So on my way home from work today, I wondered: do more people die on average each year trying to summit Mt. Everest, or jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge? According to 2 random websites: the Golden Gate Bridge generally averages 19 suicides per year, though the number has spiked recently. In 2006, 104 people tried to kill themselves by jumping off the bridge, but 70 of those attempts were "thwarted" and only 34 people actually succeeded. That's a lot more than usual though.
I wonder what it is now that the economy is so shitty?!
Anyway, it looks like the deaths on Everest average about 7 or 8 per year in the "Modern Times" (1973-present), out of an average of around 60 summits per year (way over 100 per year these days!). I suspect that as far as the Everest community is concerned, the use of bottled oxygen on the mountain is what separates "Modern Times" from erstwhile times.
So it's not really a contest. Probably because its REALLY EXPENSIVE to even set foot on Mt. Everest. Last week, I found out that (regrettably) it costs at least $7,300 to buy even an airplane ticket to Kathmandu. At least we can see what it looks like at the summit.
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