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Everest climber left to die alone
Washington Times ^ | 5/23/06

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.

*********

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: china; climbers; clymers; davidsharp; ethics; everest; greenboots; india; markinglis; mountainclimbing; mteverest; nepal; newzealand; phurbatashi; russellbrice
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To: Mr. Brightside

Staying with him is probably not right: Would you "stay with" a person in a burning car?

no prudent person would.

But to leave a live person in a burning building just because YOU wanted to keep walking on your tour is wrong.


61 posted on 05/23/2006 9:26:47 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: American_Centurion
The only problem with your analogy is that the only risk to them was the risk of not making the summit.

Wrong. Descending a mountain is much more dangerous than climbing it. And complicating a descent with 250 pounds of dead (or dying) weight makes an already dangerous job, one that's killed scores on Everest, exponentially trickier.

62 posted on 05/23/2006 9:28:10 AM PDT by Heyworth
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To: longtermmemmory
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.

Evidently not. This happens periodically, and the math works out that providing "assistance" is not only futile, but dangerous.

Climbers assume a level of risk, part of the risk is the understanding that little can be done to help you should you become unable to help yourself under extreme circumstances.

Not like this guy was hanging out on the shoulder, in need of a lift to the hospital.

Expeditions are not equipped to rescue helpless, stranded climbers. The choices were either continue to the summit, or stop and climb back down. Neither involved rescuing anybody.

63 posted on 05/23/2006 9:28:20 AM PDT by xsrdx (Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas)
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To: American_Centurion

I agree.

People from all over the world travel there to join that "special" club of people who have made it to the summit. It's all about the individual and his supposed conquering of the mountain.

Hog swill! It's the height of self-involvement. I'm not surprised at all that the climbers who paid 35K had an attitude about one of the pikers who paid 6K. I'm also not surprised they left him.

This amputee-climber reminds me of the story from the New Testament about the guy who was let out owing a big amount of money, but then turned around and started choking someone who owed him much less, demanding to be paid.

This amputee-climber is that person. Who saved him? This guy is despicable.


64 posted on 05/23/2006 9:29:02 AM PDT by David Allen (the presumption of innocence - what a concept!)
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To: Paddlefish

My brother is an avid rock climber, as a young man he was on an alternate team for Everest but wasn't needed. He's now near 50 and still climbs. He's had many friends die climbing, and has himself suffered near-fatal embolism in Peru. He's also a moonbat liberal, unsurprisingly.


65 posted on 05/23/2006 9:29:17 AM PDT by visualops (This isn't Mexico... www.visualops.com ...let's keep it that way!)
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To: Mr. Brightside

The author's account states that 40 people stepped over this guy and kept going. Imagine you are gasping some of your last breaths and you see/hear dozens of people walk past you, a moment of hope, and then you see they keep going.

Between the lot of them they couldn't have done something? No, this is more about craven selfishness. Wanting to finish your personal journey after so much investment. As another poster said, when they saw the guy, their journey to the top ended right there.

I recognize that it might be a very hard decision from a self sacrifice position, but the correct decision would have been to team up and help the guy. I agree, one person staying with the guy may not have been wise, but 40 people couldn't have banded together? And the fact that the stranded guy was stupid and ill-prepared is not an excuse either.


66 posted on 05/23/2006 9:29:27 AM PDT by Obadiah (Bushbot...and proud!)
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To: American_Centurion

Were they even trained on how to lower a 200 pound frozen body THREE MILES down a 30 degree ice slope?

Just because you have recieved training to climb the mountain does not mean you know how to perform a mountain rescue.

And just because they had BARELY enough supplies and equipment to make the climb themselves, you assume they had all the proper equipment, rations and supplies to evac a dying man off the mountian?

Keep in mind they have only 24 hours to get in and out of the death zone themselves.


67 posted on 05/23/2006 9:29:29 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
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To: abner

Thanks, Abner.

I'll read it now.


