The Rush to the Summit of Mount Everest Proves Fatal1 for Some Adventurers对有些冒险家来说， 冲向珠穆朗玛峰顶是致命的

Daksha Morjaria 景一

Reaching the summit of Mount Everest， the worlds highest mountain， is every climbers dream. However， despite improvements in equipment and weather forecasting systems， the treacherous2 trek3 continues to claim a few lives annually. The 2019 season has been the deadliest since 2014.

登上世界最高的珠穆朗玛峰，是每个登山者的梦想。然而，尽管装备和天气预报系统有所改进，但这场危险的跋涉每年仍会夺走几条生命。但2019年登山季是自2014年以来死亡人数最多的一次。

Even more concerning， the fatalities4 were not caused by an act of nature， but were the result of a traffic jam due to the large number of people waiting to get to the peak！Thanks to climber Nirmal Purjas viral photo of the long queue， the deaths were instantly attributed to Nepals relatively lax policy in issuing climbing permits. However， experts say there is more to the story.

更令人担忧的是，死亡不是由不可抗力造成的，而是由于大量等待登顶的人的拥堵造成的！由于攀登者尼马尔·普尔亚的（登山者）排长龙的走红照片，这些死亡立即被归咎于尼泊尔在发放登山许可证方面相对宽松的政策。然而，专家们说，事情还远不止如此。

While the Everest climbing season， which spans about seven to twelve days during the months of April and May， is always short， the 2019 season has been even shorter. High winds and fresh snow made it impossible for Sherpas to begin the arduous task of attaching ropes， used by commercial climbers to ascend and descend the mountain， until April 20， 2019. Though they managed to get to Camp 4， which is located 8，000 meters above sea level by May 1， inclement weather prevented the Sherpas from completing the final 850 meters to the peak until May 14.

雖然珠穆朗玛峰的登山季在4月和5月期间大约持续7到12天，总是很短，但2019年的登山季却更短了。大风和新雪使夏尔巴人不可能在2019年4月20日之前开始架设给商业登山者用来上山和下山的绳索这项艰巨的任务。尽管他们设法在5月1日到达海拔8000米的4号营地，但恶劣的天气使夏尔巴人无法在5月14日之前完成通往顶峰的最后850米。

The following day， 113 commercial climbers， who had been waiting at Base Camp 4 on the South Col， the final launching pad for the summit push， rushed to the peak. On May 16， Seamus Lawless of Ireland became 2019s first casualty5. The Irish professor fell from an altitude of 8，300 meters. On May 17， a day after reaching the peak， Ravi Thakar was found dead in his tent at Base Camp 4. The 28-year-old climber from India is believed to have died of altitude6 sickness.

第二天，一直在南坳4号大本营等候的113名商业登山者向顶峰发起冲锋，那里是冲顶之前的最后一个出发点。5月16日，爱尔兰的谢默思·劳利斯成为2019年的第一位身亡者。这位爱尔兰教授从海拔8300米处坠落。5月17日，在到达山峰的第二天，拉维·塔卡尔被发现死在他4号营地的帐篷里。据信，这位28岁的印度登山者死于高原病。

While strong jet stream winds paused the slew of additional eager climbers for three days， good weather returned on May 21. Predicted to last for just a few days， it resulted in massive congestion7 of climbers on May 22 and May 23， with lines forming both at the Balcony， the final resting stop before the summit， and on the Hillary Step. Named after Sir Edmund Hillary—who， along with Sherpa Tenzing， was among the first to reach the summit in 1953—the nearly vertical8， 11.8-meter-high rock face is the last real challenge to get to the top of the mountain. It is climbed using fixed ropes and can only be used by a single ascending or descending climber at a time.

强劲的急流风使更多渴望登顶的人暂停了三天，5月21日，好天气又回来了。好天气预计会只持续几天，导致了5月22日和23日登山者的拥堵，在“阳台”——登顶前的最后一个休息区，和“希拉里台阶”上都排起了长龙。“希拉里台阶”以埃德蒙·希拉里爵士的名字命名。他和夏尔巴人丹增是于1953年第一批登上峰顶的人。“希拉里台阶”这座几乎垂直、高11.8米的岩面是登上峰顶前的最后一个真正的挑战。攀爬上去需要用到固定的绳索，一次只能由一个人上下。

The bottleneck to reach the peak resulted in five or six-hour delays at more than 26，000 feet —an elevation at which each breath contains only one-third of the oxygen found at sea level—making the already difficult climb even more so. While most safely arrived back at Base Camp 4， the conditions proved fatal for nine climbers， who either ran out of oxygen or died from exhaustion on the descent.

到达峰顶的瓶颈导致了在超过26000英尺高度上5到6个小时的延迟——在这个高度上，每呼吸一次只有海平面上氧气的三分之一——使已经很艰难的攀登更加困难。当大多数人安全回到4号营地时，有9名登山者的情况是致命的，他们要么耗尽氧气，要么在下山的过程中死于精疲力竭。

Simon Lowe， the managing director of UK-based mountaineering expedition company Jagged Globe， who successfully led 12 climbers to the summit on May 23， says， “The queue this year isnt the problem. But it exacerbates9 an underlying issue， and that is incompetent10 climbers being led by incompetent teams. If you go up with a bare minimum of bottles of supplementary oxygen and stand in a queue for ages， that is going to cause problems.”

英国登山探险公司Jagged Globe公司的总经理西蒙·洛在5月23日成功带领12名登山者登上了峰顶，他说：“今年的排队不是问题。但它加剧了一个潜在的问题，那就是不合格的登山者由不合格的团队带领。如果你带着最少的氧气瓶上去，排了很长时间的队，那就会出问题。”

Despite the tragedies， the Nepali tourism board does not plan on restricting the number of permits next year and may even increase them to attract more tourists and climbers. “There has been concern about the number of climbers on Mount Everest， but it is not because of the traffic jam that there were casualties，” Mohan Krishna Sapkota， secretary at the countrys Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation， told The Associated Press. He instead believes the deaths are because of poor weather conditions， insufficient oxygen supplies， and equipment. The official told the news service， “In the next season， we will work to have double rope in the area below the summit， so there is better management of the flow of climbers.” Hopefully these measures， along with better prepared climbers and guides， will ensure the mountain does not claim more lives in the future.

盡管发生了悲剧，但尼泊尔旅游局并未计划明年限制许可证数量，甚至可能增加许可证数量，以吸引更多的游客和登山者。“人们一直担心珠穆朗玛峰上的登山者人数，但并不是因为拥堵造成人员伤亡，”尼泊尔的旅游和民航部部长莫汉·克里希纳·萨普科塔告诉美联社。相反，他坚持认为死亡原因是恶劣的天气条件、氧气供应不足和装备问题。这位官员对新闻社说：“在下一个登山季，我们将努力在峰顶下的地区设置双绳，以便更好地管理登山的人流。”希望这些措施，连同准备得更充分的登山者和向导，让这座山在未来不会夺走更多的生命。

▲Discussion议一议：

1. What do you think of the behavior of climbing mountains？你对登山这种行为有什么看法？

2. Do you know anything about the environmental problems around Mount Everest？ How to protect the environment around Mount Everest？你对珠穆拉玛峰的环境问题有什么了解吗？你认为应该怎样保护珠穆朗玛峰附近的环境呢？

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