>>2478236>In fact they climb BECAUSE death is likely there.No. The majority of Everest climbers are rich doctor/lawyer types who are experiencing mid life crises and want to overcome it by achieving the biggest meme outdoor accomplishment there is. It doesn't matter that there are more challenging climbs, or ones with better views - Everest is the top of the world and nowhere else will ever match its prestige. Being highly successful and wealthy in their professional/personal lives, they possess an over-estimation of their locus of control and assume they will naturally beat the odds and return alive. Many acknowledge the risk factors that might lead them to fail to summit, but they don't have a deathwish and pay tens of thousands to be shepherded safely up their ascent attempts.
Here is the list of the 310+ people who have died on the climb:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_died_climbing_Mount_EverestYou'll notice that - outside of the outlier years like the Into Thin Air disaster and the terrible avalanches in 2014 and 2015 - the overwhelming majority of deaths don't involve storms and freezing to death, falling, or other accidents. Everest kills you by simply depriving you of oxygen (see: the "Death Zone"). Air that thin causes your body to begin hemorrhaging itself to death very slowly as your cells start to die. Clothes don't matter. Supplemental oxygen only slows it down. No training can prevent it. Professional climbers and top-class sherpas die to it. There is no "toughness" that can stop it and it can strike anyone. Given enough time - and the amount of time is basically determined like a big dice roll - your body will break down via a stroke, heart attack, respiratory failure (HAPE), or brain swelling (HACE).
But these guided Everest climbers cannot comprehend that a simple chance-based death is what will kill them, and surely they will be able to overcome such risks and meet success.
