EVEN MT. EVEREST IS CROWDED
If the top of Mount Everest sounds a safe bet for those in search of solitude and tranquility, think again. On May 12th this year so many climbers were waiting to reach the summit that a queue formed. By the end of the day 32 people had stood on top of the world. More climbers conquered Everest this year than in the quarter century after Hillary and Tenzing's first ascent in 1953.
Base camp at the foot of the mountain was particularly crowded and squalid; unseemly fights broke out between mountaineers from different countries. Even halfway up the mountain the squabbling continued. Leaders of teams from New Zealand and America complained that a group of Russians had strayed from their designated route and cut in front of them.




