Man dies on Mount Everest during cryptocurrency promotional stunt

[aitrean]

So, while I usually agree blockchain/crypto ecosystem is the most degenerate thing since Vista, it's worth being a little objective here.

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.

[Panjam]

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.

[elliottcarlson]

https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/28/sherpa-they-die...

[phreack]

>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.

[MiddleEndian]

When watching Silicon Valley I found some lines to be too over-the-top, only to find out they were quotes from real people.

[oh_sigh]

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?

[sneak]

Pretty sure it was the “climbing Mt Everest” part that cost a life, not their stupid marketing copy.

[sus_007]

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.

[Kiro]

> like these when an inexperienced group of folks

They were professional alpinists.

[ufo]

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?

[throwaway837474]

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...

[netsharc]

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.

[jxub]

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.

[ggggtez]

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.

[seccess]

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...

[yazr]

I read this knee-deep in snow on the Annapurna Range.

Still keeps me the creeps...

[_bxg1]

We are surely living in the dumbest timeline.

[russh]

Let's hope so...

[skywhopper]

“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.

[aitrean]

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.

[sulam]

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.

[unfunco]

It's less than that, it's in the hundreds. Roughly 4,000 people have climbed Everest ever.

[Symmetry]

It's a few hundred who attempt it every year and something like 5% of them die.

[sulam]

Can't edit now, but yes, it's hundreds, not thousands. I misremembered the stat. However, this is still a dumb marketing stunt. :/

[subcosmos]

That's it. We've literally reached peak crypto

[tromp]

Cute. But note we've already reached orbit [1] and many projects are aiming for the moon:-)

[1] https://blockstream.com/satellite/

[secfirstmd]

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.

[exelius]

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.

[thirduncle]

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.

[Adamantcheese]

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.

[DoctorOetker]

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)

[goda90]

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.

[jimjimjim]

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.

[stinos]

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?

[jonny_eh]

Great, this tragedy just further fuels their dumb publicity stunt.

[emodendroket]

Who in the world is going to see this story and decide to invest?

[Sjayasi1]

This is likely an Omen that crypto currencies are dying.

[skate22]

Idk what's more risky, crypto or everest

[darod]

He probably went back for the crypto.