Page 146 - Base Camp News Today

I think itll give people a sense of just how dangerous it can be. you could only stay for two hours because you hadnt acclimat acclimated. explain that. >> reporter: right. so most people when theyre going to base camp, when theyre going to be heading out to the summit of everest, they walk from an area thats about a 45-minute flight from kathmandu, and and the hike takes 10 to 14 days. your body is slowly able to get used to the lower levels of oxygen. when you do what we did, grab a chopper an...

To get in in that small window of time. >> too many people getting in, and theres also no -- i believe theres no controls on the mountain. the permits are issued. theres a certain number of people on the mountain. if the weather window closes, people are on the mountain, they want to summit. >> theyve spent so much time, effort, money to get there. >> correct. and theres no, you know, organized system of controlling that. so once you get your permit and youre at base camp, everyone is planning t...

And climbers tell our correspondent there are -- and another factor is the narrower window of weather to summit. here is more from arwa who reached the base camp at 19,000 feet above sea level. >> a lot of debate right now as to whether or not nepal needs to be doing more to regulate the number of permits to regulate who goes up and what level of experience they have. there has been a lot of criticism about inexperienced climbers going up, but also a burden of responsibility on the individual. y...

Who goes up, what level of experience they have. theres been a lot of criticism about inexperienced climbers going up. theres also a burden of responsibility on the individual. yes, this is such a challenge. it is such a goal that is really going to push you mentally and physically to the limit, but all of the climbers were talking to are saying, you really need to know how to listen to your body. just being here right now, one really feels the effect of the lower levels of oxygen. arwa damon, c...

You take, every single movement, that little bit of exertion really does take a toll on your body. you feel it in your fingers. the reason why im talking about this is because oxygen is so critical. the vast majority of the casualties that we saw this climbing season took place as people were descending after going up through whats known as the death zone where there every breath you take only gives you a third of the level of oxygen you would have at sea level. your body being deprived of oxyge...

Screaming and they discovered bodies of people that had fallen into a decree vas in the 1960s so they were coming out through the crevace and they went and recovered the bodies. they had a ceremonies for those bodies. >> they had been there for 40 something years. >> were here at base camp and were experiencing what were ability to go through and we havent even put one step up the mountain. >> was it worth it? >> its an exceptional experience. its an incredible part of the world. i learned more ...

It is such a goal that is really going to push you mentally and physically to the limit, but all of the climbers we are talking to are saying you really need to know how to listen to your body and just being there right now one really feels the effect of the lower levels of oxygen. >> all right. so arwa just got back from base camp. she was only able to spend two hours there because of the affects on the body as she was describing. she then flew back to kathmandu in nepal and thats where she joi...

Reporting and telling these stories for us going truly where almost no one else will go. appreciate it. joining me now is someone who has supplemented mt. everest six times and just came back from base camp on the tibetan side. veteran climber and guide david morton joins me now live from tibet. david, thank you so much for being with us. 11 people have died on everest this season. this is the highest since 2015 and that was an avalanche year, it was an avalanche that killed most of the people...

Just stop, turn back and thats part of the challenge of summiting everest, but thats also what makes it so dangerous because some people push through that barrier, but they push too far and people dont die when they are on their way up to the summit, they really end up succumbing to altitude sickness when they are on their way back down. it was really viking to be there and see how quickly ones body is affected. i should quickly say, though, that when the climbers are going to base camp, they ar...

Wolf that might begin to change. >> from those youve spoken to at the base camp, arwa, is anyone second guessing whether its worth the risk going up there? >> you know, that was a question we did ask a number of climbers who we spoke to. and they all said that they would not change or hesitate to do the climb once again. and it really goes back to experience. inexperienced climbers dont know how to ready their bodies, how to understand when they are bodies are telling them theyre pushing themsel...