OT: Everest in 2B pixels!

[crownjewelwl]

https://s3.amazonaws.com/Gigapans/EBC_Pumori_050112_8bit_FLAT/EBC_Pumori_050112_8bit_FLAT.html

[Kirk007]

Assume! Thanks for sharing

[Vientomas]

If you look closely you can see tents, ladders and climbers.

[MattTuck]

That is a great picture. Remember that guy that road his bike from Sweden to Everest, hiked up and turned around like a mile from the summit due to weather?

No longer O.T.

[katematt]

once you find the tents and climbers it gives you a perspective as to how freaking huge all that is. At first I thought they were discarded oxygen bottles. Unbelievable. Thanks for posting!!

[mistermo]

I was there in 1997. The size of base camp has multiplied approx 10x. Unbelievable!

[Louis]

I feel cold just looking at that.

[onekgguy]

I was there in 1997. The size of base camp has multiplied approx 10x. Unbelievable!

I would love to hear more about that!

Kevin g

[gasman]

That is a great picture. Remember that guy that road his bike from Sweden to Everest, hiked up and turned around like a mile from the summit due to weather?

No longer O.T.

Awesome photo

The Swedish guy was Goran Kropp (sp?) He rode his bike all the way, turned around below the summit on his first attempt because it was getting late but went back up a few days later and summited.Then rode back to Sweden. He did this in '96 and was on the mountain at the same time a large number of climbers died-Krakauer wrote all about it.
Sadly, Kropp died rock-climbing when he fell and hit his head.

I Haven't been to the Himalayas but I have been on Mt McKinley (Denali), it makes you feel very small.

[mistermo]

I would love to hear more about that!

Kevin g

I was only peripherally involved, but this is the story: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/programs/2506_everest.html


I didn't do a very good job of cropping the picture, but zoom in where the arrows are. The lower arrow shows a long string of people making a carry. The upper arrow shows the tents at Camp 3. I couldn't see any tents at the South Col, camp 4. But you can follow those on the route if you zoom in and look very carefully.

This section isn't in my cropping, but if you look along the left side of the ice fall, towards the top, you'll see climbers coming down and lots of prayer flags.

[azrider]

I didn't do a very good job of cropping the picture, but zoom in where the arrows are. The lower arrow shows a long string of people making a carry to Camp 2. The upper arrow shows the tents at Camp 3. I couldn't see any tents at the South Col, camp 4. But you can follow those on the route if you zoom in and look very carefully.

This section isn't in my cropping, but if you look along the left side of the ice fall, towards the top, you'll see climbers coming down and lots of prayer flags.

how long would it take for those in the long line at the lower arrow to reach the tents at Camp 3 ?

[mistermo]

how long would it take for those in the long line at the lower arrow to reach the tents at Camp 3 ?

It's hard to tell, but you can tell they're starting out, because they're not yet strung out. It should take a hard days work. You don't want to arrive too late in the afternoon because the ice/snow starts to break up from the sun, and it get's more dangerous. Ideally, it should take one day for each camp:

Base-> Camp 1 (through the icefall)
Camp1->2
Camp2->3
Camp3->4
Camp4->Summit and back to Camp 4
Then down.

[Louis]

Camp1->2
Camp2->3
Camp3->4
Camp4->Summit and back to Camp 4
Then down.

This makes it look so easy!

I don't know how realistic it was, and clearly '96 was a bit of an aberration, but "Into Thin Air" is one of the scariest books I've ever read. Some climbers spending the night exposed to the elements under those conditions. Terrifying.

[azrider]

Wow that's pretty crazy. Just trying to get a sense of how big it is, and overall scale. To take a full day to reach each camp is friggin crazy.

By the looks of it there are hundreds of tents....are there that many people on the mountain at one time during hiking season?

Is there a hiking season?

[Louis]

Is there a hiking season?

Hiking, or climbing?

[azrider]

Hiking, or climbing?

Climbing. Obviously. My bad.

I'm ignorant when it comes to sport of hik....climbing.

[William]

Wow! Amazing photo. Hard to believe there are that many tents and people once you zoom in. I have to ask, where does all the sewage and waste go?






