I have mixed feelings about this.

One the one hand, it sounds like they DID try to save the guy for hours. And this is an incredibly dangerous thing to attempt with a shockingly high number of people dying an attempt every year. I also think everyone that attempts one of these climbs knows exactly what they are doing. The porter that died might not have been well paid by Norwegian standards, but I have little doubt that he was paid quite well for Pakistan…

… but on the other hand, this is completely unnecessary. These people are dying - whether they are a hired sherpa or a Western climber - for totally no good reason. They aren’t really exploring new lands anymore. They aren’t discovering new sources of X mineral or sailing unknown seas. Everything about this is just rich-person’s adrenaline vacation, and not something particularly important.

I don’t think you understand the context. Watch 14 peaks on Netflix, it is really good. Doing 14 peaks in 92 days isn’t some tourist activity. That is an insane feat that they accomplished.

I don’t think anyone is trying to take away how difficult the activity is. There’s a reason why so many people die trying.

What I am trying to explain is that there is no good reason to do it.

Other very dangerous jobs involve doing something - hauling supplies to northern towns in the arctic over iced-over roads, catching fish in the Bearing straight, working on oil platforms in the gulf. Highly compensated, highly dangerous jobs, but they do it because they are supplying people with food or essential fuel or something like that.

Climbing a mountain is just climbing a mountain. They aren’t bringing back some rare mineral that is only found on the top of these mountains. They aren’t discovering some new path through which might cut travel time in 1/2 for the indigenous people. They’re going up a mountain.

What I am trying to explain is that there is no good reason to do it.

I think these personal value things. I personally have no desire to take that risk. But for some, it’s the type of activity that makes life worth living. It’s the famous Everest quote: “Why should a man climb Everest? Because it is there.” You watch interviews with mountaineers, climbers like Alex Hannold, etc… they’re just different. It’s their raison d’etre. They know the risk more than anyone, and I think it’s okay that they choose to take those risks.