Mt. Everest

The Choice Should there be a permanent base camp? KJ December 19th, 2011 Should there be a permanent base camp? The choice for a permanent base camp has not been made because the are plenty of good reasons why there should be one. On the other hand there are also plenty of bad reasons why there shouldn't be one. Though the council has not decided completely there have been a few rumors that they might start building in 2014 or 2015. This may become an issue with the people that live in Nepal. The Argument The Good Things The good things about this settlement is that everyone can have comfortable hot showers and a heating system to keep them warm. This is also good because there is a possibility that if it is built then it could lower the chances of polluting the area (more than it already is). That is if recycling bins and trash cans are added. The Bad Things Some of the bad things about the project is that it can cause more pollution instead of lowering the chances of it. The building if not stable enough could collapse because the base camp is a moving glacier. Building this would cost more than $700,000 (not including the cost for electricity and supplies). That would make a sum of about $3,000,000 for when it is first built and and about $2,300,000 for all the supplies and electricity. That probably does not even include the cost of shipping. which would add about $50,000 every time a load of stuff is shipped there. The Problem The problem is that Mount Everest is a moving glacier with an altitude of 17598ft. Also this permanent camp could cause even more pollution than there already is. This is also very costly considering that it is very far from any major towns and it takes several days of trekking to get there, so building a settlement will be difficult and expensive. Also the altitude makes living there very difficult, the people who work in the camp would have to go back to a lower altitude every week or so. Along with that operating and sustaining the camp would be extremely expensive, supplies would take very long to be delivered. The Solution The solution would be to find a way to make it less costly and more convenient for both the people that work there and the guests. The End Thanks for reading