Man dies on Mount Everest during cryptocurrency promotional stunt(sfgate.com)
sfgate.com
Man dies on Mount Everest during cryptocurrency promotional stunt
https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Man-dies-Mount-Everest-ASKfm-sherpa-cryptocurrency-12967630.php
60 comments
It's really appalling. The correct behaviour is to pull the plug on your shitty promotion and issue a message of condolence. One company, one guy is not representative of an industry, but my experience of 75% of people in the blockchain/crypto space has left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
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Damn. That's a very powerful article. Horrible exploitation that happens because of rich thrill-seekers. The "readers pick" comments are also very good on this article.
Sensational headline that does not paint the full story. ASKfm was a sponsor to a routine climb that had gone wrong.
The trek, independent of the company, would have happened with or without crypto company's backing.
https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/06/04/whos-to-be-blamed-for-the...
The trek, independent of the company, would have happened with or without crypto company's backing.
https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/06/04/whos-to-be-blamed-for-the...
Strangely without the crypto babble, the climb and the man's death wouldn't have even made the news, it'd just be another day in the Himalayas... (How many other sherpa deaths have you noticed?)
But the crypto promotion does make the death feel extra cheapened, it'd be like having someone die doing a dangerous stunt while promoting, I don't know, Kim Kardashian perfume or something useless like that.
But the crypto promotion does make the death feel extra cheapened, it'd be like having someone die doing a dangerous stunt while promoting, I don't know, Kim Kardashian perfume or something useless like that.
This reminds me of a great book I read, "Into Thin Air"[0]. If you're interested in getting a first-hand account of climbing Everest, and what effect novice climbers have had on it, definitely give it a read.
[0]https://www.amazon.com/Into-Thin-Air-Personal-Disaster/dp/03...
[0]https://www.amazon.com/Into-Thin-Air-Personal-Disaster/dp/03...
I read this knee-deep in snow on the Annapurna Range.
Still keeps me the creeps...
Still keeps me the creeps...
“ASKfm, one of the world's top 10 social media networks”
This line in the article feels really weird and sketchy. Especially given that I’d never heard of the site. I don’t see any indication this is true whatever it means. But the fact that they are pivoting to crypto doesn’t make me think they’ve been all that successful in the social media world.
This line in the article feels really weird and sketchy. Especially given that I’d never heard of the site. I don’t see any indication this is true whatever it means. But the fact that they are pivoting to crypto doesn’t make me think they’ve been all that successful in the social media world.
It's rank 726 on Alexa ranks. Somehow I find it hard to believe that of the 725 more popular websites than AskFM, only 9 are social networks.
That's it. We've literally reached peak crypto
Cute. But note we've already reached orbit [1] and many projects are aiming for the moon:-)
[1] https://blockstream.com/satellite/
[1] https://blockstream.com/satellite/
That mountain often seems to bring the worst in people. It becomes an obssession. I worked at Intrade for a few months and its obsession eventually killed John Delaney, the CEO of Intrade.
This is true of more than just a mountain... it’s a story as old as mankind. See also Moby Dick, Macbeth, Beowulf, etc.
It’s basically the achievement treadmill. Either you realize you eventually have to get off the treadmill or you die trying to make it to the end.
It’s basically the achievement treadmill. Either you realize you eventually have to get off the treadmill or you die trying to make it to the end.
That mountain often seems to bring the worst in people.
No, it wasn't "the mountain" that brought out the worst in these people. It was quite simply the obsessive pursuit of money, acclaim, and ideology.
No, it wasn't "the mountain" that brought out the worst in these people. It was quite simply the obsessive pursuit of money, acclaim, and ideology.
I don't think anyone's going to climb Mt Everest for the sole purpose of getting those tokens. 500K tokens and an expedition costs upwards of $50K? It's not worth it to go get and wasn't worth it to even place up there, especially in the light that a Sherpa died during the expedition. First piece of technological junk on the summit I suppose.
I was thinking perhaps the poor sherpa tried to recover the coins: money can make people behave illogically, he knew where the coins were buried, he was some way up there, so it might seem less risky to turn back and descend for the last time compared to descending and then at a later date returning, especially if the coins might be gone already (publicity stunt => other teams and sherpas)
Not sure it could even get the title of first technological junk on the summit. There is so much trash and so many bodies up there it's insane.
i'm glad google blocked advertising for sbitcoins and their ilk.
