Ascending to the Everest- now a mere sporting activity

Ascending to the Everest summit wasonce an aspiring dream. Mountaineering needs very special training, experienceand skills along with one's ability to practice the art of mountaineering andthis was possible to obtain from any of the five mountaineering institutes inIndia.

Around 250-300 mountaineers were waiting patiently in aroute clogged on their way to the Mount Everest that caused delay of aboutthree hours on Wednesday.

Mount Everest recorded one its busiest days on May 22, asmountaineers were seen clogged by a single-file march as a result of a goodweather that led them to push towards the summit. Mountaineers were queued tothe top of the mountain in an area known as 'deadzone'.

Amid this congestion, it resulted to the death of fourclimbers after a long wait at 8000 m. Two among them were Indians, one Nepaliand one Austrian.

However, mountaineering today has become lucrativelycommercial. The travel agent organizes all the logistics along with a Sherpawho directs the mountaineer in every step. This year the Himalayan nation'Nepal' along with China has permitted more than 800 mountaineers. Nepal hasissued a record of 381 permits costing $11,000 each for this year's springclimbing season which triggered bottlenecks en route to the summit after poorweather cut down the number of climbing days.

Assam girl Anangsha Alomyan, a 24 year old travel vloggerwho undertakes numerous trekking expeditions to the Himalayas often, is of theview that mountaineering today has become very much commercialised. With theeasy availability of tour packages to the Everest, people have started takingthe expedition more sportingly and with such huge number of people climbing theEverest every passing year has not only resulted in deaths but also lead to thedeterioration of the ecological balance of the mountain. On a summit day whenthe weather condition permits reaching the Everest peak, hundreds ofmountaineers line up to access the fixed ropes and cross the last obstaclebefore reaching the summit. However, while waiting for their turn to move upthe clogged queue, mountaineers waste huge amount of oxygen and this leads todrop their body temperature along with physical strength which results infrostbite and mountain sickness and ultimately deaths.

It has become very essential to think over who are beingfelicitated or funded in the name of reaching to the summit. People shouldunderstand the art of mountaineering and practice independent safe climbingrather than depending on any external arrangement.