As a mountaineer do you actually come across people who show off about climbing Everest? I guess that could be really annoying.
I am not a mountaineer but I have always dreamed of climbing Everest just because of reading books as a kid. It seems like an amazing form of escapism rather than about ego or anything like that. I think that is what drives a lot of extreme fitness activities. You have something to focus on and work towards and a possibility of feeling a sense of achievement. I think rock climbers are more about feeling a sense of flow which makes it a completely different sport.
I had a go at climbing Everest but turned back at about 8400m when my oxygen gear packed up. I find it funny that people are really impressed by Everest climbing which always seemed to me a bit of a dumb expensive trudge up a large rock and very unimpressed by my attempts to figure why the universe exists which seems to me a noble and logical thing to do but people think you're nuts. Life's odd like that I guess.
That said Everesting was quite fun. I went unguided but with a lot of logistical support, and tried to develop my own oxygen gizmo. It wasn't my invented bit that failed by the way.
I am not a mountaineer but I have always dreamed of climbing Everest just because of reading books as a kid. It seems like an amazing form of escapism rather than about ego or anything like that. I think that is what drives a lot of extreme fitness activities. You have something to focus on and work towards and a possibility of feeling a sense of achievement. I think rock climbers are more about feeling a sense of flow which makes it a completely different sport.