Posted on 05/22/2016 8:00:39 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Dr Strydom, who also goes by Marisa, was on a seven-week expedition with her husband Robert Gropel - who has also been injured during the trek.
The 34-year-old's family say the couple's GPS tracker stopped working on Friday.
A single transmission from the tracker on Saturday gave them hope but a Google search on Saturday night delivered the devastating news that Dr Strydom had died, her sister Aletta Newman told AAP.
...
Conflicting media reports attributing her death to altitude sickness, snow blindness and a stroke only added to the distress of the Strydom family, who have yet to hear from the company behind the expedition.
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Seven Summit Treks confirmed Dr Strydom's death but said it didn't have her family's details.
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The family is also worried about Maria's husband Robert Gropel, a veterinarian who was with his wife on the expedition.
The Department of Foreign Affairs told Ms Newman only that Dr Gropel is injured and they are trying to get him down from the mountain.
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Ms Newman said efforts were underway to recover her sister's body but from an elevation of 8000 metres it would be difficult.
Dr Gropel is at camp two and a rescue will be attempted.
Dutch climber Eric Arnold, who was in the same climbing party, died of altitude sickness on Friday - both fatalities the first this year on the world's highest peak.
Ms Newman said her sister and brother-in-law were experienced climbers and took extra oxygen bottles as a precaution.
Dr Strydom and Dr Gropel are vegans who were determined to climb the highest mountains on each continent.
"It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak," Dr Strydom said in March.
"We want to prove that vegans can do anything and more."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Like going into the brush after a wounded leopard, some things are better read about than experienced.
The kids would be arguably better off without these vain “parents” that leave them behind to die so pointlessly. The Sherpas set up the lines and drag their living corpses up the rock; if they are still breathing their oxygen tank, they are dragged back to the base camp to blog about their “conquer”. Alongside 450 other McClimbers. That day.
There are over 200 bodies of mountain climbers near the top of Mt Everest. Take a hint.
To be fair, plenty of meat-eaters have died on Everest as well.
Well, you have 2 data points already!
Yes her netball club will miss her, but the college she taught at has just banked 25 years worth of liberal smug points.
A vegan evangelist.
Her body make become a marker, as many others have.
Avalanche and earthquakes did not deter.
Why?
Some people have more money than they have sense.
Wish I had that problem.
Yes, but how many of those are Pescatarians?
It’s insane. These climbers literally pass by the bodies as they begin their ascent. Don’t they ever stop and think, “Screw this s—t, I’m going home!”
Yup, human bodies and fecal matter with oxygen canisters thrown in for effect. Everest is one giant shitpop waiting to thaw.
Seems to me there is a “fast” way down.....
No animals were harmed in creating this insanity.
Stupid contests;
Stupid prizes.
Haha, so I do!
And all their kids (if any) may be saddled with a ridiculous hyphenated last name. They are married but she still went by Strydom.
Was going to post pictures of the junk and bodies, but decided not to. There are plenty of them on Google if anyone wants to see them.
There have been successful efforts to clean up Everest which have removed many of the 200+ bodies and 500 tons of support equipment, ie: oxygen tanks.
Altitude Mountain Sickness is a killer threat, particularly above death zone of 8000 m / 24,000 ft.
AMS is brutal, and you can’t will your way thru it.
The only way to address it is immediate descent to a lower altitude.
Climber’s blood thickens, and stroke becomes a real threat, along with pulmonary and cerebral edema.
Sad loss of life.
DEATH ZONE: Cleaning Mount Everest (Official Trailer)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BI2TlvNJxCo
RE: “They’ll never get her down.. She will stay up there forever. Or they actually develop a high altitude helicopter.”
You nailed it.
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