CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT

Frenzied scenes played out at Aldi stores nationwide on election day, as the retailer launched its annual ski gear sale for Australian.

Queues of thousands snaked around the streets outside the nation’s Aldi, franchises, with shoppers waiting for doors to open at 8.30am.

Two weeks later and the same thing is happening in Northern Hemisphere, at Aldi’s flagship store on the top of Mount Everest.

It’s a marketing exercise that the budget supermarket say they now regret, considering how many people are being flown back down the Northside of the mountain for medical treatment in Tibet.

This comes after the news that thousands of rich adventure tourists are literally dying to get their hands on some cheap winter gear, refusing to let the crippling altitude, exhausting trek and paperwork get in the way of their new beanies and puffer jackets

The Nepalese government has issued a record number of permits to climb Everest this year, which is believed to have contributed to chaotic pile-ups on mountain’s notorious “death zone” — the final push before the summit — leaving exhausted climbers exposed for even longer to the high altitude and extreme conditions before reaching the Aldi store on the summit.

“Gahhh. It’s such a good deal” said one shopper, who was visibly running out of oxygen to her brain.

“Rain, hail or shine. I never miss a snow sale [hahaha]”