Compared To Winning Gold At The Olympics,is Scaling Mountains Much Harder?
Even while we are congratulating the well deserving athletes for their win at the Olympics, some say there is still an even more extreme sport than winning gold. The challenge of conquering the highest mountain peaks in the world.
Now super athletes don’t get your knickers in a knot. This is not an offensive article and it is not knocking your wonderful efforts. I am one of the first to salute the hard working athletes for all their efforts. Going through years of extreme discipline, perseverance, pain and self-denial, they sometimes have to accept being pipped-at-the-post by a thousandth of a second. Many tears flow in empathy with them.
However, some say to try to conquer one of the highest mountains in the world is an even more extreme sport. Once an athlete has stood on the platform, it is just a short jump down, to participate in the post-Olympics parties. For mountain climbers it is very different. The job is only half done when the climber has reached the summit.
When the level of oxygen drops, the human body compensates. If climbers are to survive the long haul to the top, their bodies must experience altitude acclimatization. Extra red blood cells are produced by the body, while the heart rate increases. Non-essential functions temporarily shut down. Food digestion efficiency declines and the climber breathes more deeply and frequently.
Mountain climbers are forced to huddle in dozens, for up to two months, at the base camp on Mt. Everest, 16,000 feet above sea level, as altitude acclimatization can take up to several days, or even weeks. Anxiously they wait for their turn to being their climb to the peak. The results of not getting used to the icy environment are disastrous and deadly.
The human body is no longer able to acclimatize in the Death Zone, which is anything above 22,950 feet. Above 24,600 feet, food digestion is nearly impossible and sleeping difficult. An extended stay will result in body deterioration, loss of consciousness and finally death. The longest stay ever recorded on the top of Mt Everest was just over 21 hours. Most climbers stay for around twenty minutes.
There is no audience of millions watching their success. This is a very solo achievement and experience. Other climbers’ attention is solely focused on self-survival.
Having achieved their long awaited and hard-worked-for goal, there is no easy way out. No 'step off the mountain and let us go home'. No helicopter chops through the air with a quick ride home. No slippery slide to the bottom, unless the climber has a desire to go home in a body bag. Every difficult and painful step of the ascent must now be dangerously repeated in the descent.
Even when someone is hurt or injured, there can be no rescue mission. Other climbers are often unable to offer help. Scaling high mountains has to be the ultimate experience in self-reliance, as man and mountain meet in a clash of wills.
Mt. Everest was first conquered in May 1952, by Sir Edmond Hilary and Peter Tenzing. As Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne, it was the crowning glory of the British Empire.
In 1966, eighty-four climbers summitted, while 12 people died. To that date, it was the worst year in the mountain’s history. Sadly, these records have continued to be broken.
A 71 year old Japanese climber was the oldest to climb in 2007. The record was topped in 2008 by a 76 year old Nepalese, who thinks he may just do it all over again. More than 3500 Nepalese have ascended, acting as guides to the climbers who pay up to $US50 thousand for the privilege of trying to conquer the world’s highest peak. The Nepalese government charges $US25 thousand to each person trying for their moment of glory.
Both Ang Rita Sherpa and Babi Chiri Sherpa have climbed 10 times, while Appa Sherpa has ascended 11 times. These Sherpa guides climb without the assistance of oxygen.
Competitors in the Olympic give no thought to any rubbish they create. Throw it in a bin and walk away. But not so on the mountain. Every expedition is responsible for the removal of its rubbish and in particular their empty oxygen tanks.
Mt Everest is well thought of as a jealous goddess, by the local Sherpa people. One that rigorously punishes illicit sex performed on the mountain. However, she is not the only mountain to covet the high slopes and act treacherously towards the would-be conquerors. She has a far more dangerous sister known as K2.
K2’s treacherous slopes have recently taken 11 more lives. This is the worst incident since 13 climbers died over a period of two weeks in 1986. K2 has been nicknamed, 'The mountain that invites death'.
Criticism is again rife among the mountaineering elite. Inadequate training, obvious wrong decisions and lack of experience. The same as voices declared after the 1986 disaster.
From Olympics to extremely serious adventure sports, there will always be men and women for whom the unattainable has a very special attraction. They are not experts, but they have higher ambitions than most people. They have four things in common:
1. Great determination
2. Faith in themselves
3. Driving ambition
4. And endurance.
They are people who do not fear to dream big dreams. Through planning, patience and perseverance, along with a determination to never quit, these people get to the top.
Like these elite athletes and mountaineers you too can dream big dreams through a Blue Moon Opportunity.
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