A number of dead bodies along the way, litter, thievery at any one of your base camps while you are
down/up/down/up acclimating.
Random Group and Nationality Dynamics and ?Leadership? can screw your trip Or life.

You're kidding, right? Many of us have higher standards, and would not endanger ourselves and others by paying our way up the mountain. I wouldn't touch everest, even if offered the chance for free, without working my way up smaller mountains to learn the skills, and then work up into the high elevations.
Then again, I also have no interest, because the weeks of suffering don't seem worth it to me. Still haven't decided whether I want to start at a much lower level. I'm not overly enthralled by everest simply because it is the highest above sea level. These days, it's a gigantic mess that doesn't thrill me at all.
I vote for banning artificial oxygen, and fixing all the problems.

When people find out I'm a climber, invariably the next question is "are you thinking about climbing Everest?" It's a serious question as Everest is seen as the ultimate mountaineering goal to most people.

I treat the question seriously and explain that Everest holds no interest to me whatsoever. No, not because it's "easy" as it is far from easy. Even the "trade" routes require your body to function in extreme cold and altitude. Everest claims many lives each year because it is underestimated.

The main reason I wouldn't venture onto that peak has to do with the circus it's become. Too many of the people on the mountain have too much invested in terms of money and outcomes. They are willing to risk not only their own lives, but the lives of anyone around them. Many have paid over $50,000 to be there, and many are counting on the possible fame from gaining the summit to recoup some of those dollars. In the hypoxia-inducing environment of Everest, this leads people to do all sorts of things, and it can take things out of your own control. Imagine returning to Camp IV to find your tent, stove, sleeping bag, O2, or whatever gone? That can be a death sentence!

Mountaineering to me is exciting, and fun, and should stay that way. Worrying about some enormous sum of money I'd spent and that the entire sum was gambled on one attempt on the peak is not for me. Even "lowly" Mt. Athabasca sent me packing a shocking number of times thanks to dangerous conditions. (two times when I bailed people were either seriously injured or killed that pressed on) How would I react given so much at stake? I can't say, and I don't want to know. One reason I enjoy climbing in the Rockies so much is the knowledge that if I back off, I can probably return with a tiny investment in a weekend and some gas money. It means I make conservative decisions and listen carefully to my "spidey sense."

Also, I don't mind seconding as a climbing team (I'm a lousy lead climber in the scope of alpinists!) but the thought of jumaring miles of fixed ropes is not that appealing to me. I would also have some serious issues with rapping off some line that I have no idea of when it was fixed or who fixed it. Or worse, you leave a rope fixed over a technical section for rapping down, and someone steals it. A Korean women died on K2 this year (and this has happened to quite a few others) as she found her rope gone when descending. She attempted to downclimb a difficult section and fell. Is it feasible to carry 150M of line and screws/pins in the bottom of your pack "just in case" at over 8000M? I'm not sure I could go without doing so.

On those peaks, you are highly reliant on others not to kill you. People you never even met can kill you, and they don't even have to watch you die. They just pull your rope and are gone. They just load your sleeping bag in their pack and are gone. Not for me.

Reading this thread, it's amazing that anyone would ever consider going up Everest. The only answer I know is that high altitude climbing is a selfish undertaking. Why else would anyone put-up with all the misery to go risk their life while their family and friends stay at home worrying about them? The motivation is strictly a personal one and made-up of both good and bad aspects. Treachery, lies, deceipt, theft, have always been a part of high-altitude mountaineering. The commercialization of Everest, and all 8,000m peaks for that matter, has simply made it more visible and perhaps more prevalent.

So dlofting, if you're interested in climbing Everest, I advise you to make sure that you go on at least one commercial himalayan expedition on a lesser 8,000m peak prior to embarking on Everest (of course you need to do other peaks before that). Firstly, you will find out whether your body has the genetic make-up to acclimate reasonably well to let you go to 8,000m altitude -- not everyone does, and it is definitely not a question of fitness. Supplemental oxygen will help, but you need to be able to stomach 7,000+m altitude without oxygen as you cannot possibly hope to do the whole climb on oxygen. Secondly, the stakes will be much lower, and so will the costs ($10k vs $25+k). Through this, you will find out first-hand whether you can stomach a commercial expedition or not -- I guarantee you that it will be totally different from any expedition you might have been on before with a bunch of friends. Some people do fine, others hate it. At a minimum it tends to be an emotional roller-coaster ride for most people.