68 posted on 05/23/2006 9:30:01 AM PDT by eddie willers
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To: Obadiah

But did you even have the equipment and training to attempt his rescue?


69 posted on 05/23/2006 9:31:59 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
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To: EternalVigilance
Sad state of affairs, ain't it?

Perhaps. I can understand leaving someone behind if the danger for staying is too great and I can understand the possibility of a futile attempt to bring him down, but I cannot fathom NOT providing aid and comfort while he lay dying.

70 posted on 05/23/2006 9:32:16 AM PDT by Raycpa
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To: hattend
You're right.

It does sound callous.

Not one person...not one....could spare the time or compassion to spend it with this dying man.

71 posted on 05/23/2006 9:32:24 AM PDT by Guenevere
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To: EternalVigilance

Anyone here remember the doctor from Texas who was left as dying and managed to drag himself to a camp (downhill), there he was again determined to be dying. His wife, who was not on the climb, wouldn't give up on saving him and sent a helicopter (which was not supposed to be able to go to that altitude) and when it got there the dying doctor gave his ride to another person that he thought was worse off. The helicopter was able to come back and save him. I guess there are mountain climbers and then there are the other kind of mountain climbers, huh?


72 posted on 05/23/2006 9:32:48 AM PDT by pepperdog
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To: Paddlefish

Anyone interested in the unforgiving nature of extreme climbing should read Jon Krackauer's book "Into thin Air" about the disastrous guided climb back in 1996.

Start with a deadly activity, add climbing guide profit motive, throw in some totally inexperienced wealthy thrill seekers. There are some totally heroic stories in it along with some totally stupid decisions.


73 posted on 05/23/2006 9:34:40 AM PDT by naguszed
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To: tcostell
I was everest

Is that anything like "I am a rock..."?

74 posted on 05/23/2006 9:34:47 AM PDT by SlowBoat407 (A living insult to Islam since 1959.)
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To: Paddlefish
Simply by being on Everest a climber has already discounted his own life, much less that of others.

Their egos are bigger than the mountain.


BUMP

75 posted on 05/23/2006 9:34:59 AM PDT by capitalist229 (Get Democrats out of our pockets and Republicans out of our bedrooms.)
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To: pepperdog
Anyone here remember the doctor from Texas who was left as dying and managed to drag himself to a camp


76 posted on 05/23/2006 9:36:46 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
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To: pepperdog
Anyone here remember the doctor from Texas who was left as dying and managed to drag himself to a camp (downhill), there he was again determined to be dying.

Beck Weathers

77 posted on 05/23/2006 9:37:12 AM PDT by abner (Looking for a new tagline- Next outrage please!- Got it! PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS LOST IN THE USA!)
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To: Paddlefish

I'd say this story pretty well sums up the "spirit of the age."


78 posted on 05/23/2006 9:37:33 AM PDT by Paraclete
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To: Paddlefish
With respect to the dead climber: I've always wondered (since the time I started backpacking at age 17) what I'd do in a life-or-death situation where the decision you make is not only yours alone, but also has to be made by you while in an impaired mental state, because of the altitude.

On Kilmanjaro last year (I'm 51 years old), at 18,700 feet, without oxygen, I decided to turn back within an hour of the summit (19,300') due to the fact that I was losing conciousness and falling down from time to time. I'm here.......the dead climber on Everest is not.

Ya pays yur admission, ya takes your chances.

79 posted on 05/23/2006 9:38:17 AM PDT by DoctorMichael (The Fourth Estate is a Fifth Column!!!!!!!!!)
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To: Heyworth; Mr. Brightside

I will take your word that a rescue descent from this altitude is futile and dangerous. In some ways this story makes the legless climber/writer/documentarian a far worse person. He would have been far more valiant to never speak of it, as it is he will use the story for profit. Even worse than just walking past a dying man, IMO.


80 posted on 05/23/2006 9:38:33 AM PDT by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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