It seems like the very worst aspects of human nature have congealed on the coin industry. Every huckster and madmen wannabe is pushing their flavor of snake oil.
It seems like the very worst aspects of human nature have congealed on the coin industry. Every huckster and madmen wannabe is pushing their flavor of snake oil.
This must be the first site I ever visited which gave me a choice to opt out of certain tracking/cookies. Is this something real and working, or rather giving a false-ish sense of security/respect for privacy? Other sites do this?
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Great, this tragedy just further fuels their dumb publicity stunt.
Who in the world is going to see this story and decide to invest?
anybody who searches investment opportunities, has the money, deems this a good opportunity, can distinguish between the deal itself and the PR stunt and never heard of it before seeing this story.
I suspect that a company that gets someone killed in a PR stunt may be poorly run in other ways.
This is likely an Omen that crypto currencies are dying.
Idk what's more risky, crypto or everest
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He probably went back for the crypto.
>The statement here is that ASKfm is not at all afraid to rise to challenges. They're conquering Everest because it's out there to conquer. By doing so they claim: if they're bold enough to do it, they're bold enough to turn a social network into a blockchain ecosystem, and they're definitely bold enough to overturn the market with their new product.
This nonsense could be an absurd line from HBO's Silicon Valley, and people would have found it hilarious. Instead it's not only real, it's cost _a life_. I can't believe this.
This nonsense could be an absurd line from HBO's Silicon Valley, and people would have found it hilarious. Instead it's not only real, it's cost _a life_. I can't believe this.
When watching Silicon Valley I found some lines to be too over-the-top, only to find out they were quotes from real people.
Do you have any examples or a resource with some of the best ones?
I found it hilarious when Gavin compared his treatment to the plight of the Jews in Nazi Germany [1]. And then I found out it was actually based on this guy [2].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5zQpN28xa4
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN-vUaawaF8
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5zQpN28xa4
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN-vUaawaF8
Saving this for later
The person who died was a sherpa - the people who willingly take the job to transport rich people up the mountain. The sherpa knew what he was getting into, and the context of the expedition seems highly irrelevant. Would it be better or worse if the sherpa died during a normal trip where he was ferrying a multimillionaire Englishman up to the top?
This is completely backwards way of thinking about the world, and you should really take a moment and think about it.
Consider this: Somewhere in the world, someone is going to eat poison on camera to get some ad money on YouTube. Would you say "Well it was going to happen anyway, so I might as well pay them to tattoo my brandname on their forehead while they're at it"?
No, you'd probably say "Wow, that sounds like a risky thing to do, and maybe it would look really bad for my brand, especially if they actually did die". So you should take a moment and ask "Why am I blaming the sherpa for the death, but absolving the rich people who paid him to do it?". There is a world view where you can think that maybe people shouldn't pay people to do risky things for stupid reasons.
Consider this: Somewhere in the world, someone is going to eat poison on camera to get some ad money on YouTube. Would you say "Well it was going to happen anyway, so I might as well pay them to tattoo my brandname on their forehead while they're at it"?
No, you'd probably say "Wow, that sounds like a risky thing to do, and maybe it would look really bad for my brand, especially if they actually did die". So you should take a moment and ask "Why am I blaming the sherpa for the death, but absolving the rich people who paid him to do it?". There is a world view where you can think that maybe people shouldn't pay people to do risky things for stupid reasons.
If you really think it is that dangerous, you should argue against anyone climbing Mt Everest then, not just people who happen to be sponsored with a publicity stunt.
I'd encourage you to pitch that to the sherpas and see what their reaction would be to you wanting to take away pretty much their only source of income.
I'd encourage you to pitch that to the sherpas and see what their reaction would be to you wanting to take away pretty much their only source of income.
People shouldn't be climbing Mt Everest. There is little to be gained by doing so. Unless of course somebody creates a reason by artificially choosing to incentivize it, but they could just as well incentivize doing something else instead.
Pretty sure it was the “climbing Mt Everest” part that cost a life, not their stupid marketing copy.
So, someone paid money to someone, and it resulted in someone dying. Why do you think that's okay exactly?
A consenting adult pays another consenting adult with more experience to do a life threatening task together. One dies. How is this not okay? What are you expecting? For people to never climb Mt Everest again?
In the USA, it's illegal for me to pay you to kill yourself. The issue isn't as cut and dry as legality anyway. Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's morally justifiable. So yeah, there is a world view where paying people money to risk their lives to advertise your buttcoin is immoral.
