There is a lot of armchair quarterbacking going on. I think it depends on how far gone he was. I would have to defer to others more expert on this but some have said there was nothing they could do to save him at that altitude. It may be one of those situations where the appearance of what they did looks bad but the reality is they couldn't have done anything else to save him.
Then you don't leave him to die alone - you delay your own climb and make his last hours/days/whatever as comfortable as possible, and then continue your endeavor.
Same thing crossed my mind. If I could have at least stuck around without jeopardizing my life, I would have. But if he were too far gone, I'm not sure I would have risked my life either. Sounds harsh, but one can only do so much in the face of danger without risking their own life.
Or how quickly they could fire up the hibachi.
I have to agree. Hillary is pretty old now. He was not there. He let some press person give him limited information and then commented on it.
I would need a lot more information to know whether the group that found him was in the wrong.
I'm sure the thin air didn't help their decision-making either way.
It takes a hell of a lot more oxygen to continue climbing that to go back down. In a case like this you abandon you climb, share your oxygen and back down.