A Response of Everest Proportion (not really)

I enjoyed your post Brad.  You understand far more about mountaineering than I ever will.  I know you've read a good deal about it, and you've done a bit of it too.  Most of my comments are made with little or no substantiation, so let's get that out of the way right away!

The concept of risk in life is a little murkier than I think you make it out to be, but it's a discussion worth having.  We've all heard the stories about things like a fear of flying, although statistically there is a much higher likelihood of dying in an automobile accident than a plane crash.  But I think things that are high frequency seem like less of a risk, because the risk is due to a long-term engagement.  Climbing Mount Everest is a high amount of risk squeezed into a short time frame.  That makes it easier for the general public to point a finger at and say, "Why would you do that?"  I'm not disagreeing with the amount of risk associated with the other things you mention (like obesity), but no one is going to die within a few days of eating a donut.  I guess a better way to put it is immediate risk vs. cumulative risk.  Cumulative risk, although equally dangerous in the long run, doesn't look as ugly as the immediate risk of dying in a snowstorm in the next seven days.  Everyone is praising Tony Gwynn today, but no one is talking about the fact that he died of salivary cancer associated with chewing tobacco use.  The cumulative risk caught up to him.

Although I understand your point about the revenue stream provided to Sherpas, it's not air tight.  There are people groups all over the world that do things to make money because of the need for revenue.  It doesn't mean that they would choose to do it otherwise.  Migrant farm workers, prostitution, sweat shops… do they provide money that the workers wouldn't otherwise have?  Of course.  Does it happen in countries with corrupt governments?  Of course.  But I don't think that it necessarily makes it okay.  I'm not saying the Sherpas are like unwilling prostitutes.  I'd like to think that's not the case, but I don't think the revenue argument is necessarily the best.

In the end, tragedy is tragedy.  Whether or not climbing Mount Everest involves a great deal of risk, I don't think anyone should turn an uncaring shoulder to the victims and their families.