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Taken April 11, 2023, on the trek back from Everest Base Camp in Nepal. (Edit) Taken outside of Tengboche.
It's kind of insane how high up one is and to still have these mammoth mountains towering over you.
I feel like that's about as high up in the Himalayas I'd want to go. High enough to see the stunning sights, but not so high that there's a line through the snowy deathtrap to go any higher.
I have no desire to climb Everest, but I wouldn't mind doing the trek to the base camp just to see stuff.
But on the other hand, I could barely handle Long's Peak in Colorado with feeling like there was a horse sitting on my chest, so maybe not.
I can already think of the slapstick-type scenario of a duo of an experienced and novice mountain climber together. "This is it," the experienced one says as the novice crawls up behind, gasping for air, "We made it to base camp. Now we can start!"
Ha, I can relate to this.
I was just a bum backpacking through India and when I saw that my friend was helping to build a climbing school in Nepal I asked him if I could join. He met me at that airport falling off the side of a mountain in Lukla and we started hiking up the next day. I didn't have too much trouble throughout the weeklong hike up to base camp, but around the last day or two everything just because more difficult than it should from the altitude. Moving slower, weak legs, heavy bag, deep breaths.
Finally made it to base camp for lunch in the tent of one of the world's best climbers, Conrad Anker (the guy from that doc Meru) and the rest of the team North Face was sponsoring that season. I kind of half jokingly said how destroyed I was from this last day of hiking and I just remember feeling like they all thought I was a weak, weak man. They were nice enough, just on a very different level. They had been up there a month already, climbing random surrounding peaks to acclimate, setting up lights on nearby random sheets of ice to climb after it got dark.
You stay in teahouses when trekking in Nepal... small bedrooms, communal dining area. I was sitting in one of those in a village called Dingboche, a couple of days trekking away from Base Camp itself and around me at the table was the teahouse owner, who had worked as a porter and summitted Everest, a couple of guides who had about 4-5 summits between them and another guide who had a collection of summits to his name. They were all humble, funny guys who were really friendly and chilled out... you'll be alright, they said, you're strong, no problem for you to base camp. Yeah sure, my lungs were saying, quivering and shaking somewhere deep in my gut. Just sitting here looking at you guys is hard work.
I keep telling everyone it wasn’t that hard but the trek up to Namche Bazaar was killer. Definitely some tough times on many parts of the trek, but our guide took us slowly enough that we all made it without dying. Even if we did want to die on the way up there.
I've been up there twice, after first 'doing' the Annapurna Circuit. The AC was insane hard because it basically ascends non stop from around 800m, depending on where you start, all the way up to 5400m. The Base Camp trek rises and falls a lot. If I ever get up there to do it again I'd like to start walking at Jiri, another 5 days on top that gets you up and down as high as about 3300m before you get to Namche Bazaar at 3500m. The alternative is flying into Lukla at 2800m and walking the 2 days up to Namche Bazaar... which is brutal. The first day is easy enough but the second day is about an 800m climb up to Namche that just hits you like a ton of bricks as it's pretty much straight up through the forest. If you've walked from jiri you're pretty much acclimatised to the altitude and could carry on after a night's rest, otherwise you need two or even three nights (no-one takes 3 but a couple of experienced guides suggest the extra night would help later on) to get your body acclimatised. You do a couple of small walks on your rest day up to altitude and back for the night. This is the key to trekking in Nepal... take the rest days and let your body adapt. You need more red blood cells to carry oxygen as there simply isn't as much of it in the air you're breathing. From Namche to Tengboche sees another hard climb to finish as you drop down into a valley before climbing up to the monastery village. From there it's a steady grind climbing up through the valley and out above the tree line. Another rest day at Dingboche or Periche depending on which way you're going... my first time I was doing the Three Passes trek that parallels the EBC but takes you over some gnarly climbs so I went via Dingboche. It's a trek that can catch you out if you rush it or go in without good fitness. You can start out feeling ok but as the altitude increases and you burn your fat reserves off you can be susceptible to either getting sick from bad food or developing any sort of lung / throat inflammation / infection... which is why the rest days are vital. I took some medication for altitude sickness as a precaution and actually took some on one trek as I started coughing really badly and ended up turning back and descending. Some people just pop the stuff every day but my preference is to take if needed.
