Randomness Dos

[DigitalGypsy66]

The trash generated up there is horrendous, too, and has become an environmental issue. Including feces and food waste that freezes and thaws...and goes back down the mountain.

Then again, how cool would it be to have your obit say “Died while climbed Mount Everest?”

[Gaucho]

"... with a few hundred other asshats."

[Gaucho]

https://kiriken.thebecos.com/en/

[Gaucho]

[AuthorTony]

The trash generated up there is horrendous, too, and has become an environmental issue. Including feces and food waste that freezes and thaws...and goes back down the mountain.

That's really my biggest problem. A bunch of spoiled asshats who don't care that they're destroying the place.

I understand the adventure aspect of it. I'd love to hike the entire Appalachian Trail some day, but Everest has become a cesspool that brings out the worst in people.

[Freddy Rumsen]

The trash generated up there is horrendous, too, and has become an environmental issue. Including feces and food waste that freezes and thaws...and goes back down the mountain.

That's really my biggest problem. A bunch of spoiled asshats who don't care that they're destroying the place.

I understand the adventure aspect of it. I'd love to hike the entire Appalachian Trail some day, but Everest has become a cesspool that brings out the worst in people.

The Appy Trail, in certain sections, is starting to have that problem as well. Also there is an uptick in violence along it as well.

[AuthorTony]

The Appy Trail, in certain sections, is starting to have that problem as well. Also there is an uptick in violence along it as well.

That's really sad to hear re: litter. I'd heard a bit about the violence, but that still seems pretty rare. I'm probably getting too old anyway, but I like to think about doing it.

[Freddy Rumsen]

It's mostly the sections closest to you which are within a day's Drive of DC Baltimore Philadelphia

[AuthorTony]

That's not too surprising then. I always thought the PA/southern NY sections of the trail sounded like the worst of it.

[shmenguin]

The trash generated up there is horrendous, too, and has become an environmental issue. Including feces and food waste that freezes and thaws...and goes back down the mountain.

That's really my biggest problem. A bunch of spoiled asshats who don't care that they're destroying the place.

I understand the adventure aspect of it. I'd love to hike the entire Appalachian Trail some day, but Everest has become a cesspool that brings out the worst in people.

My understanding is that the trash issue isn’t due to laziness or carelessness. You simply have to keep moving or you die - or at least that’s how it feels. It’s not like mountain climbers just happen to be literrers. Nor is it a matter of entitlement.

So then it becomes the question of should anyone climb Everest? If the answer is yes, then this is the deal. If the answer is no, then there’s an economic impact worth looking into. It’s not like the well-compensated sherpas are there against their will.

Eventually there will be some form of aircraft, manned or unmanned, that should be able to pick up the refuse people shed along the way. In the meantime, I imagine everyone affiliated with this dumb hobby would prefer that it continue.

[NTP66]

Speaking of Everest, the keynote speaker for day three of the conference I was at was the first blind man to climb Everest. That’s all I know, as we decided to skip that one.

We did catch Madeleine Albright’s keynote the previous day, which was just outstanding. Hearing her talk, there’s no surprise as to how she was able to accomplish all that she has.

[tifosi77]

Speaking of Everest, the keynote speaker for day three of the conference I was at was the first blind man to climb Everest. That’s all I know, as we decided to skip that one.

"Oh wow, Fred. Look at that view!"

"......"

"Whoopsie, my bad."

[AuthorTony]

My understanding is that the trash issue isn’t due to laziness or carelessness. You simply have to keep moving or you die - or at least that’s how it feels. It’s not like mountain climbers just happen to be literrers. Nor is it a matter of entitlement.

I know some do it because they "have to", but that's a known issue going into this. Then the issue is, "Why do they think it's worth leaving their garbage all over the mountain simply so they can say they reached the summit for a few seconds?" I'm a firm believer in the old, "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" slogan. Obviously, that's impossible to do at Everest so anyone that dives headfirst into that mess is, imo, an asshat who cares more about their personal glory than the place they're visiting. It's really nothing but one big ego trip.

