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Mt Everest in 3D: Everest Avalanche Tragedy

everestavalanchetragedy.com

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Re: Mt Everest in 3D: Everest Avalanche Tragedy

#3
post #2

I am deeply frustrated that there is absolutely zero sense of scale in this visualization. How big are people? How big are the camps? I have no idea.

One crazy way to think about it, looking down at base camp at ~17,000 feet you're looking at a spot that's higher than almost all the mountains in the US.

Re: Mt Everest in 3D: Everest Avalanche Tragedy

#6
post #2

I am deeply frustrated that there is absolutely zero sense of scale in this visualization. How big are people? How big are the camps? I have no idea.

At this level you can't even spot the individual human. They will be barely register as a pixel. To get the idea of the scale look at this: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167621313/a-billion-pixel-tour...

Re: Mt Everest in 3D: Everest Avalanche Tragedy

#8
This is the thing that I was wishing existed a couple of months ago when I read "Into Thin Air". It's a fantastic read about the 1996 Mount Everest disaster where eight climbers died, but I often had difficulty visualising what was going on. (There's also a film, Everest, due out next year.)

To be better convey what it's like to climb Everest, I think this visualisation would be improved if it had more annotations about what makes climbing difficult and the dangers involved. For example, the Khumbu Icefall is a fast moving glacier with many crevasses and ice towers, and has a habit of hosting avalanches and falling ice towers. Climbers try to limit the amount of time they spent here due to the danger, although Sherpa guides tend to cross it many times to stock Camp 1 in preparation for their clients.

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