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I don't see what's unethical about it. The only thing you're ruining by going to Everest is the experience of others going up Everest. Locals don't live up ther

I don't see what's unethical about it. The only thing you're ruining by going to Everest is the experience of others going up Everest. Locals don't live up there. There's do delicate ecosystem to trample. It's just rock, ice, garbage and a lineup.

feintruled 7y ago
That's a very interesting viewpoint on the matter. Previously I had just nodded along with the "Everest getting spoiled" stories, but you have made me think a little deeper, so thanks! I wonder if a lot of these appeals for people to stop climbing Everest are from climbers who want everyone ELSE to stop climbing Everest.
- myself248 7y ago
  I've never had any desire to climb Everest. Got my sights set on Olympus Mons...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
OskarS 7y ago
It is one of the great wonders of the natural world, and it is a place that many people hold to be very special. It is, in a way, an almost "sacred" place, in a weird secular sense. It is not just any other mountain. There's a reason people are queueing up to see the summit. Maybe I'm a crazy person, but I think that we have a moral obligation to protect the great natural wonders of the world. You can visit them, sure, but only if you do so in a responsible way that ensures their preservation. I do not see how that's possible with Everest any more. History has shown that there is no way to guarantee that you will not be forced (by circumstance alone) to leave trash on the mountain. That trash, by the way, will become essentially unrecoverable: it will likely be there for decades or centuries. Same thing with your human body: if you want to risk your life, that's fine. If you want to drag others into your idiotic quest to pretend to be Edmund Hillary, that is also fine (as long as they do so full consent and knowing the risks). What is not fine is that if you do die, your body will be essentially unrecoverable, and it will also litter the mountain for decades or centuries. If you care AT ALL about preserving Everest (and I suspect most people do), I claim there's no morally permissible way to climb this mountain. Leave it alone. Go climb something where you can make sure you can take your refuse with you, and where your dead corpse can be recovered.
- udit99 7y ago
  > It is, in a way, an almost "sacred" place, in a weird secular sense Apart from _actually_ being a sacred place for the local people. Tibetan natives called it Chomolungma, meaning "Goddess Mother of Mountains".
watwut 7y ago
Climbers have tons of ethical norms that are precisely about not ruining anything for those after and not changing things that exists in nature. Regardless of how few people climb up there.

feintruled 7y ago

That's a very interesting viewpoint on the matter. Previously I had just nodded along with the "Everest getting spoiled" stories, but you have made me think a little deeper, so thanks! I wonder if a lot of these appeals for people to stop climbing Everest are from climbers who want everyone ELSE to stop climbing Everest.

myself248 7y ago
I've never had any desire to climb Everest. Got my sights set on Olympus Mons...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

OskarS 7y ago

It is one of the great wonders of the natural world, and it is a place that many people hold to be very special. It is, in a way, an almost "sacred" place, in a weird secular sense. It is not just any other mountain. There's a reason people are queueing up to see the summit. Maybe I'm a crazy person, but I think that we have a moral obligation to protect the great natural wonders of the world. You can visit them, sure, but only if you do so in a responsible way that ensures their preservation. I do not see how that's possible with Everest any more. History has shown that there is no way to guarantee that you will not be forced (by circumstance alone) to leave trash on the mountain. That trash, by the way, will become essentially unrecoverable: it will likely be there for decades or centuries. Same thing with your human body: if you want to risk your life, that's fine. If you want to drag others into your idiotic quest to pretend to be Edmund Hillary, that is also fine (as long as they do so full consent and knowing the risks). What is not fine is that if you do die, your body will be essentially unrecoverable, and it will also litter the mountain for decades or centuries. If you care AT ALL about preserving Everest (and I suspect most people do), I claim there's no morally permissible way to climb this mountain. Leave it alone. Go climb something where you can make sure you can take your refuse with you, and where your dead corpse can be recovered.

udit99 7y ago
> It is, in a way, an almost "sacred" place, in a weird secular sense Apart from _actually_ being a sacred place for the local people. Tibetan natives called it Chomolungma, meaning "Goddess Mother of Mountains".

watwut 7y ago

Climbers have tons of ethical norms that are precisely about not ruining anything for those after and not changing things that exists in nature. Regardless of how few people climb up there.