The Happiness Quotient

On September 27th, a catastrophic avalanche slammed into base camp on 7126 meter Himlung Hamal at 3:00 in the morning. 16 people - all of them mountain workers - were buried under 4 meters of snow. 15 of the bodies have been recovered. One is still there under the snow. As of right now, commercial outfitters are arriving at the mountain, staffing the mountain. Over 30 clients will be there soon, ready to climb. It's business as usual. This morning, I spoke with Angela Benavides of Explorers Web. **THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:Henriette PiBarbedwireUrsula DirnbergerNoelle Dud13y John V.Mike NicholsonGeoff (mountain climber)RESOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCHManaslu Slams Shut: Why 500 Climbers Were Sent Home:https://youtu.be/zmg-zARF-WgManaslu vs. Everest: Who is Winning the Race to the Bottom?:https://youtu.be/Pr25Sf4ESFIThe Juniper Fund, Supporting HIMALAYAN mountain workers,their families and communities:https://www.thejuniperfund.orgExplorers Web update from Angela Benavides, Himlung Still Open for Tourism Despite Avalanche That Killed 16:https://explorersweb.com/himlung-still-open-for-tourism-despite-avalanche-that-killed-16Send us Fan Mail If you've been enjoying the podcast and find value in the content, we'd be incredibly grateful for your support. Your monthly contribution helps ensuring that we can continue delivering great content for you to enjoy.Click on the link below:https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/supportThank you!Thom Dharma Pollard Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

An avalanche has buried the base camp of Himlung Himal in Nepal. We examine the latest reports from this unfolding disaster.On September 27, 2026, severe reports emerged regarding a massive slide that struck the base camp of Himlung Himal. Teams were actively preparing for guided expeditions to summit the peak when the event occurred. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable risks inherent in Himalayan expeditions, even before climbers reach the higher altitudes.RESOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCHManaslu Slams Shut: Why 500 Climbers Were Sent Home:https://youtu.be/zmg-zARF-WgManaslu vs. Everest: Who is Winning the Race to the Bottom?:https://youtu.be/Pr25Sf4ESFINims Purja, the Broad Peak Avalanche, and the Questions No One Wants to Ask:https://youtu.be/5GYX_azq_HAThe Juniper Fund, Supporting HIMALAYAN mountain workers,their families and communities:https://www.thejuniperfund.orgExplorers Web update from Angela Benavides, 28 Septhttps://explorersweb.com/himlung-avalanche-four-bodies-found-no-survivorsThe Kathmandu Post, 28 Sept:https://kathmandupost.com/national/2026/09/28/four-bodies-found-after-himlung-avalanche-12-still-missingNepal National Mountain Guide Association Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nnmga=======================Send us Fan Mail Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

Today on Manaslu, climbing isn't just an expedition—it’s an active conveyor belt. Nearly a thousand people are on the mountain right this second, creating thousands of pounds of waste while operators collect royalties.But this is not a eulogy for the mountain. It’s a blueprint. **THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:Henriette PiBarbedwireUrsula DirnbergerNoelle Dud13y John V.Mike NicholsonGeoff (mountain climber)Send us Fan Mail Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

Surgery complete. Six of Konstantin Smirnov's fingers are gone. He believes the man whose job was to bring him down Makalu left him to die in the death zone. Today, for the first time, he tells the whole story — and he is not asking for your sympathy.**THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:Henriette PiBarbedwireUrsula DirnbergerNoelle Dud13y John V.Mike NicholsonGeoff (mountain climber)Send us Fan Mail If you've been enjoying the podcast and find value in the content, we'd be incredibly grateful for your support. Your monthly contribution helps ensuring that we can continue delivering great content for you to enjoy.Click on the link below:https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/supportThank you!Thom Dharma Pollard Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

On August 26th, the Himalaya came apart. The disaster began high along the Lende Khola near the Nepal Tibet border, then poured south into the Trishuli River system heading downstream toward the lower valleys of central Nepal. A wall of water and debris. Communities were destroyed. Roads and bridges disappeared. Hydropower facilities were overwhelmed and destroyed and people disappeared with them. **THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:John V.Barbedwire Lindsey CameronHenriette PiMike NicholsonTom McLeodGeoff (mountain climber)Ursula DirnbergerNoelle Dud13yCHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS FOR FLOOD RELIEFIFRC / Nepal Red Cross Society:https://www.ifrc.org/emergency/nepal-flash-floods-2026Government of Nepal Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund:https://www.donate.gov.npUNICEF Nepal:https://www.unicef.org/nepalProvisions For Humanity, expanding access to practical, sustainable solutions that help individuals and communities: https://www.provisionsforhumanity.orgSend us Fan Mail Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

