“Fight Against Stupidity And
Bureaucracy”
The first
part of the heading of this blog post is the famous last line from the 1949
gangster movie “White Heat”, starring
the late James Cagney. If you are a film buff you may have heard of it.
And if you
have read much of this blog you will know already that the bureaucrats who try
to curtail our freedom and the morons they employ to help them are everywhere.
What you
maybe didn’t realize is that everywhere means EVERYWHERE.
And
everywhere includes Mount Everest! If climbing it is on your bucket list, then
get a pen and put a line through it unless you have a pile of cash and are
prepared to jump through a lot bureaucratic hoops.
First off
you will need all your paperwork in order. You will have to tackle the Nepal
Ministry and Administration and various people wanting their slice of the pie.
You'll need
- a local Trekking Agency to file
for a permit 6 months prior to the expedition;
- a copy of your passport;
- passport pictures;
- a letter of recommendation from
your local Alpine Association/Climbing club.
And that's
even before your get there.
Once in
Kathmandu, you will
- file additional papers;
- have a half-hour briefing with
the minister or his associates about climbing sensibly and to care for the
environment:
- then another briefing;
- more papers to fill out;
- an environment security of
around $4,000 returned when the expedition has brought back the trash and
empty oxygen bottles;
- and pay a Liaison Officer who
will spend some time in your camp;
- a film permit if you are doing
a commercial film, shooting private video is free.
Then you
will need to stump up a hefty fee for a permit which will set you back a
minimum of $25,000 to over $70,000 depending on various factors. And that's not
including other substantial costs such as your climbing gear and tour guides.
Remarkably,
despite the bureaucracy, the heavy fees, and the physical risks involved in the
venture, there is a long, long queue of morons
- sorry make that mountaineers - eager
to make the climb.
And woe
betide you if you try to circumvent the bureaucrats.
A young
Chinese climber tried that a few weeks ago. He had made it 25,500 feet up the
mountain's North Col route to within a few thousand feet of reaching the summit
when he was spotted camping alone, away from other expeditions.
The people
who spotted him were a contingent from the Tibet Mountaineering Guide School. These
would-be bureaucracy enforcers challenged him and, when he could not produce a
permit, physically assaulted him and removed him from the trail.
Someone who
witnessed the spectacle wrote in an email:
"I did see the permitless chap
being ushered down the hill. The Tibetan
rope fixers were sent up to get him. I saw them bringing him down the ropes
from the North Col to [advanced base camp]. It was disgraceful. They literally
kicked him down the ropes. It was a disgusting example of a pack of bullies
egging each other on and literally beating him down the hill. It was absolutely
unnecessary as he was offering no resistance and was scared out of his
mind. The Tibetans should, and could,
have just escorted him down the hill and let the authorities deal with
him."
So be
warned, not just about Everest, which I don’t think many of us want to tackle,
but about the dangers of allowing the bureaucrats and their enforcers to run
roughshod over ordinary citizens.
There are other hazards with trying to climb Everest too, as the rather eccentric British actor Brian Blessed found out when he was part of an expedition to climb the mountain some years ago.
I’ll leave
the final word with him.
Enjoy.
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