Powerful Passage - Conditions Outside Everest Itself

Lobuje - 16,200 feet in elevation

“The three or four stone toilets in the village were literally overflowing with excrement. The latrines were so abhorrent that most people, Nepalese and Westerners alike, evacuated their bowels outside on the open ground, wherever the urge struck. Huge stinking piles of human feces lay everywhere; it was impossible not to walk in it. The river of snowmelt meandering through the center of the settlement was an open sewer. The main room of the lodge where we stayed was furnished with wooden bunk platforms for some thirty people. I found an unoccupied bunk on the upper level, shook as many fleas and lice as possible from the soiled mattress, and spread out my sleeping bag. Against the near wall was a small iron stove that supplied heat by burning dried yak dung.” (pg. 54)

Two toilets in Lobuje overflowing with waste

Man's pillow in Lobuje room covered in
 puke stains from past visitors

I chose this passage to share because it shows the conditions before the climbing of Mt. Everest even begins. The passage is describing a village called Lobuje, a grim collection of tumbledown buildings, filled with Sherpas (climbing expedition helpers) and climbers from various expeditions. Lobuje was the pit stop to reaching Everest base camp, left with a day journey through the valley to the camp. Krakauer, the author, uses great imagery and describes so in depth you are almost transported to the dingy village. I can only imagine the overpowering smell and lack of sanitation. What amazes me is that climbers pay up to $65,000 to be guided to the summit but are put into conditions like that before the journey even begins. Let’s just say most rich men and women aren’t in their element at this moment. I like this passage because I know what would be going through my mind if I were one of the climbers. It would be something along the lines of, “I paid $65,000 for this treatment?!” Many climbers developed illnesses, some serious, at Lobuje. Those who didn't, refused to stay a minute longer than needed.

The Face Behind the Words

I will be reading a book called Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Jon was born on April 12, 1954.  Growing up Corvallis, Oregon, he was introduced to mountaineering at only 8 years old. Jon studied and attained a degree in Environmental Studies from Hampshire College. 

After college, two decades of his life were focused on climbing mountains. He wrote about his climbing experiences in his books Into the Wild and Eiger Dreams.  In 1996, Krakauer climbed Mt. Everest but the trip turned deadly after reaching the summit. Four out of five of Jon’s teammates were lost on the expedition. He wrote about the tragedy in the book I am choosing to read, Into Thin Air, and also in Outside, a magazine.  In tribute to the friends he lost, Krakauer created the Everest ‘96 Memorial Fund at the Boulder Community Foundation with the money he earned from Into Thin Air. The fund has donated $1.7 million to various charities as of 2012. In 1999, Krakauer won an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Art and Letters, honoring him of his exceptional accomplishments. All the proceeds from his later creations were also donated to the Stop Girl Trafficking program at the American Himalayan Foundation.