kind of a different take here, as i assumed this as well. when i turned 40, i had just sold my business and had a 2 year noncompete. so, what did i do? i needed a carrot on a stick and a goal to pursue. i decided to climb everest. i found a reputable climbing company (alpenglow), and in order to do everest, i was required to have done another 8000m peak prior to everest under my belt, so signed on for cho oyu. this is technically the "easiest" 8ooom peak and a great way to see how your body will adapt to the altitude. a bit of background: i had run 2:34 for a marathon 2 years previous, and kept myself somewhat fit in the gym, (i was a 29:31 10k guy in college.) cho oyu was done with very few crowds, and a bit easier because the weather there is a bit more predictable, and certainly less harsh. in addition, there are only 3 camps above advanced base camp, which makes it less logistically difficult- ie less gear to haul up and down the mountain.
long story longer, i then trained for the next year- running when i felt like it, but really doing quite a bit of hiking with a heavy pack (see training for the new alpinism by scott house). as cho oyu had gone fairly well for me (though 2 of the 5 clients had dropped during the climb- one from HACE and another from from frostbite).
well, my original plans to go with alpenglow fell through because of permits (only chinese expeditions were allowed during this period), and was pretty bummed as they summit from the north side. that side is much less crowded, and the abc is much higher (17k), which gets you a bit higher up on the mountain. so, south side it was. after almost 2 1/2 months, multiple rotations up and down the mountain, reroutes because of icefall, emergent rescue of 2 westerners and 2 sherpas, dodging bodies frozen to the mountain, and a few days separately of nasty altitude cough and stomach bugs, i made it to the top. our group started with 8 clients, 12 sherpas, 3 western guides, and 1 manager for logistics/radio/etc. by the end in may, only myself and one other client were left for a shot at the top. on the final push, he ended up turning around at camp 3, as we had gotten stuck in a storm on a previous rotation and he had gotten somewhat serious frostbite that he hadn't told anyone about. everyone else on our team gave out for a different reason- mostly mental fatigue and one guy from poland fell and broke his arm. 2 of the sherpas had been involved in a random serac accident, 4 other sherpas had gotten the same stomach bug i had and were too dehydrated, and one of the western guides got fired for not going up to help the polish guy that fell.
my point of this long diatribe of memories is that it's much more than a quick walk up. it takes 8-10 weeks of commitment. you will be colder than you've ever been, and will likely get sick at least once. the comment in the thread about sleeping at high altitude is also pretty poignant. if you can't sleep, you can't recover. you literally don't want to eat anything. I weighed 157 when i left for nepal, and was 131 when i weighed myself back home. the majority of the people (clients) either quit or drop on their own. sure, it's doable physically, but the monotony makes it such that it really better be a goal that you're committed to. the conditions can sneak up on you quickly. that's the main thing. the conditions can get brutal at the drop of a hat. 3 climbers from another team died while i was on the mountain, and it was basically because of the conditions. people, get stuck at high camps all the time. we were lucky enough to procure a window that allowed us (the sherpa i climbed with and I) to move quickly on the ascent, but we were extremely hampered on the descent. in my opinion, the long line of climbers waiting to move up (especially above 26.5k) is essentially a death trap and causes unwarranted exposure. thankfully, we were on our way down when we encountered them. i think the answer is to significantly limit the people on the mountain and charge more. that way, the sherpa people that depend on this every year are not compromised financially. when all was said and done- including plane tickets, gear, guide fees, compensation for sherpas, etc i spent 72k. i'm still in contact with the sherpa that i climbed with, and he will come stay with my family and i this august. if you made it through reading this far, congrats. it's truly not about how much money you spend- it takes a lot of luck with the conditions and some genuine commitment to do it right.