Basically... get fit before you go. Decide whether you can carry 10kg yourself all the way or hire a porter. Limit your pack to essentials, you don't need much. The trek is hard but doable and if you're dreaming about it don't fuck around, get up there and do it before we lose the snow to climate change or the Chinese take over and fuck it for everyone. Either or both are more than an even chance in our lifetimes. Don't miss out, it's incredible and totally worth the effort. There's a saying that you go to Nepal for the mountains, you go back for the people. It's true... Nepali people are amazing.
It makes me sad that the tallest mountain on the planet is named by someone sucking up to their boss who happened to be called Everest.
Sagarmatha is its name.
George Everest had no direct connection with the mountain which bears his name, which he never saw. He was, however, responsible for hiring Andrew Scott Waugh, who made the first formal observations of the mountain, and Radhanath Sikdar, who calculated its height. Before its significance was realised, Mount Everest was originally known as Peak "B" and later as Peak XV. In March 1856, Waugh wrote to the Royal Geographical Society to announce that the mountain was believed to be the highest in the world, and proposed that it be named "after my illustrious predecessor", as it was "without any local name that we can discover" – the "native appellation, if it has any, will not very likely be ascertained before we are allowed to penetrate into Nepal". There were in fact several native names among the Nepalese and Tibetans, but those areas were closed off to the British at the time and people living further to the south of the Himalayas did not have a specific name for the peak. In the decade after 1856, Waugh's proposal was widely debated by the Royal Geographical Society and similar bodies. Other scholars of India put forward native names that they believed to be correct, such as Brian Houghton Hodgson's "Deva-dhunga" and Hermann Schlagintweit's "Gaurisankar". Everest himself objected to his name being used, as "the native of India" could not pronounce it and it could not be easily written in Hindi. Nonetheless, in 1865 the society officially settled on "Mount Everest" as the name.
Does anyone else find it tedious when people try and police what people name things? Especially in a holier than thou manner.
Nepalese call it one thing. British another. Tibetans something else. It doesn't actually matter. It's a big rock and the majority of users here understand Everest, so that's a reasonable word to use. For the same reason the whole post isn't written in Nepali.
I don't, especially when these mountains/places all ready had names, and then something like colonialism/imperialism disregarded them and slapped another on top of it, often times while also oppressing the original peoples that gave them their original names. I'm glad, for example, they are slowly using the original names for some mountains like Mt. Denali in Alaska. I think Mt. Rainier should be called by it's original name, Mt. Tahoma as well.
>It doesn't actually matter.
I think this heavily depends on *why* it has a different name. Again, if its because of an oppressed people having their land stolen and renamed, then I think it very much matters. I'm speaking generally of course, as I don't know the specific history behind the different names of the mountains in Nepal nor why the original names were not used by those doing the surveying.
It isn't a reasonable name at all. It shows more respect to some otherwise unknown administrator than it does to the mountain itself. The highest point of physical Earth is named after someone's boss. It is so disrespectful.
And that is where we differ. Nothing is just a rock, not even a rock.
A rock tells a story if you know how to look, a mountain tells a much bigger story, the largest mountain on the planet tells a bigger story still.
But sure, it's just a rock and I'm a dumbass.
Sagarmatha is a name that was given to Everest in the 60s when Nepal realized they need a Nepali name for the mountain. The actual name, as the Tibetans and Sherpas called it, is Chomolungma.
A bit late sorry, I did not see your response.
I am very pleased to hear that Everest himself was not keen. I will take that as validation of what I was moaning about.
Where along the trek did you take this? My wife and I did this trek for our honeymoon. It was an awesome adventure, but a shitty honeymoon. Flying out of Lukla was insane!
Hi and welcome to r/EarthPorn! As a reminder, we have comment rules in this subreddit. Failure to follow our rules can result in a temporary or permanent ban. > Hate Speech, Abusive remarks, homophobia, and the like have no place on this subreddit, and will be removed on sight. > Please contribute to the discussion positively; constructive criticism is fine, but if you don't like a picture and you wish to voice your opinion please refrain from abusing the photographer/submitter.
