UKH

People have climbed up it, skied down it - so why not now hand over Olympic torches on it? The summit of Everest - aka Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the Earth - has been pointed out by Chinese officials as a likely location for a handover of the Olympic torch if the country's bid for the 2008 games succeeds, reports the Guardian.

Read more about UKClimbing's interpretation on the news pages...

In reply to Charles Arthur, UKC editor:

More stupidity generated by the a the corupt and morally redundant thing called the olympic movement. They really do think they own the world.

In reply to Horse:

I wonder who is the more corrupt......the Olimpic movement......or the Chienese....

Why the f**k is it even been considered re the situation in Tibet...???

PaulJ

In reply to PaulJ:

The media and TV in particular love this sort of shite. There is a rotten and symbiotic relationship between the Movement and the Media.

In reply to PaulJ:

They'll probably try and kill two birds with one stone, and have the runners wandering through Tibet setting fire to each house they pass on the way to Everest.



G

In reply to Graham:

Actually, thinking about it, I'd like to see them keep the thing alight all the way up and back down again.

G

In reply to Horse: No more stupid than Everest being the preserve of those wealthy enough to hire a guide / Sherpa to pull them up it, rather than those who could climb it on their own account.

In reply to John2:

Yep I suppose some IOC nominated twat standing holding a torch on top of the hill would not be that out of place in the usual circus surrounding the place.

In reply to Charles Arthur, UKC editor: It would be interesting to see how it would stay alight in a 100mph wind with very little oxygen

Really this is the kind I would expect to hear from Tami Knight

In reply to John2:
Absolutely. To my knowledge there have been relatively few true ascents of Everest. The rest suck gas, employ Sherpas to do the climbing for them and then publish books with garbage like 'the death zone' in the title. They have not climbed Everest, they have walked up a mountain that looks like Everest but is several thousand feet lower. "Mountaineering charlatans" was the phrase Messner used to describe the practice, I believe.

In reply to John2:
a. Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
b. People will always want to climb it.
c. The Nepalese and Chinese recognise this and charge for the privilege.
d. Contrary to popular belief, organising a ‘budget’ expedition to Everest with any chance of summit success is nigh on impossible. It’s expensive, sorry.
e. ‘Normal climbers’ go to Everest each year having got off their backsides and raised the funds to do so, undermining their achievements from the comfort of your swivel chair takes no effort whatsoever.
f. Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, churning out the usual misinformed drivel does nothing to contribute to the real issues that are worth discussing.

Having said all that, back to the original post – what a naff idea, as if!

In reply to the cumbrian: Cumbrian, I agree totally, the world mountaineering community could do something about this by refusing NOW to not accept any ascents of Everest using oxygen for record (sic) purposes. We should make it clear to the rest of the world that they can go to the summit of Everest however they like, get dragged up by a sherpa while wearing oxygen, get dropped off by helicopter on the top if they want, and they've been to the top of Everest but they certainly haven't climbed it. A cut off date when gear was so primitive that ascents using oxygen could count is a possibility, hence we could still allow Hillary and Tensing their success. Really though that, although a great feat, was more like getting to the North Pole than climbing! Discuss!

In reply to Al Evans:

My phisics isn't that good, but I don't think a chopper would even make it past base camp. Point taken though.

In reply to Al Evans:
Like all gas ascents, Hillary and Tensing's was the sporting equivalent of doing the Tour de France on a motorbike. Edward Norton reached a height of a little over 28,000 feet in 1924 (!) with no bottled oxygen - now THAT was a cool thing to do!

In reply to Tom:

Just days after the 1996 debacle on the South Col route on Everest, a friend of mine who lives in Chamonix, France climbed Everest without using oxygen. He had hired himself two high altitude sherpas -all three summited. That's is by far the cheapest way to do it - if you should be on the mountain at all.

No chance for me, as I would rather give 'that kind of money' to a childrens charity regardless of how cheaply the mountain can be to climb.

Dennis M.