Climbing is about much more than topographical heights

January 3, 2025 4:32 AM

In the vast majority of cases the research group believes these non-summits are due to honest mistakes or justifiable ignorance, rather than willful dishonesty. Above 8,000 meters, climbers are physically and mentally extended, in no state to be conducting accurate topographical surveys or historical comparisons. Poor visibility, bad weather, fear about the descent, and concern for partners exacerbate the difficulties. The group does not want their findings to result in climbers pushing further than is safe for them at the time. There is also a long history of climbers stopping just below the summits of certain major peaks out of respect for local beliefs and traditions (e.g., Kangchenjunga) or because the highest point is an unstable cornice; however, these concerns do not apply to the mountains under discussion here. from The 8000-er Mess
posted by chavenet (5 comments total)

This year also gives us space to think about why we do this, why we climb.

My mood is low, but it seems increasingly to me that people do this as a symptom of our thoughtless subjugation of nature.

There is a trash problem on Everest. I think it fair to say the mountain has been conquered.
posted by Lemkin at 6:20 AM on January 3 [3 favorites]

I am glad 'they' have decided to cut the summitteers some slack and allow for success at summit ± margin. Because, else, it gets to be counting angels on pins having climbers striking a pose with one crampon-spike on the topmost ice-cube. The specs for Olympic swimming pools require the lanes to be 50m ± 3cm long. Swimmers sensibly agree that it is therefore silly to measure speeds to thousandths of a second because, at champion swimming speed, 0.001s = 2.4mm: a distance far smaller than the potential difference in lane lengths.
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:59 AM on January 3 [6 favorites]

It's only a summit if it comes from the Summit region of France. Everything else is just a sparkling prominence.
posted by surlyben at 9:03 AM on January 3 [11 favorites]

As a climber I will say summits are dumb. Climbing is about the journey, not getting to the top. People who chase summits are missing the point. One reason we end up with so many non-qualified people in places they should not be.
posted by misterpatrick at 9:51 AM on January 3 [11 favorites]

So for Manaslu the difference between the false summit and the true summit is 0.07%. I guess not caring about such a difference is why I'm surfing the net and not standing 8,163 metres above sea level.
posted by Mitheral at 10:51 AM on January 3 [6 favorites]