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Everest: Heli-skiers accused of sacrilege


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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=431940

 

Heli-skiers accused of sacrilege for descending on Everest

By Jan McGirk

09 August 2003

 

 

They call it the Holy Mountain: since the first Western expedition in the 1920s when seven Sherpas died in an avalanche, none has ventured on to Everest without a lengthy ritual. New prayer flags are always rigged and hoisted to flap blessings skyward. The traditional place names for Everest are so reverent, they are normally whispered: Chomolongma means Mother Goddess of the Universe' in Tibetan; Sagarmatha translates as Mighty Brow in the Sky in Nepalese.

 

"It's a journey into the lap of God," says Norbu Tenzing, the son of Tensing Norgay, who shares fame with Sir Edmund Hillary as the first man to reach the summit. Craig Colonica, a Californian ski entrepreneur, says: "Yeah, it's awesome." He has just had approval to drop wealthy skiers and snowboarders on Everest's hallowed slopes from helicopters for the first time.

 

Environmentalists and traditional mountaineers, many who thought the commercialisation of the highest point of the planet had reached its nadir, are aghast. But it is an enormous mountain and there still are big bucks to be made. Bookings are brisk for the inaugural Heli-Ski Everest trip this winter.

 

When Hillary urged the Nepalese government to "stop issuing climbing licences and give the mountain a rest", he surely had something else in mind. The legendary mountaineer grumbled that today's climbers buy their way to the summit, with the typical all-in price tag now $65,000 per person. Few show much concern for the welfare of local people.

 

For mountaineers, Everest stands for the ultimate challenge. "Everest is a symbol of spiritual inspiration, wedded to hardship, patience, experience and devotion," Jayendra Acharya, a cultural analyst in Kathmandu, says.

 

But skiers and snowboarders who fly in for the ultimate ski-week, and are willing to pay about £700 a day for the privilege - not including the mini-bar - are in a different league. They do not mind a short cut or two.

 

"There's not a lot of time for cultural stuff," Mr Calonica says. "When my clients are not skiing, they are more into relaxing. They are jet-lagged. It is pretty much a culture shock both ways. When the locals see us, they are blown away."

 

These tourists are thrill-seekers, led by a coterie of extreme sports freaks based in Chamonix, France. "My guides put the extreme in extreme sports," says Mr Colonica, 50, a former competitive speed skier. "They are among the best alpinists. And the way they snowboard; if they fall, they are definitely dead."

 

The controversy is similar to when purists condemn death- defying surfing show-offs for hitching a ride on a jet-ski to reach the enormous killer waves that are beyond normal paddling range. Only Everest's looming crests are rock, not water; there are frozen climbers' corpses still littering those slopes.

 

Mr Calonica's Himalayan Heli Ski Guides, the first such company to be licensed by Nepal's tourism ministry, shrugs off the criticism from traditionalists who head for Everest because it "is there". He strives to be "really out there". His heli-service, which launched last season in Nepal's scenic Annapurna region, attracts like-minded skiers who tend to be short of time but long on experience.

 

The promotional website assures customers that skiers can be guided slowly down the mountain's "cruiser runs" on broad skis. Clients are encouraged to call their routes of first descent with fanciful names which will be registered by the Nepal government. It is a tantalising offer for ego-trippers. Any new place names will be subject to government approval, to prevent offending local sensibilities. Mount Everest, renamed after the British surveyor whose triangulation system was used to measure the height of the 8,848m peak in 1841, is rarely called that by the locals.

 

Iain Martin, an online ski writer, says: "The concept of fat, rich Westerners snowploughing their way down a piece of the Himalayas and having the gall to believe for a second that they can claim that land with their own name makes me sick."

 

Mr Calonica says: "Oh, we got hundreds of new names already, some of them kinda silly. Stuff like Pipeline, or Buddah's Bowl. I named one long run Ellie's, for my little girl's fourth birthday. Most people are kind of embarrassed to name a run after themselves. They get together and vote on what to call a virgin run. It is an after-ski activity, and the name is like a souvenir for all time."

 

As for novice skiers tackling something beyond their ability, Mr Calonica is more equivocal. "I can't really say no to someone, but we are getting strong skiers who can handle all conditions. It's got to be someone accomplished. I don't want some label-conscious guy who once zipped down a black diamond slope that was perfectly groomed and now considers himself an expert. He'll end up clawing the snow, falling sideways, upside down.

 

"So far nobody has shown up who didn't belong. If a group had to wait for a beginner to catch up, they'd end up killing me. Or the beginner. There'd be a mutiny."

 

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But it doesn't say that they are going to actually ski everest. No chopper is going to get to the summit. In fact, none will get near the summit, maybe to the basecamp area or a little above. That means they have to ski in winter, which is actually the wet or monsoon season....which means few good flying days and lots of avalanches.

 

Hmmm...crunch a few clients and see how long this lasts. wazzup.gif

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Dr_Flash_Amazing said:

pete_a said:

"...first and only Heli Ski Company in the magical Kingdom..."

 

...magical kingdom? shouldn't that involve disney characters and a concrete mini-replica of the matterhorn?

 

 

Don't give those Mickey Mouse motherfuckers any ideas ... hellno3d.gif

 

On a slightly unrelated note Walt Disney hired the former head of the Nazi rocket program to design the tomorrow land ride, or whatever it's called. But still, skiing down Everest, damn we just can't leave that mountain alone.

Climbers have left so much shit on that peak it's disgusting.

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