Climb Mt Everest or trek to the South Pole
Climb Mt Everest or trek to the South Pole
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Silent1

Original Poster:

19,761 posts

253 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Now i'm not one of the fittest men alive, but i'd love to do both of these, but in all reality i'll only ever do one.

So which one is more of a challenge and which one is likely to give the most sense of satisfaction if/when you complete it.

Personally i'm leaning more towards the south pole because it seems that you can almost go to your high street travel agent and book an everest trip now.

cqueen

2,634 posts

238 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Neither thanks.

evenflow

8,825 posts

300 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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I would have said Everest.

In the most naive and simplistic terms, one is a long, cold walk, and the other is a long, cold, climb - with the added problems of altitude.

ETA: And also, I would feel better saying I've stood on top of the world, surveying everything beneath me, rather than standing on the bottom of the world wink

Edited by evenflow on Thursday 22 January 13:04

jesusbuiltmycar

4,920 posts

272 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Silent1 said:
Now i'm not one of the fittest men alive, but i'd love to do both of these, but in all reality i'll only ever do one.

So which one is more of a challenge and which one is likely to give the most sense of satisfaction if/when you complete it.

Personally i'm leaning more towards the south pole because it seems that you can almost go to your high street travel agent and book an everest trip now.
A friend of mine (who is super fit) did the Everest Base Camp Trek and said that it was physically the hardest thing he had ever done.

Everest summit takes years of training, and many still loose their lives every year...

rsv gone!

11,288 posts

259 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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jesusbuiltmycar said:
Silent1 said:
Now i'm not one of the fittest men alive, but i'd love to do both of these, but in all reality i'll only ever do one.

So which one is more of a challenge and which one is likely to give the most sense of satisfaction if/when you complete it.

Personally i'm leaning more towards the south pole because it seems that you can almost go to your high street travel agent and book an everest trip now.
A friend of mine (who is super fit) did the Everest Base Camp Trek and said that it was physically the hardest thing he had ever done.
A colleague did the same and had to be flown down in an oxygen chamber.

Silent1

Original Poster:

19,761 posts

253 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
But isn't Mt Everest massively over subscribed now though with many people suffering problems trying to summit because of the traffic jams that occur on the line leading to the summit?

Famous Graham

26,553 posts

243 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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There's a chap on here named (appropriately enough) Polarben who might be worth dropping a line. I can't remember if he's done South or North Pole though (I think his next trip - that he was asking for help with bindings for a couple of weeks ago - is the North).

petrol_penelope

924 posts

204 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Neither I struggle enough getting up 2 flights of stairs at work, so god help me if I HAD to do one of them.

thehawk

9,335 posts

225 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Surely far fewer people trek to the South Pole, that is a real expedition still. Everest is just a tourist attraction these days, thousands of people climb it.

Silent1

Original Poster:

19,761 posts

253 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
Famous Graham said:
There's a chap on here named (appropriately enough) Polarben who might be worth dropping a line. I can't remember if he's done South or North Pole though (I think his next trip - that he was asking for help with bindings for a couple of weeks ago - is the North).
I might well drop him a line, i've read his website before and am mightily impress with what he's done, but before i go hassling him i thought i'd see what peoples opinions where

smile

NitroNick

757 posts

228 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Everest would cost a fortune, it takes over a month to acclimatise, you need a support crew,guide, oxygen etc.
If you are one of the lucky few to get to the top you are unlikely to stand there surveying all beneath you as you have a limited oxygen, a tiny time window in which to do it in and you will be suffereing from altitude sickness.
More people die coming back down than on the way up.
It is a massive test of physical ability but more so of mental stamina.
Mucho respect to anyone who climbs everest.
I've never been but intend making a trip to base camp in the next few years.

Nick (a guy who watcehd a documentary about Everest)

BigBen

12,077 posts

248 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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thehawk said:
Surely far fewer people trek to the South Pole, that is a real expedition still. Everest is just a tourist attraction these days, thousands of people climb it.
Not to the top they don't. Think I read somewhere that a very high percentage die trying.

rhinochopig

17,932 posts

216 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Personally Everest for me.

