Skiing Down Everest 92
dalibor writes: "Tired of skiing in crowded tourist resorts? Why not ski from the top of Everest, where you can enjoy virgin snow and ski for 4,000 meters? Davo Karnicar from Slovenia is the first to have accomplished a full top-to-bottom ski descent from the world's tallest mountain, Mount Everest! The event was transmited live via the Internet. http://www.everest.simobil.si/" Yahoo has a great report.
Irresponsible (Score:2)
Re:News for Nerds. (Score:1)
Re:That's nothing (Score:1)
Re:Irresponsible (Score:1)
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
Re:great, another yuppie meritt badge (Score:3)
I wonder how much money and how many people risk thier lives to go rescue these idiots when they get lost/break a leg/get frostbit/get snowed under/get even less intelligent?
Well, this was one of several slovenian expeditions in last few years. A couple of guys stayed in the mountain. Nobody risked their life to save them. When you try to climb Everest and you don't come down, people tend to leave you there rather than stupidly risk their life trying to find you.
Re:No. Life does not end when you have kids (Score:1)
I absolutely love snow skiing - it is easily my favorite sport. But I see the original poster's point. Skiing anywhere is fairly dangerous and Everest is pretty nuts. :)
Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:1)
Anyone who dies over 7500 mts generally isn't brought down. There are a couple of bodies on the South Col, a few on the North side and a couple more scattered about...
Re:Irresponsible (Score:1)
but they're pro's you say? basically anyone who climbs everest is a pro. and without a doubt anyone who tries something more then just a standard descent doesn't just decide to do it on the way to the top.
Re:The sig stays. (Score:1)
Re:The sig stays. (Score:1)
Re:The sig stays. (Score:1)
Re:That's nothing (Score:1)
-Chris
Incorrect! (Score:1)
Wrong! Wrongwrongwrong! Mt. Everest is the highest mountain. Denali (Mt. McKinley, to all you cheechakos) is the tallest mountain.
Everest is a mere 11,000 feet tall, a mineral midget in the mountain menagerie. No, Denali is definitely the dominant (word for mountain that starts with 'D'), at 17,000 feet (base-to-peak).
So, what's the rating on that ski, anyway? Double-diamond?
great, another yuppie meritt badge (Score:1)
Re:Wow! (Score:1)
HA! I'd been ignoring you for months, so I wasn't aware of your new M.O. until today.
I must say, I'm very proud of you ;)
N E V E R E S T (Score:1)
The Meaning of Life [mikegallay.com]
Re:News for Nerds. (Score:1)
Re:Wow! (Score:1)
afterward (Score:3)
Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:1)
-Chris
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
Personally, I downhill ski. Alot. And I thought this was a very impressive story. One of the primary reasons I read SlashDot is because its different. What's wrong with a "different" story every now and then?
The tough part was probably the climb, though (Score:1)
No. Life does not end when you have kids (Score:3)
That's a damn silly question or statement. If having children meant the end of all challange and risk, having children wouldn't be worth living.
Just about the riskiest thing we do in normal daily life is to drive our cars and/or cross the street, and both of these are very risky in statistical terms despite the fact that we think of them as mundane. Are you suggesting that we give up such dangerous activities when we have children? Are we meant to tuck ourselves away in a cocoon?
For goodness sake. If anything, it's a stronger argument that one could increase exposure to risk if one were so inclined after having children, since one's genetic inheritance is then already released for posterity. Mind you, I don't buy that either. We're not here for long, so we have to make life worth living whatever our stage in life. That almost always involves risk.
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
The poster was acting like a whining little bitch, and I called him on it.
Fawking Trolls! [slashdot.org]
Re:No. Life does not end when you have kids (Score:2)
This is virtually a self-fulfilling statement. The risk that I will die climbing Everest, while bungie-jumping, or while sky diving is about as close to 0% as it can be -- I have no plans to do these things because, to me, they are too risky!!
Therefore, doing those mundane things, like driving my car, sleeping in my bed, playing soccer, etc. most certainly will riskier for me than those other activities.
However, I really would find it interesting to see what percentage of Everest climbers have died climbing it (% of deaths per climbs attempted) and compare that to the percentage of deaths per trips in cars.
TUX SUX (Score:1)
DD..III.EEE.TTT.U.U.X.X
D D..I..EE...T..U.U..X.
