TEASER: Spring Suicide Squad

Each year, thousands of men and women people from around the globe flock to the Himalaya and the Karakoram in order to climb the world’s tallest mountains. Despite being aware of a fatality rate as high as 29% (depending on the mountain), amateur climbers are willing to hand over $65K-$150K to “professional” guiding services to hopefully get them to the summit and back in one piece. While storms and avalanches at these elevations cannot be controlled, overcrowding can. Human traffic jams leading to the summits of these mountains are directly responsible, or complicit, in causing high rates of death and injury. This year, 2023, more people have purchased permits to climb these 14 mountains than in any other year in history…