Inglis knocks Everest off

The Press ^ | 16 May 2006

[Uddercha0s]

Kiwi mountaineer Mark Inglis reached the summit of Mount Everest last night to become the first double-amputee to conquer the world's highest peak.

His wife, Anne Inglis, sent a text message to The Press and Inglis' supporters late last evening which said: "Mark definitely made it, back at Camp 4. They are in high spirits. Anne."

[Uddercha0s]

Some good things in the news for a change. I especially liked the comment at the end of the article:

"If you've got a dream, don't let anything stop you from doing it."

[Atlas Sneezed]

At this point, the only way to top this accomplishemnet is to lop off an arm, and try again.

[Dark Skies]

[angkor]

My dream 10+ years ago was the little 5,545 meter Kala Patthar, which sits across the Khumbu valley from Lhotse, Nuptse, and Everest. Most of the great pictures you see of Everest are taken from the "summit" of Kala Patthar (it's a little rock scramble with a deadly drop off the back of the rocks).

That's quite enough for me. Slogging the last couple miles from the ultra-disgusting Lobuche up to Kala Patthar can be pretty exhausting, especially since folks are still acclimatizing to ever-higher altitudes. You make the same step-step-rest pace going up KP that you might above the Khumbu Icefall (two people expired on the slightly higher Cho La Pass one year I was there).

Anyway, going up Everest as an amputee is a huge accomplishment. Congrats to Mark.