Helicopter rescue scams

[Beto]

in Nepal...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... scue-scams

[Candace66]

Over 1600 helicopter rescues in Nepal this year ?!?!

With numbers like that, no wonder the insurers smelled a rat.

In general, the numbers thrown around in this article make it sound as if the place is way too crowded for my taste. And I'm only talking about trekking. This article states 373 Everest permits were issued by Nepal last year.

[Wish I lived in CO]

Yet another reason to never set foot any where near Everest

[Scott P]

In general, the numbers thrown around in this article make it sound as if the place is way too crowded for my taste. And I'm only talking about trekking.

The 14ers and Colorado National Parks are way more crowded than the treks in Nepal.

Rocky Mountain National Park is smaller than Sagarmatha National Park, but receives approximately 167 times more visitors. 19 times more people climb the 14ers than all visitors to the entire Everest region combined.

Even Everest is only crowed for a few days a year. The reason it gets a bad rap is that unlike the 14ers, there are technical spots on the two standard routes that form bottlenecks and lines at those spots. Since everyone waits for the best weather window, traffic jams form at those locations for a few days a year. The only places on the 14ers I can think of that typically form bottlenecks are the Narrows on Longs and the Knife Edge on Capitol.

Everest is indeed crowded on a few days a year, but the 14ers even more so. Since they are all non technical (at least the ones in Colorado), there aren't the same type of bottlenecks being formed, even though there are more people on the 14ers.

[Candace66]

Seems like were comparing apples to oranges, but anyway...

If one is willing to look beyond the 14ers and the National Parks, there are peaks and places in CO that aren't over-crowded during the summer.

During the rest of the year, I can easily find complete solitude in countless places throughout the Southwest.

Also, travel to those places doesn't cost me thousands (10K's for Himalyan climbs) of dollars.

[Scott P]

If one is willing to look beyond the 14ers and the National Parks, there are peaks and places in CO that aren't over-crowded during the summer.

During the rest of the year, I can easily find complete solitude in countless places throughout the Southwest.

The same is true of almost all of the Everest region, or even Everest itself (though I don't have the desire to climb it) as long as you don't climb one of the two standard routes in May. You mentioned trekking in your post, but it's still less crowded than the 14ers, and it's very easy to get off the main track and see no one.

Also, travel to those places doesn't cost me thousands (10K's for Himalyan climbs) of dollars.

Unless you do Everest or a very few other peaks, it doesn't cost 10's of thousands of dollars. Nepal is very cheap; at least after paying for airfare.

The first time we went (Annapurna region) we spent somewhere around $450 in 47 days. This included all lodging, food, transportation, and even a porter. That's a lot cheaper than we would have spent staying in Colorado.

When we went to the Everest region we climbed 12 mountains in the Everest region. I think it cost us about $500 total to climb 12 mountains; I'd have to check to see what the exact amount is.

Once you pay for airfare ($1200-$1600), travel in the Himalaya is very cheap; much more so than Colorado.

Plus, although beautiful, all the mountains in Colorado are much less impressive than the Himalaya. If peaks like Longs, Capitol, or the Maroon Bells (all of which are some of the more impressive in Colorado) were located in Nepal, they wouldn't even bother naming them unless there was a monastery on top and they certainly wouldn't be referred to as mountains, but only hills.

Travel to the Himalaya is time consuming though. It takes at least a month to really see anything without an extremely rushed trip. Even flying there and back usually takes 5 days.

[pmeadco]

I can't resist posting a "me too" to Scott's reply. We went to Nepal last year and spent the month of November in Kathmandu and on the Manaslu and Tsum Valley circuit. By far the majority of people we encountered on the trails were locals, and that is no surprise since for the high mountains the trails are the only practical way you can get around. I suppose the trails are the interstate system of the Himalayas. For lodging and all meals we typically spent less than $20 per day per person. For the two of us we had a guide (required by law for the Manaslu region) and a porter, which, by Nepali standards, we paid a lot. I think it ran like $40-50 per day for the two of them. We were willing to pay the premium since we were assured that our crew was getting a small pension and basic medical care, which are pretty rich benefits in Nepal. Do you think you can hire somebody to guide you and carry your pack in the US for that kind of money? Oh, and for the Manaslu region at least, having a guide was a lifesaver -- there aren't that many people who speak English up there (and, in the Tsum, there aren't that many people who speak Nepali!) so having a guide was a huge benefit.

