攀登聖母峰的平均死亡率是，1.2%。(=293/24,772)
(這個分母包括很多中途放棄的人，如果用攻頂的人來計算，死亡率就變成8-9%，而且根據研究，其中70%的死亡，是發生在攻頂之後的回程。尤其是在海拔8,000公尺以上空氣稀薄的「死區」)
‘According to the database, as of spring 2018, a total 24,772 people had attempted to climb Mount Everest, and of those, 293 had met their demise on mountain. The vast majority died in what’s called the Dead Zone, the rarefied area above 8,000 meters where the air only one-third as dense as at sea level. It’s called the Dead Zone not out of morbid sensationalism, but because when climbers go this high in the atmosphere, they are quite literally dying…’
男性和女性的死亡率相當。
年紀則是一大決定性因素。年紀一直到五十幾歲的範圍，死亡率都沒有什麼改變，但之後就急速增加。
六十歲的年長登山者，死亡率大概是三十歲年輕人的20倍！
那麼，死亡原因是什麼呢？
‘…Deaths fall into several categories: disappearance, avalanche, getting hit by falling rock and ice, high-altitude illness, hypothermia, falling into a crevasse, and “sudden death…” stories of sudden death typically follow a similar plot. A climber is on their way up or down from the summit when, without warning, they drop dead—probably due to an irregular heart rhythm or heart attack…another fatal scenario…climbers rapidly deteriorate neurologically, for no apparent reason…Perhaps the scariest thing about both of those causes of death on Mount Everest is that they typically happen to people who were otherwise performing well…these people ultimately succumb to a combination of hypothermia, hypoxia, and exhaustion.’
我們主要透過有氧運動，燃燒碳水化合物，產生運動所需的能量。
但在高山上，尤其像聖母峰這種超過8,000公尺高度的，一般人都會沒有胃口，也不可能一路帶上足夠的碳水化合物的糧食，所以如何讓身體能不時啓動無氧運動，燃燒脂肪來產生熱量，就很重要了。
無氧運動閥值的訓練，不是透過短時間的爆發性運動，而是經由低強度的長時間運動(譬如舉重)來達成。
‘…When this threshold is crossed, the body activates its anaerobic circuit, which is a form if metabolism that produces energy without oxygen. The typical long-hour workout will have both the aerobic and anaerobic circuits operating simultaneously…when the anaerobic circuit is in play, two things happen: First, muscles produce and accumulate lactic acid, which make them feel heavy and, eventually useless. Second, the body begins to deplete store of sugar in the bloodstream, as the high-octane sugar is the only fuel our anaerobic circuit can utilize.’
至於保暖，目前羽絨衣還是首選。
‘Despite decades of research in material science by companies like the North Face and Polartec, no material has yet been invented that can provide a better insulation than down.’
爬山要走得好，呼吸的頻率要跟步伐密切配合。最經典的做法是，呼吸的時候，要刻意採取深度呼吸的腹式呼吸法，以增加供氧量。
‘The key,…, was to “time the breathing regularly to fit the step, and to use not merely the upper part of the lungs, but the full capacity of the breathing apparatus, expanding and contracting not the chest only, but also the diaphragm…” But to maintain this practice required a presence of mind that was easy to lose in the drudgery and pain of putting one foot in front of the other…’
雪巴人Sherpas (和長期住在西藏、喜馬拉雅山附近的高山民族)，一向以在超高海拔的驚人耐力而聞名於世。
住在安地斯山脈高海拔的秘魯人，也適應了高山稀薄的空氣。他們的血液裏有更多的紅血球可以輸送氧氣。但是太多紅血球的問題，是容易栓塞。
雪巴人則是帶有EPAS1的基因，讓他們可以更充分利用有限的氧氣，而非靠更多的紅血球。其他族群的人，也有少數天選之人，帶有這種所謂超級運動員的基因。
’In the Andean highlands of Peru, the indigenous people…have adapted to the thin air by increasing red-blood-cell production. There are distinct downsides to this adaption, however. High red-blood-cell count thickens the blood and can lead to a host of maladies like high blood pressure, clots, strokes, and heart disease,…the genetic basis of superpowers of Tibetans and Sherpas at altitude…(is) a variant of a gene called EPAS1…EPAS1, the so called “super-athlete” gene, provides instructions for making a protein called hypoxia-inducible factor 2-alpha(HIF-2α)…when Sherpas go to altitude, their cells adjust to make do with less oxygen…each oxygen molecule in the bloodstream goes further, produces more energy than it would at low elevations…’
當顏面神經感到刺痛，尤其從臉頰開始擴展到眼睛、嘴唇的時候，就要特別注意了，那是中風的預兆，不可以再繼續爬昇，最好迅速下撤，去接受醫療機構的檢查。
’…it was called a TIA, which stands for transient ischemic attack…Increased hematocrit levels make the blood of high-altitude climbers more viscous and greatly elevates the likelihood of blood clots, which usually manifest in the legs but can also occur in the brain, causing a stroke. A TIA is considered an early warning of a full-blown stroke.’