After the Broad Peak avalanche that took ten lives, the municipality where Nirmal Purja was born proposed renaming Annapurna I in his honor, to Nimsdai Annapurna. In this video I trace the epic of the mountain itself — the 1950 French first ascent and the cost it took from Maurice Herzog — and the right way to honor Nimsdai without un-naming a goddess.**THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:John V.Barbedwire Lindsey CameronHenriette PiMike NicholsonTom McLeodGeoff (mountain climber)Ursula DirnbergerNoelle Dud13yRESOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCHNims Purja, the Broad Peak Avalanche, and the Questions No One Wants to Ask:https://youtu.be/5GYX_azq_HANEWS FLASH: Nimsdai's Troubles HEAT UP & 2024 Season Recap:https://youtu.be/1mnq5WY0p2IPatreon newsletter August 9, 2014, Broad Peak: Ambition, Ego, and The Questions That Remain After Ten Deaths: https://www.patreon.com/everestmystery/posts/broad-peak-ego-166132724?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSend us Fan Mail Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

There’s a scene in 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible that tells me almost everything I need to know about the Broad Peak disaster. Ten climbers died on July 30th—but the avalanche is only part of the story. This video asks the harder question: why were they there at all?**THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:John V.Barbedwire Lindsey CameronHenriette PiMike NicholsonTom McLeodGeoff (mountain climber)Ursula DirnbergerNoelle Dud13ySend us Fan Mail Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

"So these uh fingers, they are dead and you  know they they sound like stone, like a piece of bone." Listeners might want to check out the video version of this podcast episode, found here: https://youtu.be/xBW_6ZNYI8MThe fascination with the abandonment on Makalu has resonated profoundly. It may well reshape the guiding industry forever. Konstantin Smirnov faced the ultimate betrayal on the slopes of Makalu. Abandoned in the death zone, his survival ignited a legal battle that challenges the ethics of commercial mountaineering and could change the guiding industry forever is his court battle is successful. Be sure to leave a comment in the comment section to join the conversation.Send us Fan Mail If you've been enjoying the podcast and find value in the content, we'd be incredibly grateful for your support. Your monthly contribution helps ensuring that we can continue delivering great content for you to enjoy.Click on the link below:https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/supportThank you!Thom Dharma Pollard Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

In 2023, the Norwegian climber rewrote the record books by summiting all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks in just 92 days, alongside her close friend and climbing partner, Tenjen Lama Sherpa. It was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of high-altitude mountaineering.Beyond the headlines and the polarizing reception of Kristin Harila’s 14 Peaks project we explore the human cost and the industry mechanics behind modern high-altitude record-chasing. This is an unfiltered conversation about what it takes to operate at the edge of human endurance, the reality of the commercialized "circus" on Everest, and the weight of being the focal point of a rapidly changing mountaineering landscape.#everestmystery This is Kristin Harila, unplugged and wide open.**THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:John V.Barbedwire Lindsey CameronHenriette PiMike NicholsonTom McLeodGeoff (mountain climber)Ursula DirnbergerNoelle Dud13yRESOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCHHow Kristin Harila Climbed 14 Peaks in 92 Days | Tenjen Lama Sherpa Disappearancehttps://youtu.be/IeV4xL4INecK2's Deadly Moment | Kristin Harila's Firsthand Account of the Muhammed Hassan Tragedyhttps://youtu.be/gyIuZBBBAFkSavage Mountain documentary:https://www.nfi.no/en/films-and-series/savage-mountainSend us Fan Mail If you've been enjoying the podcast and find value in the content, we'd be incredibly grateful for your support. Your monthly contribution helps ensuring that we can continue delivering great content for you to enjoy.Click on the link below:https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/supportThank you!Thom Dharma Pollard Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery

For nearly 30 years, the climber long referred to as "Green Boots" has remained one of Mount Everest's most haunting and recognizable landmarks. Now, after DNA testing, the Government of India says the climber has finally been identified, and an extraordinary recovery mission is being considered.But should it happen?I welcome rigorous debate on the ethics, decisions, and systemic issues of Mount Everest. Please share your thoughts in the comments section. SMALL CLARIFICATION: During the segment I refer to the 1996 Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition as pursuing a "first Indian ascent." I intended to say the first Indian ascent of Everest from the North (Tibetan) side.**THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:CAMP FOUR:John V.Barbedwire Henriette PiMike NicholsonTom McLeodGeoff (mountain climber)Ursula DimbergerNoelle Dud13ySend us Fan Mail Support the showHere are a few ways you can help support us:Patreon for access to exclusive content:https://www.patreon.com/everestmysteryEVEREST MYSTERY Membership for access to perks and exclusive content:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinTip Jar for anyone who would like to help support us:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/EverestMystery