9 dead, 3 injured by avalanche on Everest

It is clear that commercial operations are willing to place people in harms way in order to profit. 13 people died in that everest slide. 13 people died before GM acknowledged their faulty ignition.  switch. Over one million people died during the Vietnam war including 58,000 Americans.

If you could go ahead and work in something about the holocaust and slavery this might be in the top 5 worst internet analogies of all time...

It is clear that commercial operations are willing to place people in harms way in order to profit. 13 people died in that everest slide. 13 people died before GM acknowledged their faulty ignition.  switch. Over one million people died during the Vietnam war including 58,000 Americans.

When I read Tim Ripples blog I don't get the sense that he is willing to put anyone in harms way. peakfreaks8000.blogspot.ca/
Painting all operators with the same brush is an assault on reason.

Jph,Since I'm talking about senseless dying, slavery and the holocaust would fit in.  13 workers just died on everest,all exposed to the same hazard, at the same time. Safe practices, while in the mountains, is basic stuff that often goes unheeded in a commercial setting. One company is reported to  have 54 clients. Jim, drivers don't expect to purchase a faulty car that can kill them. That is not the risk that the driver is responsible for.   

Protection through regulation will save lives, not safety meetings. Both the car and climbing industries can be brought to task on safety but the Himalayan climbing industry seems far more guilty of worker and consumer abuse. The auto industries rates of death and injury to both workers and consumers has been dropping steadily over the past 40 years due to heavy regulations, unionization as well as the willingness of the consumer to pay more for safety of consumers, workers, and the environment.

The Himalayan climbing industry has shown slow to no progress in worker safety through regulation or other means over the last 50 years. Regulation has been in the form of government taxes that pad the pockets of the officials who provide some insurance for the Sherpa’s but produce no oversight for the regulation they promise. Climbing companies and to a greater extent National funded climbing teams sacrifice Sherpa safety through corrosion of non-payment or reduced payment if the Sherpa’s don’t meet the ever changing expectations. There are certain cultural climbing teams that demand Sherpa’s climb to certain death to save members who are already facing certain death. The Sherpa’s are threatened with non-payment for them or their families if they do not comply and because regulation does nothing to protect them. The Sherpa knows there are risks when they sign up for dangerous jobs but they don’t go into it expecting to have their lives or the livelihood of their family ransomed.

The khumbu icefall is a powder keg and Sherpa's (and others) die there every year. The avalanche was HUGE and the icefall a very unstable place so I suspect there was no safe place inside the slide area... spread out or not. Sherpa's decide the route through the icefall and when they will climb it. Sherpa's decide the route to the top and when they will complete it. They have some control over safety but not over benefits.

Protection through regulation will save lives, not safety meetings. Things have improved over the years. Everyone got caught by nature that day but not all the dead (and injured) were left with the same benefits and insurance or the assurance the benefits will be paid.

Jim, drivers don't expect to purchase a faulty car that can kill them. That is not the risk that the driver is responsible for.   

Yes, you are right. I stand by my Everest comment, though as Edgesport notes, this incident highlights the crappy deal that Sherpas appear to be getting.

The khumbu icefall is a powder keg and Sherpa's (and others) die there every year.  The avalanche was HUGE and the icefall a very unstable place so I suspect there was no safe place inside the slide area... spread out or not.  Sherpa's decide the route through the icefall and when they will climb it. 

I would like to know how risk is assessed on the khumbu given the complexity of the terrain,  politics and culture.  If the sherpas decide as a group how, where and when the route is established  then how do they even test on such a vast icefall with any confidence?

Given what is being said its not a stretch to believe there is incredible pressure on Sherpas to push on in spite of the risk.
They must face pressure from all sides. Pressure from some operators to push higher.  Job competition and economic pressures. Not to mention the pressure they face in the field while on the job.

I wonder if anyone on the mountain that day had any sense of the extremely dangerous conditions that were looming overhead.  I wonder how many climbers were thinking " we shouldn't be here. We're going to die" but because of the environment felt they needed to push on anyways.

Or were these fatalities simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time as some have suggested?

It is a little shocking to hear about the deterioration of the ice at that high altitude.  It will be interesting to see what's going to happen.  Will this event become a catalyst for change?  Will changes in the environment and the ice eventually eliminate the Khumbu Icefall as a summit route?

Good questions. The Khumbu glacier is estimated to flow 3-4 feet down the mountain each day. Pretty dynamic spot! And indeed the ice is changing a lot over the years. Here's an interesting site for exploring the features of the mountain along with what's going on over time with the glaciers/ice.