Sir, – I’m not surprised four climbers died on Everest last week (Lorna Siggins, Front page, May 22nd). With global warming and huge advances in technology, climbing Everest has become a lot easier, but is still dangerous. Several tour companies now operate trips to the summit; provided you have a spare €50,000; the Sherpas will do most of the work.
As a tourist, I stayed at Everest base-camp, a small marquee village with shops, bars, post office, etc. Unfortunately there is no sanitation or rubbish collection, so this beautiful remote location is being destroyed by tourists (including myself). Nearly every tourist climber I met was a “look-at-me-wannabe” hoping to set a record: eg, to be the first Belgian woman, the oldest Japanese man, the first father and son from California.
The most dispiriting part of the trip was the four-day drive to Everest across the Tibetan plateau. The Tibetan people we tormented by massive 4x4s driving though their villages, churning up vast dust clouds. I saw young school kids running for cover as yet another convoy of rich tourists tore up their fragile eco-system. If rich people wish to create their own world records, please do, but not at the expense of some of the poorest in the world. – Yours, etc,