Mt Everest: Why the summit can get so crowded

When I was studying in Japan in college a Japanese friend and I climbed Mt. Fuji.

You basically take a bus about half way up, then hike 80 or 90% up to summit then spend the night in a cabin. Since you’re close to the summit you wake up when it’s dark and hike the last bit so you can watch the sunrise from the top.

We didn’t consider hiking in dark our plan and thus didn’t bing head lamps like everyone else. We didn’t know what to do about not having lamps but left the cabin super early in the morning anyways. As soon as we stepped out there was a giant line of people stopped, waiting to get to the top. My friend turns to me as say, “man, this is Japan.”

Give the huge line of people, all with lamps, we made it up to the top. It took much longer than we planned because you couldn’t move until the person in front moved.

We eventually made it to the top and watched the sunrise. However I was shocked at what I found... gift shops!!! People looked at view for a minute, said “kirei desu ne”, took some photos then proceeded to shop. They seemed much more interested in omiyage shopping than being at the top of Mt. Fuji.

I hadn't really considered climbing Everest seriously, but now I know for sure that I won't. Waiting in line is bad enough at sea level

This must be the ultimate checklist tourism site.