Mount Everest Disaster

I will never understand why some feel the need to conquer mountains, but once again, lives have been claimed by the world's tallest peak in an event where as many as thirteen sherpas were killed. Obviously, anyone attempting to surmount Mount Everest is assuming a risk. For those native to the area, the peak is a mixed blessing, as climbing and the tourism associated with it has provided a livelihood to many, but over the course of the years, so many mountain guides have died, unknown to most of the world and mourned little outside their families. The mountaineers with deep pockets will still come, and there will always be those who live in relative destitution who will risk their very lives to serve them. Is that exploitation? Maybe, but many of those deep-pocketed client climbers have succumbed too, up there on the mountain.