what is the high in risking all to climb MT Everst?

Answer 1

Mt. Everest isn't that much of a dangerous climb anymore. So many wanted to do it that now it has become a business--with all the guides/sherpas, rescue crews right there and readily available, people whose sole purpose is to make sure you have everything you need to get to the top (including state-of-the-art tents and equipment, and even oxygen tanks). Heck, you don't even need to pack anymore, everything you need is right at the base of the mountain.

However, it appears your main question is why anyone would risk their own life to get to the top of a mountain (something more along the lines of say, Kilimanjaro--the new top mountain to climb for the expert climber). The idea is to prove that you are good enough, that you can beat what nature has to throw at you.

I suspect the major problem is that we've become too advanced technologically speaking. We no longer need to hunt for food or build our homes or even walk to work. Go to the local grocery store or drive or whatever else, technology has taken away the very nature of living. We were built (whether by God or by nature--evolution) to struggle, to want to struggle because in the past that is how we survived. Now the struggle has been more or less taken away, and some of us still need it to feel alive and well (because it is in our nature to need it so that in the past we would survive).

That is what those who climb mountains, or for that matter race cars, or bungee jump or parachute from planes, and maybe even go to war; that is what they are looking for. A chance to feel alive and to believe that they can survive no matter what comes.

Answer 2

Its hard to do and there's a small percenatge of people who climb and make it. Doing it probably makes people feel strong and accomplished in their sport.