為了適應高山低氧氣的環境，要登像聖母峰這種高山，就必須在各種不同高度的中繼營地之間，上下往復攀登。
1975年意外發現，治療青光眼的Diamox(丹木斯)，居然有助於預防高山症，後來成了很多山友的登山良藥了。
‘A study that showed the drug worked as a respiratory stimulant and raise oxygen levels in hypoxia dogs…Diamox works by acidifying the blood, which increases respiration and therefore oxygen levels, and it also counteracts retention and edema in the brain…’
現在有一種專門的帳篷，可以在家中就模擬出較稀薄的空氣，山友睡在其中，可以提早在上山之前，進行高度適應。
‘The compressor then pumps an oxygen-reduced, nitrogen-dense blend into the tent…The tent does…effectively simulate higher altitude by creating a hypoxia, which is to say low-oxygen, environment…When exposed to low-oxygen air…our cells produce a protein called hypoxia inducible factor, or HIG-1. This protein stimulates adaptive responses in several ways that help our bodies better transport and utilize oxygen.’
在8,000公尺的高度，登山者如果碰到身心上的困難而無法自主行動，同行的雪巴人，大概只能幫忙換上更充足的氧氣，短暫陪伴，但是沒有人會有餘力，把無法自己移動的人拉下山。
剛上來的陌生山友，也會有人放棄登頂而留下來救援垂死的山友，但更多人是視而不見地繼續攻頂，因為一方面實在太想登頂聖母峰了，另一方面大部分人本身也沒有專業或餘力可以提供有效的協助了。這是在海拔8,000公尺，一個一直倍受爭議的道德難題。
‘Every Everest climber knows…that on summit day they might roll up on some wretched soul, frostbitten, disoriented, and unable to move under their own power…It comes down to whether a climber feels compelled to give up the summit to help the anonymous victim. Most often, what the climber clearly wants, in return for all the time, effort, and money they’ve invested, is to stand on the summit…This every-man-for-himself attitude is a big part of why there are so many Everest thehaters,…”the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top. They don’t give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress…” Modern Everest climbers, …, had completely lost sight of what was important…
聖母峰的基地營，幾乎淪為垃圾場。
空的氧氣鋼瓶，因為會給予高額的回收費用，所以雪巴人會把它們揹下山，至於其他的物品、垃圾，就看個人的良心了。
由於氧氣在高山上十分珍貴重要，新的氧氣鋼瓶的失竊，則是屢見不鮮。
’The garbage heap laid out before me looked more like a Third World landfill than the staging point below the most glorious summit in the world. There was so much trash strewn across the camp, I could barely see the ground underneath…’
聖母峰上發現的化石證明，它是在大陸板塊之間擠壓，從海底昇起的。這個造山運動是現在進行式，聖母峰每年約以0.5公分的速度繼續往上增長。
‘Some of the rock specimens…collected…contained fossilized crinoids, a type of sea lily related to starfish and urchins.These fossils offered the first proof that the rocks comprising the upper reaches of Mount Everest are marine limestone that once formed the bed of the Tethys Sea, which separated the Indian continent from mainland Asia, some 225 emillion years ago.’
聖母峰的藏語發音是Qomolangma ，所以中國大陸稱之為珠穆朗瑪峰，尼泊爾人稱之為薩加瑪塔峰，而西方人則稱之為埃佛勒斯峰(Everest)。
地球因為旋轉的緣故，是扁圓球。為了證實這一點，英國的測量人員在印度大陸，從南到北設立了3000個觀察點，用非歐幾何的方法，量測地弧的大小然後估計地球直徑的大小，然後將之與一個正球體的直徑做比較，因而證實了地球是有點扁的球型。其中對這個計劃有卓越貢獻的人，名字就叫做Everest。這就是西方人稱聖母峰為Everest的原因。
‘Using non-Euclidian geometry, Everest calculated that our planet’s diameter across the equator is 26.34 miles longer than it is from pole to pole. With current GPS technology, scientists today peg the difference at 26.5 miles, which themeans Everest was off by 0.16 miles, or a mere 845 feet…recent work shows that this error was due to the gravitational pull of the Himalaya—the great mass of the mountains caused slight perturbations in the instruments that were used to find baseline Sealevel. This deviation(“deflection of the vertical”) was reflected in his measurements…’
查了一下網路，攀登聖母峰的合理價約需要新台幣三百萬元，雖然並非一定不可承受，但是要價的確不斐。
看到基地營變成了垃圾場，而大家為了登頂也可以放下沿路需要救援的人，值得再問一個基本的問題，為什麼非得登上聖母峰這樣的山不可呢？
1924年英國聖母峰探險隊的George Leigh Mallory，在行前接受媒體訪問，被問到為何他執意非要攀登聖母峰(西方人稱Mount Everest)不可。
他說：”Because it’s there.”
在媒體的追問下，George Leigh Mallory講出了他心底真正的想法。
“Everest is the highest mountain in the world, and no man has reached its summit. Its existence is a challenge. The answer is instinctive, a part, I suppose, of man’s desire to conquer the universe.”
是為了征服。
很不幸地，1924年的英國聖母峰探險隊功敗垂成，而George Leigh Mallory的身軀，就一直冰封在聖母峰北坡的登山道附近，也算是求仁得仁了。
據說累計大約有200具山友的遺體，是留在山上的。攀登聖母峰，要一具都不看到都很難，甚至會有人不小心踩到或碰到呢！
為什麼要執意登那樣的一座山呢？一座動輒只要一、二百人擁擠在小小的山道或鐵梯上，單純造成的塞車，就會讓很多人等到凍死的山呢？那算是怎麼樣的征服呢？真的值得好好思考一下。
聖母峰是永遠無法被征服的，縱使你今年登了頂，到了明年它又多長0.5公分呢！
*：Mark Synnott, The Third Pole, 2021, Penguin Random House LLC
2023/5/3 The Third Pole Damakey