DD..III.EEE..T..UUU.X.X
Everest schmeverst (Score:1)
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
Re:The tough part was probably the climb, though (Score:1)
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
Its the worlds highest graveyard..
Calls to question... (Score:2)
Re:That sounds even more fun than... (Score:1)
One woman took her dog with her down the falls, made it through the rapids, and was stuck in the whirlpool for six hours. Her dog found a hole in the barrel and managed to find enough oxygen to survive -- she didn't.
All I can say is, smart dog.
Re:News for Nerds. (Score:2)
That's one of the sillies things I've ever seen here. I've yet to work with geeks that weren't into sports. Sure, not ALL off them, but most. One of the funnest things I ever did was go on a ski trip with two. . Generally participating more than the average set of fans.
On a somewhat related, note my Sonners kicked Texas' ass 63-14!
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Re:News for Nerds. (Score:2)
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Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:2)
Perhaps things have made a significant change for the better in the past half-decade.
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Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
Zumu
"getting on your binding, and go. Never mind about your company... eeerr... well, they can pay the funeral...
News for Nerds. (Score:1)
remember people, "sports is our enemy". it threatens the survival of our intellectual culture.
cajones (Score:4)
Re:News for Nerds. (Score:2)
uhh...Slashsport Network? (Score:1)
That sounds even more fun than... (Score:1)
-Karl
Imagine the chair lift! (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
financially worthwhile (Score:1)
It's funny dammit... (Score:3)
The skier was wearing a GNU range of Slackwear fashion ski clothing, topped off with a Redhat. To get up to full speed he Tux his poles behind him.
He would have gone faster but his off piste route was Apache one...
I'll get my coat....
ozric.net [ozric.net]
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:2)
This guy had to have a lot of tech working for him, ie His modified skis, clothing that would keep him warm but still allow him to ski comfortably, cameras that would work in that weather. (I'm on a 14.4, so I'm not gonna even try to see the video...) I
Re:N E V E R E S T (Score:2)
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Slashdot is warping my mind (Score:3)
I think I need to get out more.
Re:News for Nerds. (Score:1)
I probably shoulda bolded the sex part...
"If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten."
-- George Carlin
Re:Wow! (Score:1)
It is much more fun to waste your time doing something when you accept it for what it is: A waste of time.
Cheers!
Now... (Score:1)
Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:3)
The Nepalese government with private sponsors (like Nike) now pay cash money to anyone who brings a bottle off the mountain, so the sherpas are carrying down well more than are being left. Most of the huge caches of spent bottles have already been taken down by sherpas who want to get extra money...
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Holy cats! (Score:1)
Re:great, another yuppie meritt badge (Score:2)
If you can't get down to camp, if you get lost or something, you may have folks come and look for you. But they probably won't find you. No one risks anything they're not willing to lose there...
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Re:News for Nerds. (Score:2)
Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:3)
The base camps are filthy: litter and human feces. It's freaking disgusting.
Really? Which team were you on when you went to Everest? While there was the occassional humorous bit of trash (frozen japanese candy from 1973) I didn't see any significant rubbish. And human feces is a strict no-no; every team has been responsible for carting it off the mountain for many years now.
I've got pictures of the sherpas carrying barrels of feces down from base camp -- not the guy you want to trip and spill his load!
Every team leaves a significant deposit as part of the climbing permit -- if they don't bring back their own trash and waste they lose the deposit. And you have to pay for a government official to accompany you for the entire time (not cheap) to verify compliance.
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Re:The tough part was probably the climb, though (Score:3)
'cause a helicopter can't fly that high (atmosphere too thin) and he'd die in about 5 minutes because he's not adapted to the altitude. Even flying to base camp would kill you.
That's part of the appeal of Everest: nothing short of putting in the hard work makes it possible. No technology (currently) can make up for simply spending the time and energy and suffering to make it. There is no shortcut but to just do it.
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Re:Everest schmeverst (Score:2)
it would be a hell of a lot harder to ski down for sure!
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Re:Imagine the chair lift! (Score:1)
I'm wondering when they will build a hotel there. Remember all those cool places out of Bond movies? Those buildings pushed the technology much more than a building high on Everest would today. I figure sometime someone is going to build a nice hotel on Mt Lhotse and provide a nice path to the peak of Everest. With the number of billion dollar hotels now in existance, its only a matter of time.
