Assault at 25,500 feet:Mount Everest climber allegedly attacked by authorities for not having permit

[rug]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/assault-25-500-feet-mount-everest-climber-allegedly-000005063.html

The view from Mount Everest Camp 3 at 24,000 feet (Alan Arnette/The Coloradoan/AP)

By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – 1 hr 30 mins ago

Chinese climber was reportedly just a few thousand feet from reaching the summit of Mount Everest when he was forced back down the mountain for not having a permit.

Outside magazine reports that the unnamed climber, said to be a Han Chinese, was reportedly 25,500 feet up the mountain's North Col route when he was spotted camping alone, away from other expeditions.

That's when the climber was apprehended by members of the Tibet Mountaineering Guide School (TMGS), who forcibly removed him from the trail and physically assaulted him, witnesses say.

Two witnesses tell Outside that the TMGS members then subdued the hiker, who reportedly wielded his ice axe when confronted by them. In an email to Billi Bierling, the assistant to the Everest historian, one of the witnesses writes:

"I did see the permitless chap being ushered down the hill. The Tibetan rope fixers were sent up to get him. I saw them bringing him down the ropes from the North Col to [advanced base camp]. It was disgraceful. They literally kicked him down the ropes. It was a disgusting example of a pack of bullies egging each other on and literally beating him down the hill. It was absolutely unnecessary as he was offering no resistance and was scared out of his mind. The Tibetans should, and could, have just escorted him down the hill and let the authorities deal with him."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/assault-25-500-feet-mount-everest-climber-allegedly-000005063.html

Well, hell.

[rug]

2. They threw this guy off a mountain for not having a permit to climb.

He wouldn't have made it past 10,000 feet if he was packing.

[deaniac21]

3. Those expedition companies have turned Everest

into a big trash dump. Oxygen bottles, dead bodies, it's like a campground
with no garbage bins. Nothing can be carried out. It is a shame.

[rug]

4. Toll booths cannot be far behind.

[-..__...]

5. "Somebody's gotta go back and get a shit-load of dimes/yuans"!

[deaniac21]

6. No kidding. Some of those people can't even climb.

The guides short rope them up and then back down. It's really good money.

[Mnemosyne]

7. If one cannot climb without oxygen tanks, one should not climb at all.

The trash dump there has pissed me off for many years. I've only dreamed of going to base camp, no way in hell I'd go high enough to need oxygen cannisters. If they disallowed oxygen tanks it would go far toward saving the mountain's natural environment. Though the mountain does kick hellacious ass...

I agree, deaniac, a huge shame.

[FrodosPet]

8. There have been clean up efforts

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120521-42657.html

German doctor dies on Everest clean-up

Published: 21 May 12

A German man died on Mount Everest where he was helping clear the world's highest peak of rubbish, Nepalese tourism officials announced. His death brings the season's toll to five.

~ snip ~

-------------------------------------------------------

There are efforts to clean up the mountain underway, but it is obviously a very dangerous task.

[deaniac21]

10. Too much altitude.

We don't have the technology to clean up. Unless we can hire 100,000 Sherpa garbage men.

[tammywammy]

11. There are expeditions on Everest specifically for clean up

They've managed to bring down tons of garbage the last few years. Here's an article from last year about it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/eco-everest-expedition_n_845601.html

[Shankapotomus]

9. Sounds like a Monty Python skit

for some reason. I can just picture these guys tussling silently at 25,000 feet and the climber trying to evade the authorities

Sucks for the climber, though.