Death on Everest: The boom in climbing tourism is dangerous, unsustainable

The last days of Mt Everest’s spring window for 2019 witnessed the deaths of 11 climbers. Images of hundreds of mountaineers queuing to reach the summit and reports of climbers stepping over dead bodies dismayed people around the world, many wondering how human beings had got it so wrong.
After the conquest of Annapurna and Everest in the 1950s, mountaineering became popular among the more privileged. But in the past two decades, mountaineering has taken on a increasingly commercial angle with disastrous results.

Experts report that aside from a very short weather window to climb Everest this season, a new generation of guides offering cheap expedition rates attracted a rash of novice mountaineers, which contributed to the high number of deaths. Those inexperienced climbers, some of whom had only climbed Mont Blanc (4,810m) and Aconagua (6,962m), should not have been there.

Modern climbing
Until the beginning of the 21st century, mountaineering was an exclusive activity accessible only to a few. Twenty years later, despite being a high-risk activity that requires a high level of specialised skill, its popularity among recreational climbers has drastically increased. Climbing legend Reinhold Messner once said that for a fee, “almost anyone could brave a top-class peak” – meaning regardless of skill, ability or experience.

Many modern mountaineers are attracted by the Seven Summits Challenge, introduced by Messner in the 1980s, with the aim of climbing the highest peak on every continent. Cashed-up adventure tourists lured by the challenge face expensive mountain expedition packages – from £3,000 for Aconcagua and £30,000 for Everest.
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