We paid $1070 each in airfare, which is a fair amount, but it isn't unusual to pay that much to get to Europe, Asia, south Pacific, so I won't complain, especially considering we travelled literally to the other side of the earth. We stayed at hotels that were plenty comfy for about $30 per night, and splurged at better lodging for $50-60 per night. Kathmandu is a tragically dirty city, but that doesn't mean that you can't get a good meal, and we had lots of very good meals for under $10 per person, including drinks. If you think you can live that well at that price in Colorado I can assure you that you are mistaken.

More than once I pondered the possibility of helicopter rescues. We did buy travel insurance just in case. Needing rescue from a remote location would be a heavy bill, one that I wanted to avoid. My daughter had sprained her ankle a few weeks before the trek and I feared she would get to the point where she couldn't continue, somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, so it seemed especially prudent. As it turned out, although she was downing a lot Advil, she was able to get around the circuit and we made good time. The bigger issue for us was catching colds at the start of our trek. When you are at 17,000', hacking up a lung, you start to wonder if you may end up needing a rescue. That was a really hard day, but thankfully, no helicopters flew by, and our guide never even mentioned rescue.

[nunns]

I can't resist posting a "me too" to Scott's reply. We went to Nepal last year and spent the month of November in Kathmandu and on the Manaslu and Tsum Valley circuit. By far the majority of people we encountered on the trails were locals, and that is no surprise since for the high mountains the trails are the only practical way you can get around. I suppose the trails are the interstate system of the Himalayas. For lodging and all meals we typically spent less than $20 per day per person. For the two of us we had a guide (required by law for the Manaslu region) and a porter, which, by Nepali standards, we paid a lot. I think it ran like $40-50 per day for the two of them. We were willing to pay the premium since we were assured that our crew was getting a small pension and basic medical care, which are pretty rich benefits in Nepal. Do you think you can hire somebody to guide you and carry your pack in the US for that kind of money? Oh, and for the Manaslu region at least, having a guide was a lifesaver -- there aren't that many people who speak English up there (and, in the Tsum, there aren't that many people who speak Nepali!) so having a guide was a huge benefit.

We paid $1070 each in airfare, which is a fair amount, but it isn't unusual to pay that much to get to Europe, Asia, south Pacific, so I won't complain, especially considering we travelled literally to the other side of the earth. We stayed at hotels that were plenty comfy for about $30 per night, and splurged at better lodging for $50-60 per night. Kathmandu is a tragically dirty city, but that doesn't mean that you can't get a good meal, and we had lots of very good meals for under $10 per person, including drinks. If you think you can live that well at that price in Colorado I can assure you that you are mistaken.

More than once I pondered the possibility of helicopter rescues. We did buy travel insurance just in case. Needing rescue from a remote location would be a heavy bill, one that I wanted to avoid. My daughter had sprained her ankle a few weeks before the trek and I feared she would get to the point where she couldn't continue, somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, so it seemed especially prudent. As it turned out, although she was downing a lot Advil, she was able to get around the circuit and we made good time. The bigger issue for us was catching colds at the start of our trek. When you are at 17,000', hacking up a lung, you start to wonder if you may end up needing a rescue. That was a really hard day, but thankfully, no helicopters flew by, and our guide never even mentioned rescue.

That sounds like something to add to my life list.

Sean Nunn
Raytown, MO

[XterraRob]

I wonder if the next 14ers.com GoFundMe can contribute towards a high altitude rescue helicopter that can be piloted and maintained by Bill Middlebrook. Can you imagine being stranded on the side of a dangerous peak, out of hope, and then seeing a bright light heading towards you. You think it's the mountain gods taking you to the other side but as the light gets closer, you realize it's Bill Middlebrook the Mighty landing his Flying Stallion. He dismounts his helicopter and rushes towards you. "Are you okay?" he asks as he kneels down beside you, "Did you Donate to 14ers.com?". As you shake your head, the light around you begins to fade and you become surrounded in darkness once again. As you reach out to the fading light, you hear a voice in the wind yell "YOU SHOULD HAVE DONATED!".