>So yeah, there is a world view where paying people money to risk their lives to advertise your buttcoin is immoral.
So there's legit no reason to pay someone to climb Mount Everest?
What about raising money? Is it still immoral? What about if that person was going to climb either way (which was also true in this situation)?
So there's legit no reason to pay someone to climb Mount Everest?
What about raising money? Is it still immoral? What about if that person was going to climb either way (which was also true in this situation)?
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Sad, he was a Sherpa hired to help the hikers. Moreover, ASKfm is trying to suppress this tragedy instead of assuming responsibility and maybe taking a moment of reflection about all the crypto bandwagon mess they're in.
But they are a company that "isn't afraid to take risks". In other words, who ever is running the show has decided they are willing to cut corners to make a buck.
Thousands of people summit Everest every year. This is not 'bold', it is a dumb marketing stunt. I guess I'm aware of their ICO now, and my likelihood of buying their coins can't go below zero, so they didn't hurt their chances, but this is still sad.
It's less than that, it's in the hundreds. Roughly 4,000 people have climbed Everest ever.
Interesting, I would have thought it was a lot more!
Here's a page with a lot of statistics http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/12/17/everest-by-the-nu.... It's primarily based on analysis of http://www.himalayandatabase.com/, plus some other history recounted by the blog author.
Here's a page with a lot of statistics http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/12/17/everest-by-the-nu.... It's primarily based on analysis of http://www.himalayandatabase.com/, plus some other history recounted by the blog author.
It's a few hundred who attempt it every year and something like 5% of them die.
Can't edit now, but yes, it's hundreds, not thousands. I misremembered the stat. However, this is still a dumb marketing stunt. :/
As someone who lives among fellow Sherpa families nearby the Himalayas in Nepal, I come across different individuals/teams wanting to conquer the summit to experience the ridiculous "living on the edge" sensation.
Having climbed the beast myself once, I can partly appreciate the fact that the feeling of accomplishment and reward is like no other, but practices like these when an inexperienced group of folks lead to loss of innocent lives is totally unacceptable. Despite our government trying our best to reduce such casualties by implementing strict rules & prohibitions, Sherpas are compelled to go for the climb because it's their only source of income at this remote part of the world.
Having climbed the beast myself once, I can partly appreciate the fact that the feeling of accomplishment and reward is like no other, but practices like these when an inexperienced group of folks lead to loss of innocent lives is totally unacceptable. Despite our government trying our best to reduce such casualties by implementing strict rules & prohibitions, Sherpas are compelled to go for the climb because it's their only source of income at this remote part of the world.
> like these when an inexperienced group of folks
They were professional alpinists.
They were professional alpinists.
Could you talk a bit more about what kinds of rules and prohibitions exist? Why did they fail to stop the askfm guys in this case?
Previously, a lot of fights broke out during the peak climbing season between foreign climbers and Sherpas after a dispute over mountain etiquette. They wouldn't abide by the instructions of Sherpas regarding Mountain cleanliness and safety due to their amateurishness or say foolishness. Since last February, government has started stationing members of the army and police at the base camp at the 17,550ft mark, around the start of the annual climbing season. Also, unnecessary competitions were conducted between climbers to set new records- which also risked Sherpas life. Other regulations were
1. Climbers must be accompanied by a guide at all times – no solo climbs.
2. Climbers must have summited a 7,000 meter peak prior to attempting Everest.
3. People over the age of 75 are banned from climbing.
4. People who are blind are banned from climbing.
5. Double amputees are banned from climbing.
6. Helicopter rides over EBC [ *Everest Base Camp* ] are to be heavily restricted.
7. Sherpas will also get a summit certificate after the climb.[deleted]
These were not four crypto nerds travelling with a Sherpa, it was a team of four experienced alpinists, accompanied by three Sherpas. The expedition was not planned by AskFM, they only decided to sponsor the expedition in exchange for the potential to make it into dumb promotional material. In all likelihood, the alpinists were going to make the trek with or without the sponsorship, but the sponsorship from AskFM did help cover financial costs. This is no different than Red Bull sponsoring dangerous stunts all the time. For what it's worth, the team apparently rescued a climber from a different expedition along the way down, who most certainly would have died otherwise.
That said, the CEO did not handle the situation well. On being accused of this, he called the whole thing a rumour. Later, he conceded how fucked up the whole thing was, but AskFM still hasn't removed the tasteless promotion.