Episode 129: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Posted by on Feb 3, 2010 in All Podcast Episodes, HD Episodes, Season 4, Everest Trek 2009 | Comments Off on Episode 129: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Proof That Climbing Everest WIll Always Be Dangerous. As we continued towards Lobuche today we finally made it to the Everest Memorial, a collection of cairns dedicated to those who have lost their lives on the mountain.

This is a place I’ve been anticipating. It’s one of those places I’ve read about, seen photos of and film about. It’s a place I’ve been wanting to visit for some time now…and at a the same time I’ve never wanted to see it.

Many, many people have lost their lives in pursuit of that tiny patch of real-estate so high up there in the sky.

I know many climbers and I respect all of them. In fact, I’m in awe of many of them even if they’ve never achieved the summit if Everest.

At the same time, I just don’t have the mountaineering gene and seeing the endless cairns and monuments here at the Everest Memorial makes me so incredibly angry and conflicted.

Is it truly worth losing one’s life for an Everest summit? That question will never be satisfactorily answered one way or the other.

All I know for sure is that people will continue to summit Everest, and many of them will die in the process. I feel like weeping for all of them. Tears of joy and sorrow.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 39:55

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