The Top of the World is Not for Everyone :: Essays Papers

The Top of the World is Not for Everyone Once the exclusive domain of the elite mountaineers, the roof of the world now lures scores of amateurs. These climbers seek a challenge that begins as high drama but can end abruptly as tragedy (Breashears, 1997).† At 29,035 feet, Mount Everest is the â€Å"top of the world† and the ultimate challenge for Climbers. But recently with advances in technology and equipment, more people are attempting to conquer Everest, although many of them do not belong in such an unpredictable, dangerous place with such little experience. With more and more people venturing to the top of Everest, substantial pollution has been a result, which is an expensive and difficult problem to correct at such high altitudes. Everest, which was once considered a sacred home of the gods, is now a commercialized, life threatening challenge with accumulating contamination. Mount Everest is situated at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Traditionally, those living near Everest honored the mountain and thought of the Himalayas as scared homes of the gods. No local people climbed them until the early 1900’s. But as foreign expeditions brought tourist dollars and Western ideas, the local people began to serve as porters for foreign climbers (Encarta, 2000). Many expeditions were sent out to reach the summit of Everest, but most ended unsuccessfully with tragic deaths. In 1921 George Leigh Mallory led a British Expedition to the summit of Everest climbing the north side. On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand, and Tenzing Norway, a Sherpa of Nepal under the tenth Expedition Flag of the British and the leadership of John Hunt were the