Current Event 10/1/15

My article is about how Nepal has banned inexperienced climbers from attempting to scale Mount Everest. The title is “Nepal bans novice climbers from Everest, considers more limits.” I got the article on cnn.com. Climbing Mount Everest was once among the most prestigious achievements an adventurer could put under his belt, but in recent years, wealthy, inexperienced climbers have been hiring professional guides to essentially carry them to the top, using oxygen tanks and other equipment. This has turned Everest into a competition of who can afford to pay someone to take them up the mountain, instead of who can train hard enough and climb with enough dedication to reach the summit. “We must maintain the glory of Everest climbing,” M. K. Sapkota, joint secretary of Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism said. On the climb, where the air gets so thin that it is nearly impossible to breathe without the use of oxygen tanks, people who haven’t trained adequately enough often die; the death rate of those who attempt to climb the mountain is around 5-6%. The mountain has also become littered with trash left behind by climbers, raising environmental concerns as well as safety concerns for the climbers. Now, anyone who has not reached the summit of a different mountain of at least 21,325 feet tall will not be allowed to attempt to climb Everest. Nepal is also considering placing age limits and limits on handicapped climbers in the future. Although I don’t like to see governments keeping people out of places, I think that these restrictions will be better for the mountain and will reduce the number of deaths of climbers. When inexperienced people enter one of the most hostile places on earth, they often die horrible, painful deaths when something goes wrong. These restrictions will also return climbing Everest to what it once was; a great accomplishment, a test of manhood, that only the greatest of climbers could do. Environmentally speaking, the mountain will also be better off now than before, as the bulk of the litter on the mountain was likely left by inexperienced climbers who carelessly left their garbage behind as they headed for the summit. This event affects me because I have considered climbing Everest in the future, and now if I want to do it I’ll have to climb another mountain first. This impacts the world because the summit of Everest is literally the top of the world, and now it is harder for people to get to it. The mountain will be better off. Less people will die attempting to do something they really shouldn’t be trying to do in the first place. However, Sherpas will be making less money and the economy of Nepal will be impacted. A large amount of tourism to Nepal is by people who want to climb Everest, and those people won’t be visiting as much now that experience is required to climb it.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/29/travel/nepal-everest-limits-feat/

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