Don't climb every mountain - This year's climbing season on Everest and hazards

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The picture is a little crooked, but I agree it doesn't look like anyplace I'd want to hike. Reminds me of the Golden Staircase pictures of the Chilkoot Trail during the gold rush.
 
Reminds me of the Golden Staircase pictures of the Chilkoot Trail during the gold rush.
My guess is that the pic shows the Lhotse Face--the slope at the head of the Western Cwm which leads up to the South Col (camp 4). Camp 3 is visible in the lower right.

A description of the South Col route: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitsou.html

All those climbers would be on the same fixed rope and thus unable to pass one another.

Doug
 
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All those climbers would be on the same fixed rope and thus unable to pass one another.

Hmm, is the rope really that long or do they tie ropes together? Isn't that a lot of weight for one rope? I thought there would be several segments of rope anchored separately and you could pass at the ends.
 
Hmm, is the rope really that long or do they tie ropes together? Isn't that a lot of weight for one rope? I thought there would be several segments of rope anchored separately and you could pass at the ends.
It would be multiple segments of rope with multiple anchors. (A segment of rope will be anchored at both ends and may also have intermediate anchors.) The ends of successive segments are generally close enough together that one can clip into the next segment before unclipping from the current segment. (Ideally only one person is on a section between two anchors at a time*, but that is clearly not the case here.) The sequence of individual ropes forms a single path with very little opportunity for passing.

* If multiple people are on one section between anchors, one falling climber can pull others off their feet and their combined impact and weight will come on the first anchor above.

Doug
 
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