To me it seems silly and unnecessarily dangerous. I imagine there are some positives like being lightweight, cheap, the rungs are probably good for crampons.
But why tie two together in the middle? Just get a long one. And if your life depends on it why not make it a bit wider and have better anchors on either side. Some light railings. Design it to be super portable, rich people would pay for it.
Really the thing that gets me is they tie two together in the dead center.
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Professional Alpinist who trains with the Khumbu Ice Fall doctors here.
The ladders you’re talking about are on the lower reaches of Everest – the khumbu Ice Fall on the south side.
The khumbu ice fall is a deadly place, with blocks of ice the size of building regularly falling and killing people. An ice fall is basically a vertical glacier that is always moving and changing. The ladders are fixed by a team know as “The Ice Fall Doctors” – it’s a govt run team that is funded and staffed by sherpa contributed by companies all over Nepal.
Being a glacier, the Ice fall does not come with a map. The team does not know what they will find till they get there. Some crevasses are narrow enough to comfortably walk over. Some can swallow a house whole.
The aluminium ladders are carried up from Kathmandu to Lukla by rickety airplane. Then from lukla to EBC on a mule’s back. Then on human back up there ice fall. There, they are anchored in fricking ice, which as you know, is not cement.
If it were your job to fix only 1 crevasse on the ice fall – just 1 – with ladders, the catch being you are not told how wide this crevasse is, and if you fuck up, you die on the spot, what would you rather do? Would you rather start from KTM with one 50 foot ladder, or 5 x 10 foot ladders?
The crevasses change shape and snow quantities, so there is no perfect route. Aluminum is light and doesn’t lose strength in the cold. Climbing rope is engineered and has a strength rating, making it a convenient marriage. Though I’d be surprised if they didn’t have some sort of aluminum bracket to go with the ladders.
The solution for crossing crevasses have to be carried by hand. Its moving all the time so from one month to the next its a completely different death maze. Ladders are the only practical solution in this case.
I love Reddit. A professional Alpinist responds with a detailed and accurate answer and a bunch shut-ins tell them how they should do it better!
You know how you design something to be super portable, lightweight, and reliable? You divide it into smaller sections with as few superfluous moving (breakable) parts as possible.
I’m super confused why you’re upset it’s tied in the center. Where else you tying it? Like complaining someone is driving dead center of a lane. Or your lightbulb is screwed dead center of the socket.
Ya, that’s where you put things.
Yeah they should have a McDonalds at the top. It is inconvenient to have to bring your own food. Also, it would be much safer to just install an elevator to take you to the summit. They should just do that.
You are climbing Everest. You go there for the danger. The whole point is that it is dangerous. The Sherpa have already added a ton of things to make the climb safer, but at the end of the day, you are climbing the tallest mountain in a remote area.
Professional dip shit here. Big ladder heavy and cumbersome. 2 small ladders easier to carry.
I know this was answered 100 times. But I felt the need to get my 2 cents in.
The coupling of two ladders at their midpoint during crevasse crossings on Everest and similar mountaineering endeavors is justified on the grounds of practicality and safety. This approach allows for greater flexibility, adaptability to varying crevasse widths, and redundancy in case of ladder damage. Moreover, the wider platform facilitates secure crampon attachment. Considering weight limitations and operational efficiency, this technique has been endorsed by experienced mountaineers. Its implementation is guided by the paramount concern for safety and the unique challenges posed by high-altitude mountaineering.
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