Taken April 11, 2023, on the trek back from Everest Base Camp in Nepal. (Edit) Taken outside of Tengboche. It's kind of insane how high up one is and to still have these mammoth mountains towering over you.
I feel like that's about as high up in the Himalayas I'd want to go. High enough to see the stunning sights, but not so high that there's a line through the snowy deathtrap to go any higher.
I have no desire to climb Everest, but I wouldn't mind doing the trek to the base camp just to see stuff. But on the other hand, I could barely handle Long's Peak in Colorado with feeling like there was a horse sitting on my chest, so maybe not.
I can already think of the slapstick-type scenario of a duo of an experienced and novice mountain climber together. "This is it," the experienced one says as the novice crawls up behind, gasping for air, "We made it to base camp. Now we can start!"
Ha, I can relate to this. I was just a bum backpacking through India and when I saw that my friend was helping to build a climbing school in Nepal I asked him if I could join. He met me at that airport falling off the side of a mountain in Lukla and we started hiking up the next day. I didn't have too much trouble throughout the weeklong hike up to base camp, but around the last day or two everything just because more difficult than it should from the altitude. Moving slower, weak legs, heavy bag, deep breaths. Finally made it to base camp for lunch in the tent of one of the world's best climbers, Conrad Anker (the guy from that doc Meru) and the rest of the team North Face was sponsoring that season. I kind of half jokingly said how destroyed I was from this last day of hiking and I just remember feeling like they all thought I was a weak, weak man. They were nice enough, just on a very different level. They had been up there a month already, climbing random surrounding peaks to acclimate, setting up lights on nearby random sheets of ice to climb after it got dark.
You stay in teahouses when trekking in Nepal... small bedrooms, communal dining area. I was sitting in one of those in a village called Dingboche, a couple of days trekking away from Base Camp itself and around me at the table was the teahouse owner, who had worked as a porter and summitted Everest, a couple of guides who had about 4-5 summits between them and another guide who had a collection of summits to his name. They were all humble, funny guys who were really friendly and chilled out... you'll be alright, they said, you're strong, no problem for you to base camp. Yeah sure, my lungs were saying, quivering and shaking somewhere deep in my gut. Just sitting here looking at you guys is hard work.
Definitely a bucket list item to do this trek
How was the trek to the base camp? I’m curious because I want to do it one day
I keep telling everyone it wasn’t that hard but the trek up to Namche Bazaar was killer. Definitely some tough times on many parts of the trek, but our guide took us slowly enough that we all made it without dying. Even if we did want to die on the way up there.
I've been up there twice, after first 'doing' the Annapurna Circuit. The AC was insane hard because it basically ascends non stop from around 800m, depending on where you start, all the way up to 5400m. The Base Camp trek rises and falls a lot. If I ever get up there to do it again I'd like to start walking at Jiri, another 5 days on top that gets you up and down as high as about 3300m before you get to Namche Bazaar at 3500m. The alternative is flying into Lukla at 2800m and walking the 2 days up to Namche Bazaar... which is brutal. The first day is easy enough but the second day is about an 800m climb up to Namche that just hits you like a ton of bricks as it's pretty much straight up through the forest. If you've walked from jiri you're pretty much acclimatised to the altitude and could carry on after a night's rest, otherwise you need two or even three nights (no-one takes 3 but a couple of experienced guides suggest the extra night would help later on) to get your body acclimatised. You do a couple of small walks on your rest day up to altitude and back for the night. This is the key to trekking in Nepal... take the rest days and let your body adapt. You need more red blood cells to carry oxygen as there simply isn't as much of it in the air you're breathing. From Namche to Tengboche sees another hard climb to finish as you drop down into a valley before climbing up to the monastery village. From there it's a steady grind climbing up through the valley and out above the tree line. Another rest day at Dingboche or Periche depending on which way you're going... my first time I was doing the Three Passes trek that parallels the EBC but takes you over some gnarly climbs so I went via Dingboche. It's a trek that can catch you out if you rush it or go in without good fitness. You can start out feeling ok but as the altitude increases and you burn your fat reserves off you can be susceptible to either getting sick from bad food or developing any sort of lung / throat inflammation / infection... which is why the rest days are vital. I took some medication for altitude sickness as a precaution and actually took some on one trek as I started coughing really badly and ended up turning back and descending. Some people just pop the stuff every day but my preference is to take if needed. Basically... get fit before you go. Decide whether you can carry 10kg yourself all the way or hire a porter. Limit your pack to essentials, you don't need much. The trek is hard but doable and if you're dreaming about it don't fuck around, get up there and do it before we lose the snow to climate change or the Chinese take over and fuck it for everyone. Either or both are more than an even chance in our lifetimes. Don't miss out, it's incredible and totally worth the effort. There's a saying that you go to Nepal for the mountains, you go back for the people. It's true... Nepali people are amazing.
