Well, it’s not exactly free and it isn’t Wi-Fi. As you may have heard the Mount Everest area has been wired with the 3G network since last fall as part of an expensive undertaking. Earlier this week, Kenton Cool, a British climber, sent the first Tweet via Twitter from the Summit, according to PlanetMountain.com.

I’ve said this before on this and some other subjects: We cannot stop progress, but we can resent it, no?

There is clearly enough demand and commerce happening (in the form of client paid expeditions) along the Khumbu Valley and Everest base camp to justify the dedicated service. Maybe that is part of my problem. While I sincerely respect the challenge of climbing Everest, it continues to lose its cache among progressive alpinists. Not that I am a progressive alpinist, but I value their accomplishments more.

However, because of the accessibility to the mountain thanks to numerous international guiding services, the new wireless connection and constant media attention on the climbing season, it remains a reliable challenge to make headlines and bring attention to causes and promote brands and climbers. It’s also a solid challenge for part-time mountaineers that work 50 weeks a year just to climb the other two, thanks to the professional guide services! But I think even those guides can provide expeditions that are more unique and potentially more satisfying.

I won’t go on record to say that Everest is becoming just another slag heap and is the new Mount Rainier, like some have implied. No offense to Rainier, but I do understand where these concerned people are coming from.

That being said, now that the Everest Resort has upgraded some of it’s amenities including the Internet access, I am going to see if work will permit me a few weeks to work remotely from there.

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