Posted on 05/24/2006 5:04:25 PM PDT by blam
Climbers' attitude is 'horrifying', says Sir Edmund
(Filed: 24/05/2006)
Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first mountaineers ever to scale Mount Everest, has expressed outrage at reports that a young Englishman was left to die on the side of the world's tallest peak.
Sir Edmund: 'People just want to get to the top'
David Sharp, from Guisborough, apparently died of oxygen deficiency while descending from Everest's summit last week.
Several parties reported seeing Mr Sharp, who was 34, in various states of health on the day of his death.
One party included the New Zealander Mark Inglis, who became the first double amputee to reach the mountain's summit on prosthetic legs. His climbing party stopped and one of its Sherpas provided Sharp with oxygen before the group continued its climb.
Mr Inglis said Mr Sharp had no oxygen when he was found but said that his own party was able to offer only limited assistance and was forced to put the safety of its own members first.
"Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain," Sir Edmund said.
Sir Edmund, who with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was the first mountaineer to reach Everest's summit in 1953, said some climbers did not care about the welfare of others.
"There have been a number of occasions when people have been neglected and left to die and I don't regard this as a correct philosophy," he said.
"I think the whole attitude toward climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top," he said.
Sir Edmund later said he would have abandoned his own pioneering climb in 1953 to save another life.
"It was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say 'good morning' and pass on by," he said.
Actually, she was named BEFORE Sir Edmund Hillary (climbed the peak).
Yes. She was named after him seven years before he became famous.
(Another of her fanciful 'truths.')
No need to worry. I'm sure the petulant little degenerates are good liberals; I'm sure they didn't leave a single scrap of paper on the mountain.
Sir Edmund later said he would have abandoned his own pioneering climb in 1953 to save another life.
As Jesse Naisbitt used to say, "they don't make men like they used to.
Signs You've Chosen the Wrong Mount Everest Guide:
The last three days, all you've had to eat is s'mores.
Every morning greets the group with, "Wonder who'll die today?
"
Doesn't worry about provisions, as there's bound to be a Starbucks or McDonald's every half mile or so.
Gets lost in the "Sherpa Shack" gift shop.
Makes everyone do upside down shots off the St. Bernard's collar.
First day's preparation devoted entirely to making snow angels.
Every 10 minutes, stops and yells, "RICOLA."
Throws a fit when her stiletto heel gets stuck in the ice.
Has everyone stick their tongues to a cherry popsicle "for practice."
Keeps repeating, "Is it me, or is it cold up here?"
"Map, schmap -- you see the top from here!!"
Two words: Golf Clubs.
Forgets to wear socks with his sandals.
Keeps using the oxygen tanks to make balloon animals.
Every so often, turns and screams, "Stop following me!"
Squeezes your ass then yells, "Hey, if we get stranded we can live off Tubby here for a week!"
You never know what the whole truth is. A dear friend of mine ( a VERY experienced and sought-after climber) died several years ago on Everest and is still there. The conditions often defy the imagination.
It's really difficult for me to get too worked up over this. Several years back we lost a couple of Park Rangers on Mt. Rainer who died trying to rescue some climbers. That bothered me.
Beck Weathers was left for dead twice on Mt. Everest back in '96. Amazing story of survival that he wrote about and also Jon Krakauer.
What about George Leigh Mallory who "May" have been the first person at the summitt of Everest? If they ever find his body it will be interesting to see if he actually that vest paocket Kodak Camera.
David Sharp, 34, was still alive at 28,000 feet. Double amputee Mark Inglis, told the news source: "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."..."The latest case is British David Sharp. David vanished on his summit bid last week, and the only reason the world knew was thanks to a blog entry by his team mate Vitor Negrete. Vitor dispatched that David had died, and reported 3 more climbers missing on the mountain. He was distraught by the situation, including the fact that his high camp had been robbed. 'All these events have affected me deeply – I even considered calling the attempt off,' he said. The next day, Vitor was dead."
This was highly publicized back in 1999. Big articles in Smithsonian and Geographic. Summary and photograph (not gruesome) here.
Sir Edmund's word must count for something. Although the utilitarians probably think he's a dinosaur.
"Am I my brother's keeper?"
The allure of the Bragging Right. That's why the rich and privileged are the ones who need to climb. They've learned how little bragging they get to do with the cash.
That's why Rutan will collect big bucks so that wealthy twerps can throw up in low-altitude space and catch a glimpse of Earth for a few seconds out the window, if they can keep from puking long enough.
Looks like a few climbers in this story will enjoy a whole new kind of immortality--they'll be rememebered as the Ones Who Let Him Die.
They found his body several years ago, it was determined that it was highly unlikely he made the summit of Mt. Everest.
Sir Eddie, that whole "respect for human life" thing went out with the Sixties. Ask Terri Schiavo. Oh, that's right...
"Sir Eddie, that whole "respect for human life" thing went out with the Sixties."
There are a whole bunch of Freepers who argued with me and others, and I'm sure would like a chance to lay into Sir Eddie too.
Click here to see the shame: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1636848/posts
He lost his legs as a result of being trapped in an ice cave on another mountain in 1982.
Having never climbed and seeing nothing more than a documentary or two on the subject, I'm not going to judge on the rightness or wrongness of the other climbers. It is akin to the person faced with saving people in a burning building. At what point do you abandon a rescue in order to save yourself?
How much time and resources would have been needed to rescue the dying man and would doing so have jeopardized more people, turning a small tragedy into a much larger one? I can't answer that question. I do know that if it came down to reaching the peak or saving a fellow climber, they should have saved the climber. But if attempting the rescue would have cost so much in time and resources that other climbers might have died, I can see the logic in leaving the first man behind.
They say you are facing an oxygen deficit with every breath at that elevation and who knows how much would be spent trying to bring the man down? I presume that the bodies littered around Everest remain there for a reason - that the corpses are too risky to retrieve. That alone would tell me that attempting a rescue at that height is not one that should be tried haphazardly.
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