Couple with two-year-old on Everest tour Evelyne Binsack: "This is pure sensationalism"

A Scottish couple "hiked" to base camp on Mount Everest with their two-year-old son. Mountaineer Evelyne Binsack thinks it is "abusive" that they went to the media with the story.

New world record holder: At just two years old, Carter Dallas is the youngest guest at the base camp on Mount Everest. Of course, the little boy did not make the journey up to 5,364 meters himself, but was transported by his father Ross Dallas in a backpack.

The Scottish couple sold their story to the British media. The "hike", as Ross Dallas calls it, was done on a whim and was completed by all three of them in sneakers.

"On the mountain trail to the base camp, the stones become slippery due to rain or snowfall. There can be a cold snap, the weather in these mountains is extremely changeable. And in sneakers, your feet simply get wet and cold," says Evelyne Binsack, Swiss extreme mountaineer, professional mountain guide, speaker and bestselling author, to blue News.

For her, the action of the couple from Scotland has many aspects that she classifies as problematic. Above all, however, she finds it "terrible" that parents are marketing their two-year-old son. "The child can't defend himself. He could say yes or no with words, but has no understanding of privacy in public. The parents are therefore acting in a way that violates the integrity of the toddler," says Binsack.

This is just one of the many stories surrounding Mount Everest that no longer have anything to do with alpinism, mountaineering or ethics on the mountain. The experienced mountaineer says: "This is pure sensationalism."

Even the flight from Europe to Kathmandu is an "imposition"

However, the classification of the base camp is important. "The base camp is still below the so-called death zone, where the body can no longer regenerate." Nevertheless, getting on a plane with a two-year-old is not without its problems. In Binsack's eyes, the flight from England to Kathmandu is already an "imposition" for the child.

Altitudes such as those at the Mount Everest base camp can also be quite critical if the child has not acclimatized beforehand. Ross and Jade Dallas reportedly completed the trip with their two-year-old without any acclimatization time.

Without acclimatization is "really bad"

The Swiss mountaineer sees further problems with Ross and Jade Dallas' undertaking: "A two-year-old child has not yet developed a sense of self and is still in a symbiotic relationship with their mother and father." This bond should actually be the main focus and there is no need for trips to Mount Everest or journeys to Tenerife.

According to Binsack, a trip to Kathmandu can be a total overload of the unknown for a two-year-old.

A toddler still needs "the cocoon", the familiar surroundings, in order to learn to develop and expand within it. "This is one of the most important processes in the psychological development of a small child. I'm probably making myself unpopular with parents who travel a lot by saying that a growing person doesn't need a flight to Kathmandu or anywhere else during this important phase."

Ultimately, however, it depends on many factors as to whether the two-year-old could be harmed by such a trip. Binsack explains: "How long did they have to get to base camp? How did they acclimatize? Did the child get a headache and did they fly to Lukla, the official starting point of the trek?" Lukla is over 2800 meters above sea level and many people would already feel discomfort at this altitude.

Binsack finds the circumstances of the parents' approach to the Everest tour inappropriate. The fact that they are pocketing travel money at the expense of their toddler's safety is deeply regrettable.