It is one of the ultimate human feats on Earth — but adrenaline-lovers and selfie-seekers are turning Everest into a rubbish-strewn traffic jam. It’s time to rethink our priorities, writes Andrei, age nine.
Did you know that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world? It is 8,849m high and it is very cold. Sometimes the temperature can go down to – 37C.
There is almost no oxygen in the air so you have to wear an oxygen mask to keep you alive. To reach the top of Mount Everest you have to be very strong and have a lot of experience, but you also need a lot of equipment like special ropes, snow axes and spiky boots! But when you reach the top you cannot rest or else you will freeze and slowly lose oxygen and die.
Who would want to climb Mount Everest? It turns out that the answer is lots of people who are not really prepared! A lot of people who are not advanced climbers have Mount Everest on their bucket list — but personal will is not enough to make it safely to the top.
Climbers that want to climb Mount Everest have a time limit of two months due to the weather. But in April and May, queues suddenly spring up on the mountain as people race to the top. In the queues, some people will lose energy and eventually die. This traffic jam makes Mount Everest the deadliest mountain in the world.
The traffic jam on Mount Everest is a sad example of how human ambition can push nature and also people to their limit. Unfortunately many people are not well prepared, relying heavily on guides and oxygen tanks rather than skill and endurance.
Climbing Everest was once the ultimate test of human strength, endurance and skills but as we can see, now it has become a bucket-list item for people who underestimate the risks.
This “check-the-box” mindset not only puts their own lives in danger but also endangers the other climbers who have to navigate around them or, in some cases, rescue them. The consequences are deadly and let’s not forget about the problem of pollution, abandoned oxygen canisters and even corpses left behind because retrieval is too dangerous. Everest itself is suffering and a change has to be made. People should be aware of the risks and decisions they make and stricter regulations should be put in order.
Climbing Everest should be about skill, preparation and respect for nature, not just selfies and bucket lists. Human achievement is about more than a need to conquer nature. A shift of mentality is needed. Let’s protect Sagarmatha, the Goddess of the Sky.
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