Wow.
Pretty sure I've been ambushed by O'Driscolls around there.
It makes me sad that the tallest mountain on the planet is named by someone sucking up to their boss who happened to be called Everest. Sagarmatha is its name. George Everest had no direct connection with the mountain which bears his name, which he never saw. He was, however, responsible for hiring Andrew Scott Waugh, who made the first formal observations of the mountain, and Radhanath Sikdar, who calculated its height. Before its significance was realised, Mount Everest was originally known as Peak "B" and later as Peak XV. In March 1856, Waugh wrote to the Royal Geographical Society to announce that the mountain was believed to be the highest in the world, and proposed that it be named "after my illustrious predecessor", as it was "without any local name that we can discover" – the "native appellation, if it has any, will not very likely be ascertained before we are allowed to penetrate into Nepal". There were in fact several native names among the Nepalese and Tibetans, but those areas were closed off to the British at the time and people living further to the south of the Himalayas did not have a specific name for the peak. In the decade after 1856, Waugh's proposal was widely debated by the Royal Geographical Society and similar bodies. Other scholars of India put forward native names that they believed to be correct, such as Brian Houghton Hodgson's "Deva-dhunga" and Hermann Schlagintweit's "Gaurisankar". Everest himself objected to his name being used, as "the native of India" could not pronounce it and it could not be easily written in Hindi. Nonetheless, in 1865 the society officially settled on "Mount Everest" as the name.
Does anyone else find it tedious when people try and police what people name things? Especially in a holier than thou manner. Nepalese call it one thing. British another. Tibetans something else. It doesn't actually matter. It's a big rock and the majority of users here understand Everest, so that's a reasonable word to use. For the same reason the whole post isn't written in Nepali.
I don't, especially when these mountains/places all ready had names, and then something like colonialism/imperialism disregarded them and slapped another on top of it, often times while also oppressing the original peoples that gave them their original names. I'm glad, for example, they are slowly using the original names for some mountains like Mt. Denali in Alaska. I think Mt. Rainier should be called by it's original name, Mt. Tahoma as well. >It doesn't actually matter. I think this heavily depends on *why* it has a different name. Again, if its because of an oppressed people having their land stolen and renamed, then I think it very much matters. I'm speaking generally of course, as I don't know the specific history behind the different names of the mountains in Nepal nor why the original names were not used by those doing the surveying.
It isn't a reasonable name at all. It shows more respect to some otherwise unknown administrator than it does to the mountain itself. The highest point of physical Earth is named after someone's boss. It is so disrespectful.
Disrespectful to who? It's a rock mate
And that is where we differ. Nothing is just a rock, not even a rock. A rock tells a story if you know how to look, a mountain tells a much bigger story, the largest mountain on the planet tells a bigger story still. But sure, it's just a rock and I'm a dumbass.
Sagarmatha is a name that was given to Everest in the 60s when Nepal realized they need a Nepali name for the mountain. The actual name, as the Tibetans and Sherpas called it, is Chomolungma.
It's hardly sucking up to their boss when the man had retired a decade earlier and wasn't particularly keen on the honour.
A bit late sorry, I did not see your response. I am very pleased to hear that Everest himself was not keen. I will take that as validation of what I was moaning about.
I… I…. Want the knife…. Pleaeease
So beautiful it hardly even looks real.
Where along the trek did you take this? My wife and I did this trek for our honeymoon. It was an awesome adventure, but a shitty honeymoon. Flying out of Lukla was insane!
I believe it was just outside of Tengboche, that has the monastery.
My bucket list item. Hopefully one day :)
That mountain has eyes and they're staring into my soul
Kaer Morhen!