How do I know this? I've been on an himalayan expedition and it's still a struggle in me. On the one hand I still want to know what my body and mind can do above 8,000m. It is also an unforgettable experience to push your body into acclimatizing to deadly altitudes -- it took me several months to fully recover to my previous energy level upon return. On the other hand, I can assure you that I don't like climbing with a bunch of people that I don't know and who have no vested interest in seeing me return home alive.

Like I said, high-altitude climbing is a selfish undertaking, so you will have to figure-out for yourself whether it's the right thing for you or not. The only way to find out and progress into it, in my opinion, is one step at a time... Start locally and gradually expand your horizons. Don't hope for the silver bullet.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your input....particularly icevixen, johngenx and Bolt Ladder. I'll probably never go, but may prepare as if I'm going to go (using a lot of the advice/suggestions you've provided) and see where that takes me.

Watch "Beyond Everest" Season 1 and 2.

Easily available online if you know how to get it

I recently stumbled on it and it was horrifying to see a bunch of megalomaniacs allowed to trape all over the mountain.

I know K is making a tongue-in-cheek remark, but I think there's something to it. Perhaps if I wasn't an experienced mountaineer I wouldn't be so aware of the possible potential fatal errors.

Mt. Everest shouldn't be all that tough really. It's kind of a longer hike with a few overnighters involved. Sure, you need more equipment and a whole bunch of training and knowledge and maybe a sponsor but it's really basically just a stiff climb.I suppose Altitude is a bit of a problem as well as some dicey weather but with a bit of luck, most anyone could do it. There might be a bit of a barrier regarding hiking in another country but a person could probably get permission.

That being said, I personally, haven't climbed this one.I'm allergic to yaks.

You're kidding, right? I mean yes - everest is not technically difficult, and if only K2 were slightly higher, all these problems would be solved. It's just unfortunate that the highest peak is theoretically reachable by anyone.
But altitude and dicey weather are basically the whole issue, and big ones - not just minor concerns. It takes more than 'a bit' of luck to have all the pieces line up, even if technical climbing is not one of them.

I haven't but once before in a past lifetime I've thought through high-altitude mountaineering and what I would do to prepare. Basically it boiled down to small incremental steps. From vancouver, I would be climbing peaks such as Baker, Rainier. This before even going on to the Himalayas. I would learn mountaineering skills so they're second nature to me so I have a chance of doing the right things with mind, limbs and gear when hypoxic and oxygen-starved.

Many Himalayan aspirants I've known use Denali as a training ground. It's northern position means that the atmosphere is thinner for the altitude and dealing with the cold is a major obstacle. Also, the West Buttress Route involves a lot of slogging and load carrying, not unlike Everest.

Personally, I'd do a lot of moderate alpine ice climbing on 45-55 degree faces, like the Silverhorn on Athabasca, Skyladder on Andromeda and Kain Face/Roof on Robson. Then I'd start getting as high and as cold as possible. Rainer (maybe in the winter) Denali, Aconcagua, and leaks like that.

Maybe head to the Himalaya and do Island Peak and Cho Oyu? Much cheaper and Cho Oyu is over 8000M. See how your body performs at that altitude.

Geez, looking at all that, I'll stick to the Canadian Rockies and having fun.

My thoughts exactly John but I wanted to answer the original query and not get distracted to editorializing

I did Yala peak 5700 mtrs way back, an easy scramble and a very good introduction to high altitude climbing. At that time it was free to climb anything under 6000 mtrs. Here's the fee structure as of last year

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web08s/n...-new-peak-fees

The crowd scene kinda detracts from it... I mean even if you go to climb a new route it reduces the experience, Russian team that did a new route a few years ago said the biggest hazard was people throwing oxygen bottles down off the ridge towards them.

Fortunately there are literally thousands of 7000-7999m peaks with no crowds

I love editorializing. My thought is to editorialize and then if space and time allows, answer the question...