Everest is off my bucket list!

[Floyd R. Turbo]

Mount Everest guides have been accused of secretly drugging foreign climbers to trigger expensive aerial evacuations as part of a $20m (£15m) insurance fraud scheme, according to an investigation by the Nepali police.

Operators of mountain rescue companies in Nepal have been arrested as part of the police operation, and a police spokesperson told The Independent that a total of 32 people have been charged and 11 arrests made so far.

The scale of the scam appears to be vast, affecting 4,782 international climbers between 2022 and 2025. Police said more than 300 cases of alleged fake rescues have been uncovered, with bills totalling nearly $20m charged to climbers and insurers.

The scandal has led to new scrutiny over tour operators and guides as this year’s spring climbing season got underway on 30 March. Investigators say the scam involved multiple actors across the trekking ecosystem, including sherpas, trekking company owners, helicopter operators and hospital executives.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/everest-guides-accused-poisoning-foreign-095304783.html

[dem4decades]

1. Jokes on them, i would have actually needed the rescue.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

2. Ha!😁

[rampartd]

3. if you can't trust your sherpa.....

[Floyd R. Turbo]

4. Tell me about it! 😢

[dem4decades]

5. Was it the sherpas that were ripping people off or the companies that hire them?

[Norrrm]

6. That has always been an insurance policy I'll never need.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

12. 😁

[Sogo]

7. WOW!!!

[Floyd R. Turbo]

13. I know!

[mopinko]

8. cant say as i blame them.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

14. Yeah! It's okay to poison people that contribute to your economy!

[mopinko]

20. most of them r rich assholes.

no idea what the economy wd b without them, but anything built around rich assholes isnt worth it.
from what i understand they arent killing them, just drugging them so they have to get taken down.
not saying it’s fine, just i understand. that’s a hella way to make a living.

[3catwoman3]

9. It's never been on mine.

Along with a lot of other things.

I definitely do not have the risk taking gene.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

15. 🤗

[Intractable]

10. Everything I have seen or read in recent years about it has made an Everest climb seem unappealing.

So many traffic jams (some two-way) on a single rope.

When you die on Everest, your body becomes a block of ice.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

16. 😬

[True Dough]

11. Let's face it, Floyd

You're getting closer and closer to "Ever Rest" anyway.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

17. You have no idea!

[True Dough]

18. And?

You think having no idea has ever stopped me???

[Norrrm]

19. A cousin went there. Here are some excerpts from his emails:::

A cousin went there. Here are some excerpts from his emails:::
----------------
That being said, flying in Nepal can be equally exciting. When I flew into the closest airport to Everest, it is in a community called Namche Bazaar. The airstrip is on the side of a mountain and is sloped uphill so the land strip which is too short will slow you down as you creep uphill on the landing and give you an extra downhill acceleration as one takes off on the too short runway. Actually, on the return trip to Kathmandu, our group used a vintage Russian military helicopter which was an equally exciting way to leave the Everest region. Nepali airlines have a relatively poor reputation such that other countries, especially in Europe will not allow the Nepali airlines to land in their countries.
-------------------------------------------------
I never climbed up to the top, but here’s a photo of me looking down toward Everest Basecamp in 1994. It was a hard trip and my lungs still carry some damage from that trip.
I can’t argue with your statement to stay lazy especially in our senior years.
------------------------------------------
That seems like it would be an easy scam to pull off. I felt pretty lousy when I was looking down on Everest Basecamp years ago. It wouldn’t have been too difficult to slip me some drug that would make me even sicker. All these type trips require you to get evacuation insurance.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

23. Wow! Thanks!

[hunter]

21. Someone ought to build a hotel and restaurant on top, reached by an aerial tramway.

Imagine climbing all the way to the top only to be greeted by lightly-clothed out-of-shape tourists waving at you from the other side of the glass.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

24. Ah ha! A Margaritaville!🍹

[LudwigPastorius]

22. Call me a wimp, but there is no must-see destination on my bucket list...

that has a "death zone".

[Floyd R. Turbo]

25. 😬

[bucolic_frolic]

26. Generalize that to just about any profession

They drug you in the hospital, scare you in the lawyer's office, soften your mind at the shrinks. You're in a situation. You or your insurance pays.

See a pattern?

[Easterncedar]

27. Too right!