If I were you, I'd go for the pole, as unless you have a good mountaineering résumé of 6k, 7k metre peaks then no reputable guide will take you. It's also more of a pot luck than the pole, as even the fittest people can suffer from HAPE, HACE. Lots of people may have climbed it, but it still kills 1-10 people.

Neither are cheap and will probably cost £30-50k.

Edited by rhinochopig on Thursday 22 January 13:16

Don

28,378 posts

302 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Either destination would appear to be highly inaccessible to any form of rescue should it all go tits up. Since dying is a real possibility I'd go for the one that gladdens the heart the most!

Personally I'd find seeing the view from the top of the world fantastic. I never will, of course, until they're doing helicopter rides to the top at reasonable cost: i.e. never.

thehawk

9,335 posts

225 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
BigBen said:
thehawk said:
Surely far fewer people trek to the South Pole, that is a real expedition still. Everest is just a tourist attraction these days, thousands of people climb it.
Not to the top they don't. Think I read somewhere that a very high percentage die trying.
They do die, but something like 3700 climbers had reached the summit of Everest by 2007 - trekkers to the South Pole must surely be less than 100.

rhinochopig

17,932 posts

216 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
thehawk said:
BigBen said:
thehawk said:
Surely far fewer people trek to the South Pole, that is a real expedition still. Everest is just a tourist attraction these days, thousands of people climb it.
Not to the top they don't. Think I read somewhere that a very high percentage die trying.
They do die, but something like 3700 climbers had reached the summit of Everest by 2007 - trekkers to the South Pole must surely be less than 100.
You also need to factor in - in both instances - the very high risk of losing fingers and toes.

john2443

6,469 posts

229 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Everest base camp being super fit doesn't necesarily help.

When I did it I was fitter than I'd ever been (age 30, regular 10k in about 40 mins beforehand and doing a physical job) and managed it OK, one of our team members was 58 did a lot of gentle walking in the UK, and also got there - a bit slower than me, but still made it.

One of the other guys (33, had climbed the Matterhorn, lots of ice climbing, runner) was f****d above 14000 (EBC is about 17 or 18000) and had to stay in the lower valleys.

We did a 20000 / 6000m peak and were taking one step and stopping to get our breath back, and that's 9000' below Everest!

The statistics are still something like 1 in 8 don't come back off Everest (you aren't Japanese are you? - apparently it's 1 in 4 if you are!)

You also have a high chance of trying to get to the top and not making it due to weather, fitness and other imponderables.

Presumably you've done ice and snow climbing already? If not get loads of practice in first!

humpbackmaniac

1,898 posts

259 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Me too i did it 2003 Everest is an amazing experience as long as you are comfortable with flying in little chicken chasers. Google "Lukla Airstrip" if you survive the landing you are ok. My trip was spent worrying about taking off again on the way home! Think, small Granite Aircraft Carrier and you get the idea!

Everest you meet the nepalese people form great friendships and get to see some amazing sights, North Pole you trek through boring white for weeks on end alone. Smashing. Do Everest! PM me if you want more info or help I loved every minute of it.


AND you get to stand around at Heathrow with huge Rucksack asking at the top of your voice to anyone who will listen where the plane to Kathmaundu is! You will NEVER BE Cooler. Awesome. I actually met an ex girfriend in my local train station on the way to Heathrow with all my gear and she asked where I was going, I said taking a Sabatical to Climb Everest, came back with a beard etc looking the real mountain man. Wet as an otters pocket she was after that! but thats just bonus material, do it, oh and pay your own way for fks sake, these "charity" trips get right on my left breast! Raise money and give it to a charity if you wish but dont ask your friends to pay for your adventure. (sorry bit of a rant)

dan1981

17,796 posts

217 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Are you talking about geting to the summit of Everest or just to base camp?

Plenty of people head to base camp - very few make the summit.

I think you'd need alot more experience to do the top of everest, nott hat i'm saying walking to the pole would be easy...

cardigankid

8,859 posts

230 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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Neither buy a porsche or a jag.

Honestly. I am sure that there is huge fulfilment to be gained from doing something like this. But on the other hand, people forget. This is the edge. Something goes wrong you die or lose your fingers or worse. Is it worth it?

Edited by cardigankid on Thursday 22 January 13:42