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Sunny Buns wrote:Looks like it was an avalanche or an ice fall, not a serac fall, and coming from the Nuptse side.

The serac departure is visible on the Everest west face.
http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south14.shtml

Two Sonoma Valley (were I reside) residents were on the mountain but were luckily unharmed.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20 ... /140419487
http://www.sonomanews.com/kenwood-climb ... 1PitfPn_hE

Diego Sahagún wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwWVJmxmKgs

Sorry you all, this video is not from 2009 as I wrote before but from 28th of July 2011 and could be seen here
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=+Nuptse+Avalanche&go=&qs=bs&form=QBVR#view=detail&mid=0B4F3C9F47970E0024AA0B4F3C9F47970E0024AA

macintosh, the link that I've posted is here too: http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/ ... 1397814885

I have few doubts on Explorersweb's truth. Perhaps Karrar could say something about your comment. If not I'll ask him

Yep, that's it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMNErnbpNzs

Nuptse definitely. I've noticed Karrar

Krakauer wrote on this for the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/n ... anger.html

My deepest condolences to that affected.

Not to sound insensitive, but does this change things for the future of Everest? I heard reports in the news that other Sherpa's decided to walk off (understandably) and some groups cancelling the rest of the expedition with the circumstances. At the very least it seems hired help (whether it's Sherpa's or others) is going to cost more of a premium with the heightened awareness of the risk, making Everest even more exclusive to those who can afford it.

osgumero wrote:Not to sound insensitive, but does this change things for the future of Everest?

Last Update from Alan Arnette
http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/04/22/everest-2014-season-stil-uncertain/

Sunny Buns wrote:

Not to sound insensitive, but does this change things for the future of Everest?

For this year, perhaps change for some climbers, but I doubt it'll change much for the long term. People will pay more attention to the hanging glaciers, may be some talk of avalanche control, Sherpa life insurance, a different route, etc; but climbers climb mountains knowing it is risky. Walking thru a bad neighborhood after dark is risky - but people still do it. Life is risky - you ARE going to die.

As Freddy said, "Show must go on"...

Sunny Buns wrote:

As Freddy said, "Show must go on"...

Are you unhappy that climbers are allowed to continue climbing the mountain?

It is not whether to be happy or unhappy. This drama has finally into evidence a risk that virtually everyone (anyone?) did not want to see or admit. It is only after that we became aware of the cost of the lives of "ice doctors". There is a reality we can not ignore: the importance of tourism in the Nepalese economy. But tourism can not exist without sherpas, at least to climb the highest peaks. I am lucky to have as a friend, a guy who works every spring with Miss Hawley to continue the memory of Everest and the Himalayas. Sometimes it tells me about the functioning of the Nepalese society, corruption and clans trekking agencies, tells me that the current situation is not the result of a risk but one of society. As one young Nepalese said “The people in the old times weren’t educated.They were forced to go to Everest." http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-ad ... erest.html

I am appalled to see that some westerns reject on Nepaleses the failure of their own lives. It must be really crazy to tackle all - work, home, etc.. - to satisfy a chimera. “It is a bitter, bitter disappointment,” said James Brooman, 34, a British investment banker. “I’m probably worse off than most in some ways, since I quit my job and my apartment to do this, so to leave here with a shattered dream — no job, a lot less money and no real home — it’s tough.”

It is filled with what the brain of one who says "I can not help aim Feel That I have let everyone down," wrote Kent Stewart, an American climber, in a blog post. "If I do not ever make it to the top of Everest, I'm afraid there will always be a hole in my life, and frankly, that 'worries me." (The fact that he deleted his article here http://firstandmonday.com/uncategorized ... cancelled/ says a lot about the guy ...)

We live in a crazy world where the simple fact of wanting to live his dream allows you to crush all around you simply because you paid for a service that you can not take alone. Everything is good to justify his motives : scatter the ashes of his younger brother, give hope (?) to those suffering from a rare diseasehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/2 ... erpas.html, etc.
We forget that we never climbs a mountain for others but for ourself.
The real drama of the mountain is we no longer hear people say they are going on Everest only because it is there...

Here's from one of the climbers:
http://www.sonomanews.com/inside-khumbu ... 1vJnE2PLhE

There is an answer to all this, but it will never happen

Prohibit "climbing while drugged" on Everest and the other 8,000 meter peaks.

Climbing without bottled supplemental oxygen is the only way to preserve and protect Everest and the other high peaks.

The tourists will be gone in a instant and the mountains will be allowed to recover from this environmental disaster. Everest is a joke anyway. It is a Six Flag Magic Mountain ride for those who don't have the capacity to understand what the word challenge really means.Those who do all the work and climb the peak in good style , die repeatedly so the wealthy tourists can have some fun. Pretty ugly...And some of us call this climbing??