William

[Louis]

Climbing. Obviously. My bad.

I'm ignorant when it comes to sport of hik....climbing.

I'm hardly an expert, but this is what I think I've read*:

Some outfits do offer "hike-type stuff" in the area. Not sure if there are seasonal limitations, I would think so. For the summit-bound climbing there is definitely a summer "climbing season" when conditions are optimal. But like everything else, there are super-super insane types (i.e. not merely insane) that do winter ascents.

* It's a lot easier to read "Outside" magazine than it is to actually go out there and risk this:

http://imaging.cmpmedica.com/consultantlive/images/photo_clinic_03/1998/w_phcfrost.jpg

[pdmtong]

Wow! Amazing photo. Hard to believe there are that many tents and people once you zoom in. I have to ask, where does all the sewage and waste go?






William

unless it is packed out, it stays there

[onekgguy]

I was only peripherally involved, but this is the story: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/programs/2506_everest.html


I didn't do a very good job of cropping the picture, but zoom in where the arrows are. The lower arrow shows a long string of people making a carry. The upper arrow shows the tents at Camp 3. I couldn't see any tents at the South Col, camp 4. But you can follow those on the route if you zoom in and look very carefully.

This section isn't in my cropping, but if you look along the left side of the ice fall, towards the top, you'll see climbers coming down and lots of prayer flags.

Very interesting. Thanks!

Kevin g

[monkeybanana86]

that was so cool. thanks for sharing.

[dancinkozmo]

unless it is packed out, it stays there

Why do we have to ruin EVERY place we go ?

[mistermo]

I was there in 1997, the year after the Into Thin Air disaster. I didn't climb, and was peripherally involved in the NOVA production I linked above. Back then, the size of Base Camp was a small fraction of that shown in the picture.

To go beyond Base Camp, it's necessary to have a Nepali permit. I think they cost $60,000 back then, and around $75,000 now. There are Nepali guards at Base Camp to check permits. Probably in the round dark tents at the top of base camp in the pic.

Base Camp is on a glacier. When I was there, someone discovered some body parts in the thaw. It was a tibia, with a climbing boot still attached. Judging by the style of the boot, the climber died in the 1970s and it took that long for the glacier to push their body down to Base Camp. The game in base camp, was to try and figure out which climber it could be. From a list of climbers who died in the 70s, people were trying to figure out which guy would've been wearing a Euro boot in size XX.

In 1996, a Japanese woman died high on the mountain and was left there. In 1997, the weather window (for summit attempts) was late and the Sherpas who make their money from climbing were waiting, restless, and eager for jobs.
One day I noticed a commotion with many Sherpas in Base Camp. The usually peaceful and reserved Sherpas were yelling and screaming about something. Turns out the husband of the deceased Japanese woman had arrived in Base Camp and was offering to pay Sherpas to go up and collect his wife's body. She was a small woman, no more than 100lbs. Even at that weight, at that altitude, the job required four men. They would have to chop her body into quarters and each bring a portion back down. All the Sherpas wanted that job, which is why they were jostling to get it.

[mistermo]

Wow that's pretty crazy. Just trying to get a sense of how big it is, and overall scale. To take a full day to reach each camp is friggin crazy.

By the looks of it there are hundreds of tents....are there that many people on the mountain at one time during hiking season?

Is there a hiking season?

Definitely a "season" of a few days. Each year, there is a very small window when the jet stream subsides enough that it makes summit attempts possible. This usually occurs around the beginning of May and usually lasts a few days. As a result, everyone arrives in base camp, sets up, and is ready to go the moment that weather window appears. The tragedies, which are increasing, are a result of more and more climbers all trying to get to the summit during this brief, annual window. At the Hillary Step, there is a bottle neck. It's becoming increasingly impossible to get through, either up or down, due to the congestion, putting peoples lives at risk.

[jmoore]

Interesting article on Everest and some of the bodies up there.

http://sometimes-interesting.com/2011/06/29/over-200-dead-bodies-on-mount-everest/


I'm mesmerized by this picture BTW. I could zoom in and look at it all day.