[QUOTE=ewmayer;122671]Ain't it cool how these threads [b]I'm in[/b] [strike]sometimes[/strike] [b]often[/b] [strike]just wander off[/strike] [b]gallop at a breakneck speed, as if repelled by the original topic,[/b] in the most curious directions?[/QUOTE]

Fix'd

There is something I've been wondering about: Why have the number of successful climbs to summit of Everest been rising steadily over the past few decades? Surely, the mountain isn't getting any shorter. For instance, I read once that one man reached the summit 16 times (or something like that), and that hundreds (thousands?) complete the climb every year. Are the elite climbers of today just vastly superior to those of Hillary's time and earlier? If so, why?

[QUOTE=jinydu;122701]There is something I've been wondering about: Why have the number of successful climbs to summit of Everest been rising steadily over the past few decades? Surely, the mountain isn't getting any shorter. For instance, I read once that one man reached the summit 16 times (or something like that), and that hundreds (thousands?) complete the climb every year. Are the elite climbers of today just vastly superior to those of Hillary's time and earlier? If so, why?[/QUOTE]Better technology, for a start. Just one example: clothing is lighter with better thermal properties.

Paul