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Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

kathmandupost.com

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Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#21

Post by datadrivenangel »

MontagFTB wrote: post #5
IAmBroom wrote: post #4

"In at least one case cited in the investigation, baking powder was mixed into food to make tourists physically unwell." The only ill effect I can find from overconsumption is a "tingly sensation on the tongue". Of course, that doesn't mean the 'poisoner' wasn't ignorant of this, and genuinely did it trying to make them sick. Or maybe they simply said, "If you feel your tongue tingling, YOU ARE DYING!!!".

Could it be a symptom of high altitude oxygen deprivation?

Yes, which is why it's easy to then convince people to evacuate. People do die on Everest, including EBC treks from altitude sickness alone, so severe symptoms usually lead to taking the trekking back down the mountain.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#22

Post by miltonlost »

Stop pointlessly climbing mountains and ruining the natural environment. Climbing Mt Everest at this point is just a sign of conspicuous consumption and not any achievement other than financial. Would have been better to spend your money lighting it on fire.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#23

Post by rdtsc »

> But none of that worked “The scam continued due to lax punitive action,”

It percolated up. It’s usually what happens with corruption. If lower levels are found out to have a lucrative scheme, the higher ups (auditors, police, legislators) make a big fuss about stumping it publicly, but behind the scenes go and ask for a cut.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#24

Post by datadrivenangel »

miltonlost wrote: post #22

Stop pointlessly climbing mountains and ruining the natural environment. Climbing Mt Everest at this point is just a sign of conspicuous consumption and not any achievement other than financial. Would have been better to spend your money lighting it on fire.

This is mostly trekking related evacuation, which is far easy and lower impact. EBC is about 100x cheaper overall per person than summit attempts, if not 500x.

And Sagarmartha national park and the whole valley up to EBC is an amazingly beautiful part of the world.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#25

Post by delichon »

> But guides and hotel staff ... tell them they are at risk of dying, that only immediate evacuation will save them.

I got Acute Mountain Sickness at just 11k feet. Headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue. I passed out until hitting the ground woke me up. I was very disoriented and vulnerable. If someone had told me that I had to get to a hospital or I'd die they could have led me like a tame goat. And they could be right. If you have high-altitude cerebral or pulmonary edema it is life threatening.

A guide getting a kickback can make it a lot more likely just by cutting short the boring acclimatization time.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#26

Post by AndrewKemendo »

MikeNotThePope wrote: post #20
bombcar wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much a chopper ride would cost at "reasonable rates" (e.g, not the air ambulance but just a chopper).

I can tell you exactly what it cost for me. I took the helicopter from Gorakshep, the highest/last town on the EBC trek, to Lukla, the crazy airport people call the most dangerous one in the world. For me, a 255 lbs / 115kg guy, 2 Nepalis that are each half my size, a pilot, and our not-that-heavy hiking gear was 2000 USD in October of 2024. Pics/video: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBTpLGtydZW/

Nothing beats good quality, freshly sourced, all natural ground truth data

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#27

Post by jopython »

miltonlost wrote: post #22

Stop pointlessly climbing mountains and ruining the natural environment. Climbing Mt Everest at this point is just a sign of conspicuous consumption and not any achievement other than financial. Would have been better to spend your money lighting it on fire.

The "Everest Economy" is worth around $500 million annually.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#29

Post by simojo »

miltonlost wrote: post #22

Stop pointlessly climbing mountains and ruining the natural environment. Climbing Mt Everest at this point is just a sign of conspicuous consumption and not any achievement other than financial. Would have been better to spend your money lighting it on fire.

to be fair, the approach is usually covered in snowpack for most of the year, so impact is minimal by foot traffic. However, most of the protection is fixed, which could have lasting effects if something were to rip out.

For other mountains with dry summits in the summers, I would agree: the effects of erosion are frightening

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