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
Great book. (Score:1)
Re:News for Nerds. (Score:2)
Re:First done in 1975. (Seriously) (Score:1)
Re:This borderlines on pr0n. (Score:1)
Oh please ! (Score:1)
I bet you his children are damn proud of him..
We are talking about an exceptional man that achieved something that not everyone can..
American climbers ? (Score:1)
Sounds like your typical Jerry Springer show. North American climbers are not "all the climbers".
BIG DEAL (Score:1)
Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:2)
Re:Homer (Score:1)
Re:Everest schmeverst (Score:1)
Just remember...
Go down very very fast. If something gets in your way, turn!
Still wantin' my two dollars,
Your Working Boy,
Re:BIG DEAL (Score:1)
I'm guessing you meant that he died in an Alp crevasse shortly after doing this. Not that he did this shortly after dieing. That'd be kinda sick, strapping a body onto a snowboard and whacking it down a mountain. Funny.. but sick.
Re:why was this posted here? (Score:1)
Fawking Trolls! [slashdot.org]
Homer (Score:2)
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Re:why was this posted here? (Score:2)
Guy skis down Everest, after having lost two fingers the last time he tried it, with a camera on his head, sees a dead body on the way down, another person who thought they had it in them but didn't.
You can't tell me that isn't neat.
--
Michael Sims-michael at slashdot.org
Re:financially worthwhile (Score:1)
<lifts mug with three-fingered hand>
"Cheers!"
--
Michael Sims-michael at slashdot.org
I'm a nerd (Score:1)
But I also play sports, I imagine quite a few of those here do.
I also find things other than computers interesting.
Strangely enough I even believe in God.
So remember, you do not define what a nerd is, nor what necessarily interests them.
Don't forget your oxygen tank! (Score:1)
This looks like something that would only appeal to the super-rich, super-naïve, and the super-stupid.
Re:I found the sound to it! (Score:1)
Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:2)
The base camps are filthy: litter and human feces. It's freaking disgusting.
If things are cleaner, it is only because there has been a strong effort over the past five years to clean up the mess of the previous thirty.
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Re:Holy cats! (Score:1)
Re:First done in 1975. (Seriously) (Score:2)
-pf
Re:The tough part was probably the climb, though (Score:1)
Not true - there are several documented instances of people falling/jumping out of flying airplanes and surviving the impact. This "parachuteless jumping" is probably the most extreme of extreme sports - certainly the odds are way against you, and isn't that the main idea of extreme sports, to do something that, if done wrong, may kill you? All I can say is "Darwin award contender!"
Re:No. Life does not end when you have kids (Score:1)
Of course, that doesn't address the question of whether or not it's necessary to drive your 1-2+ ton chunks of steel around, at least to the extent that people do. The increased risk comes from the number of vehicles on the road, their size, and possibly the increased sense of personal invulnerability on the part of their drivers (not to mention the decreased attention to driving due to yakking on the phone). How necessary is it for a perfectly healthy adult with a perfectly decent bike to drive an SUV to the store on a perfectly decent day for two sacks of groceries? Granted, there's still a huge difference of degree between that and paying $36,000 to have some Sherpas all but drag you up the side of a mountain, but still.
Re:great, another yuppie meritt badge (Score:1)
Re:That's just kinda tacky (Score:2)
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
That's nothing (Score:2)
Re:I found the sound to it! (Score:1)
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This borderlines on pr0n. (Score:1)
Oh no, not another smut page...
Phew. That was a close call.
First done in 1975. (Seriously) (Score:5)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0073340
The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975)
Documentary
"A Japanese skier ultimately dreamed of literally skiing Mt. Everest. He planned to ski some 8,000 feet down an icy glacier at a 40 to 45 degree angle, from the 26,000 foot level near the summit. This documentary chronicles this incredible feat and the tremendous task of climbing Everest itself. The narrator reads from the diary that the skier personally kept."
Why the criticism? (Score:2)
Just consider the fact that this story doesen't have any of the usual slashwords attached to it (:cuecat, echelon, linux, windows, NSA, DVD e etc). Isn't this great?
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"take the red pill and you stay in wonderland and I'll show you how deep the rabbit hole goes"
That's just kinda tacky (Score:2)
Tallest mountain in the world, and not only do we leave so much trash behind when we climb it that there are ongoing clean-up efforts to keep it from looking like the city dump, now we've got some guy skiing down it with a camera on his head.
I dunno, this just seems sort of disrespectful somehow.