Posted on 05/23/2006 8:42:02 AM PDT by Paddlefish
Mark Inglis, an amputee who conquered Mount Everest on artificial legs last week, yesterday defended his party's decision to carry on to the summit despite coming across a dying climber. As his team climbed through the "death zone," the area above 26,000 feet where the body begins to shut down, they passed David Sharp, 34, a stricken British climber who later died. His body remained on the mountain.
Mr. Inglis, 47, a New Zealander, said: "At 28,000 feet it's hard to stay alive yourself. He was in a very poor condition, near death. We talked about [what to do for him] for quite a lot at the time and it was a very hard decision. "About 40 people passed him that day, and no one else helped him apart from our expedition. Our Sherpas (guides) gave him oxygen. He wasn't a member of our expedition, he was a member of another, far less professional one." Mr. Sharp was among eight persons who have died on Everest this year, including another member of his group, a Brazilian. Dewa Sherpa, a manager at Asian Trekking, the Katmandu company that outfitted Mr. Sharp before his climb, said he had not taken enough oxygen and had no Sherpa guide.
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The company charges $6,000 to provide services as far as base camp -- far less than the $35,000 or more cost of guided trips to the summit. Other mountaineers have criticized the commercialism of climbing the 29,035-foot peak, with guides charging huge sums to climbers with minimal experience.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The wrong decision.
The wrong decision.
Because he was there.
Mikey_1962 wins. Thread over.
Wow, so cold-hearted, no matter what the circumstances were.
It sounds callous but at 28,000 feet the guy was already near death and there is no way they could have gotten him down to 15,000 or lower before he would have died. They gave him some of their oxygen and that's about all they could have done.
The only way to possibly save him would have been to fly him down but 28,000 feet is above any air rescue attempt.
Sounds like he's ready to try for a spot on "The Apprentice".
Unfreakingbelievable.
What a stunning "defense".
Were this person already dead and they just left his body, that's one thing. But he was still alive, and they didn't abandon their journey to save a human life because, well, he wasn't a professional climber?
This guy MUST be a democrat.
Mr. Inglis, recovering in his Katmandu hotel yesterday, revealed blackened and swollen finger tips, which may be removed soon.
He also suffered injuries to the stumps of his amputated legs caused by the repeated impacts of climbing on prosthetic limbs. His legs were removed below the knee because of frostbite on an expedition in 1982.
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OK, I understand that an exciting life is a life worth living, but there is a limit to that as well....
Yep. You've pegged them exactly!!
"A man's got to know his limitations."
These people are nuts. They should be forced to carry parasails so their bodies can be floated off the mountain when they croak.
It's simple math. Attempting to save one dying man could have killed them all. They were at an elevation where brain damage has already started from lack of oxygen. They had to get back down to thicker atmosphere before they started dying too. The guy went up on the cheap and got his money's worth.
Very much the wrong decision.
The second they came across him, the expidition was over. They had to try. Simply helping him could have improved his situation to an survivable possibility.
This piece of human refuse is now going to sell his "me so special" book. He will inevitably use the excuse of being a cripple.
I bet the oxygen was given DESPITE his decision to abandon the man. The mental cripple was probably willing to just leave him with nothing.
Just simply horrific.
These climbers were in what is called the "Death Zone."
Every minute they stayed there, they were dying. Is is nearly an impossible task to save yourself, let alone to save what may end up being a frozen corpse by the time you get him to the bottom of the mountain.
I dunno, dude. Either you make an attempt to save the guy, if he can be saved, or else you STAY with him! You don't just give him some oxygen and continue on with your merry little trek, leaving him to die.
I'm sure his heart has been frostbitten for a great many years now.
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