The Ethics of Everest Expeditions
The Ethics of Everest Expeditions Back in the early 90’s, Rob Hall began offering commercial expeditions to climb Mt. Everest with his then company Hall and Ball Adventure Consultants. He was at the forefront of an industry that was to flourish into the multi-million dollar one that exists today. Many expedition leaders today hardly have the passion that Rob had then (climbing the 7 summits in 7 months, before his Everest season), nor a similar love for mountains that Gaston Rébuffat made popular in the late 70’s with his books and movies. In fact, most of them today are businessmen (some even present themselves as such on their calling cards – ‘Expedition Climber/Businessman’) – and they will use the same ethics that are common in this world while they guide you into the Death Zone. Gaston Rébuffat, who was part of the French Annapurna team in 1950 The offering today is also very different. The biggest companies in the business are not from Western operators anymore – th