing Mt Everest, there have been ‘intense traffic’ of crowds lined up to reach the summit. Due to prolonged lining up amidst snow, people often fall victim to altitude sickness, frostbite and many more.
2. Bad weather: Avalanches, frostbite, extreme weather, sudden falls and lack of oxygen have led to the huge number of deaths last year. However, this year, fatalities have been blamed on too huge crowds and inexperienced climbers. So, perfect preparation and training are highly necessary.
3. Lack of support: The rise of “low-cost” domestic firms, that in some cases offer expeditions at less than $35,000, half the price of more established rivals, creates incentives for cost-cutting, climbers said. They offer inadequate food and stay options which can be harmful too.

The debate on climbing Mt Everest as an ‘adventurous experience’ is nevertheless divided into two groups – pro-climbers and anti-climbers. Not to mention, climbing Mt Everest has greater threats to life than anything else on this world and the cons are never-ending, but it is not impossible. If you are trained, confident, well-equipped and determined, you can achieve your lifetime accomplishment. Every single person to climb Everest will tell you that it has been the adventure of a lifetime, and one that they would uptake again gladly.