What I want to know is when did big business take over every corner of adventure sports?
Just a few days ago a huge fight broke out on Mt. Everest between two veteran freelance climbers and a group of about 100 Sherpas.
The Sherpas said that it was because they had asked the climbers not to climb above them while they were setting ropes for a “tourist” group of climbers that were part of an organized expedition group. The climbers claimed in a live interview with NPR that no one had approached them about where to climb, but where aware that the larger expedition companies and the Sherpas often coordinated their climbs and routes to the top and when who could climb where. Both Outside Magazine and NPR are actively covering this story.
There is all kinds of coverage around who did what to whom. Broader discussions about cultural awareness and how the Sherpas feel used by the wealthy adventure tourists who make them set their lines, put up their tents, carry their oxygen and treat them badly. And I will let you read all that at the links above.
