You know, my roomie and I were talking about this, and here is what we came up with..............................
In order to be able to race in the RAAM (Race Across America) bicycle race, you first have to ride in and place at a certain level in qualifying races.
In order to be able to participate in the Ironman Triathalon, you must participate and place high enough in qualifying races.
In order to participate in the Tour de France, your team must be high enough in the standings to be INVITED to participate. And, if you are too slow in any of the stages, you as an individual can be disqualified for not finishing the stage in time.
So, we were thinking............maybe the same thing should be done with Everest, because it is the number one jewel in mountain climbers dreams. In order to climb Everest, you must first complete 2 summits at 15,000 feet, 2 summits at 20,000 feet, and 2 summits at 25,000 feet. The climber chooses the mountain, it just has to be of a qualifying height. After all 6 summits have been completed and documented, then your name goes on a list, and the people of Nepal decide on who climbs, and how many they will allow. If you are invited to climb, your qualification lasts for 1 year. If you don't climb during your year of qualification, your name goes back on the list, and you hope you are chosen again.
That way, not only would it stop all the congestion on the mountain, it would also require people to PROVE that they are capable of making it to that height.
Then......................maybe climbing Everest would have importance again as something to aspire to do, not just something every douchebag with a whole lot of money and not enough sense can do.
