May 21, 2021 ▸ Disaster, Places

Episode 581: Mt Everest: A Struggle to the Summit

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On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we climb to the top of the podcasting world and talk about Mt. Everest. This peak is the highest on earth, and to many people, reaching its summit is the height of human performance. Named after a British surveyor (who didn’t even want it named after him), it has become a strange, deadly tourist attraction. What was once the ultimate spiritual challenge is now a booming business and a mountain littered in human corpses, trash, and excrement.

Back when people like George Mallory, Edmund Hillary, and Tenzing Norgay made the first attempts to reach the summit, all eyes were on them. However, in the modern day, hundreds of people climb it, and there are deaths every single year. The problem with the deaths is that the bodies don’t deteriorate due to the weather, and it is nearly impossible to get a dead body down. Some bodies have actually become landmarks for guides leading tourist climbers up the passes.

So, who is Green Boots, and what does he signify? What shut down the mountain in 2015? How many have made up to the top of Mt. Everest? How many have died? How much does it cost for a modern climber to make the ascent? Listen, laugh, learn.

 

Visit Our Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Boots

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies

20 Amazing Facts About Mount Everest

https://www.tripsavvy.com/little-known-facts-about-mt-everest-4136176

https://www.themanual.com/outdoors/climbing-mount-everest-cost/