Everest

Every year Everest claims a new batch of foolhardy erstwhile climbers.
The fact that one can afford to do a thing and find someone reckless
enough to agree to take one is no recommendation as to the wisdom of
going. For people who have lived most of their lives near sea level an
increase of elevation to even 3000 M can cause life-threatening altitude
sickness. Above 8000 M the air is too thin to support human life and no
body can adjust to that condition. At that height all living things
begin dying and the summit of Everest is above that elevation. Summiting
Everest should not be considered a tourist destination. The place is a
junkyard of abandoned gear and a graveyard of unretrieved bodies. Elite,
well-trained athletes make it to the top at their peril. One misstep or
an unforeseen change in weather can spell death in seconds. What the
tourists who pay someone to get them to the top seem to forget is that
above 8000 M all are equal. If they run into trouble their guides will
be incapable of rescuing them because they too are at the extreme end of
their endurance and in a race with death. And at that elevation the air
is too thin to support a helicopter rescue. But still people go because
it is there.