A few years ago, much hype was created by CBS and Dan Rather about a possible live telecast from Mt. Everest. It so happened that the 'Western' part of the contingent failed to make it to the top and there was no live telecast from Mt. Everest beaming into every American living room. Dan Rather was obviously very disappointed. Sherpa kids don't pop out of their mummy's tummy and run straight to the top of Mt. Everest. But once you see past the crude behavior of Herzog and Dan Rather, you can discover that there are many fundamental differences between the Eastern and Western approaches to mountain climbing.
Most Easterners have an almost obsequious attitude toward the whole business.
There are several time-honored local beliefs such as sprinkling rice in the Kumbu icefall on the way to Everest or not actually climbing on the very top of Kanchenjunga. The Western climbers look at the peaks as great challenges which need to be dealt with and conquered and there is an air of arrogance once the 'conquest' is achieved. The final camp is called 'Summit camp' by Indian climbers and 'Assault camp' in Western terminology. Many so-called 'international' expeditions have been utter failures, with petty egos and nationalisms coming in the way of forming a solid team. One such expedition, in which silliness reached a point where the French refused to walk behind the Italians or some such, a top Indian climber, of name Harsh Bahuguna was left dangling to his death in a crevice, while some people in the crew were busy filming his fate.