The world's highest mountain has, in the last few decades, turned into the world's highest-altitude rubbish dump, thanks to wealthy tourists who mindlessly leave a trail of disgusting refuse in their wake.

Since explorer Sir Edmund Hillary reached the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak of Everest - known as Chomolungma in Tibet and Sagarmatha in Nepal - in 1953, thousands more thrill-seekers have attempted the trek. But what goes up doesn't always come back down, resulting in tonnes of trash littering the mountain's slopes.

The problem isn't like that of the corpses of dead hikers, which are often in positions too precarious to be safely retrieved.

Instead, when tourists pack up their relatively easily accessible camps, they leave behind tents, broken climbing equipment, empty gas canisters, and a whole lot of excrement.

"It is disgusting, an eyesore," Pemba Dorje Sherpa told AFP. "The mountain is carrying tonnes of waste."

Both Tibet and Nepal have implemented systems to try to encourage climbers to bring down their waste. Tibet fines climbers US$100 per kilogram they leave behind, and Nepal charges a $4,000 deposit per team that's refunded if each member brings down at least 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of rubbish.

On the Nepal side, that resulted in climbers returning 25 tonnes of trash and 15 tonnes of excrement, but that's just a small portion of the litter on the slopes - the problem is that many tourists, who are already spending up to $100,000 for the trek, simply don't care about the deposit.

According to a 2016 report, local Sherpas remove 11,793 kg (26,000 pounds) of human faeces from the mountain every season, dumping it in trenches in a nearby village. This becomes a festering pit of putrid grossness that the locals have to live with: during the monsoon season, it gets flushed downhill into their river.

[shafnutz05]

I'm reading A Walk in the Woods and it is giving me a burning desire to spend a month on the trail. I can tell you I would not be inclined to hike it without a handgun, for several reasons. Or just a big Bowie knife

[robbiestoupe]

I'm reading A Walk in the Woods and it is giving me a burning desire to spend a month on the trail. I can tell you I would not be inclined to hike it without a handgun, for several reasons. Or just a big Bowie knife

Don’t bother watching the movie.

I love books like that. I’m reading all of John Muir’s books and I can’t wait to visit the Sierra’s/Redwoods. We just hiked parts of Joshua Tree today and am amazed at the diversity of the US landscape.

[dodint]

Joshua Tree is very nice.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

Joshua Tree is very nice.

Indeed. However camping there in February is a chore.

[robbiestoupe]

Joshua Tree is very nice.

We liked it, kids loved it for the rock climbing. We hit it at the perfect time of year. Mid 70s, not too busy. Didn’t see any wildlife so it’s ranked a bit lower on my favorite national parks list, but I’d go again to hike more trails.

[AuthorTony]

Last September a woman went missing in Johnstown. Her husband said she left with another guy but her family said she left without her meds, hadn't picked up her SSI checks, etc. It was pretty obvious she was dead, likely murdered by her husband who was "engaged" a few weeks later. Yesterday someone found remains and today police identified those remains as belonging to the dead woman.

While reading about this, I found a FB page set up by people who wanted to solve the case/find her. I spent most of the afternoon reading through the posts. If you want to go down the white trash wormhole of Johnstown, I highly recommend giving it a read.
https://www.facebook.com/Find-Missing-N ... 220160334/

[count2infinity]

@slappybrown

[shafnutz05]

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

@dodint I was in DC last night, literally a stones throw from Chatter

Woke up at 7 and decided that sleep > going to a podcast taping. I’ll get it next time; I’m in New York now (Tony Kornheiser Show for those that aren’t in the know)

[dodint]

Neat. I went last month. Sat near the Holtby Stick. Forgot to buy a shirt.

[nocera]

Great video about a perfect game of Put-Put:

The Perfect Game
https://vimeo.com/135415285

[Gaucho]

https://twitter.com/Trevornoah/status/1 ... 3225457664