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Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe firefighters partly also do it for the adrenaline rush. I also believe there are different views of what this subthread was about.
Best to not look into the firefighter/arsonist overlap either. I kid, you guys are awesome. (Also, no firefighter I’ve ever known wonders why the overlap exists, hahah)
Article mentions helicopters can't (or safely) fly there due to thin air at altitude. Sounds logical for existing helicopters designed to operate at lower altitude. But wouldn't it be possible to design or adapt a helicopter specifically for this purpose? It's not that aerodynamics / lift etc suddenly stop working, it's 'just' the numbers changing. Eg. a helicopter with longer rotor blades, or dual-rotor design might…
During the ~1 week of the year where it's safest to summit, they're typically looking at 15kph winds with up to 50kph gusts. Conditions are worse for the rest of the year. It's unsafe to try to hover near the ground in those conditions, and the thinner atmosphere just compounds that problem.
Also, you're talking about designing a new, specialized helicopter... that's not cheap, and someone would have to pay for it. What's the commercial incentive?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you think if you're in that kind of situation, where you are dying on a beautiful mountain, you would have it in you to appreciate the beauty around you? I was imagining it to be more like a cold, painful death rather than a nice end where you appreciate the mountain air.
I have firsthand experience with this, and yes, that was my last thought. I was young and foolish, and alone in the wilderness during the winter. I drank some bad water and became very sick during a blizzard, and while searching for shelter, I finally became too weak to continue. I was hypothermic, and coherent thoughts were difficult, but my last thoughts were peaceful acceptance, and appreciation of the beauty and…