As a matter of fact, yes.
Here is a picture of Mallory's body, preserved for over 50 years on the slopes of Everest. See how his skin and hair, while bleached, are still in tact?
Posted on 06/14/2006 5:50:58 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
Reminded me of that joke...
What do you call a swimmer with no arms and no legs?
Bob.
If he's laying at the front door his name might be Matt.
He was digitally challenged.
"Stump the band"
Well said. It is easy for someone sitting on their back porch in the 75 degree sunshine sipping a margarita to say the climber should have been rescued. I seriously doubt the experienced Everest guides would have just left him there if there was any chance to get him down safely.
Can you bend the man's fingers? Can you bend his wrist? Can you bend his elbow?
I've been up to the Everest region and have seen people die at lesser altitudes (18,500), as well as developing altitude sickness (cerebral oedma) way down in Lobuche. Death happens there quickly and without much warning.
It's not exactly every man for himself, but a person has to be at a certain level of mobility and fitness in order to be "rescuable" without endangering even more people. Fellow climbers will go to every effort to help someone who's down, but you've got to remember that the level of available effort is dramatically reduced from the same problem at sea level. And guides aren't supermen, they succumb to altitude like anyone else (I know one who was rescued by his own clients during a bout of altitude sickness).
As for making a medical diagnosis, most guides and even many clients have some amount of medical/rescue training, because when you're up there, you're completely on your own.
Edmund Hilary has become a bit of a crank, he has absolutely no right to critique life and death decisions that he wasn't being forced to make. To my knowledge, he's never been a serious high-altitude mountaineering guide.
A bit more clarity on the David Sharp story...
Note to self:
Next time I see someone flipped over in a vehicle in a ditch, struggling to get out--conclude that's what they get since they knew the risks of driving.
Or when someone is drowning, conclude they knew the risks of swimming before they got in the water.
"I seriously doubt the experienced Everest guides would have just left him there if there was any chance to get him down safely."
Sample questions that a guide must ask:
Does he have any chance of living through the descent?
How long will it take to lower him down Hilary Steps 3, 2, and 1?
Will a rescue deplete our oxygen and enrgy before we get him down?
Will I be able to pay attention to my clients on the descent?
Are there enough experienced climbers here to assist in downhauling him?
Will we complete the descent before nightfall? Is the weather holding up?
Etc.
You didn't read the article did you?
And:
Do we have the equipment we need (extra ropes, etc) to attempt the rescue of an immobile man?
How many in our group have been trained in mountain rescue?
How many people are we putting at risk to save someone who has very little chance to live?
Right....that's why 11 people died this year.
I seem to recall reading that it kills 10 or 15 percent of those who attempt to climb it, and at least that many more lose some part of their bodies to frostbite.
I'd put high altitude climbing in the same category as playing Russian roulette. Those who do it have several loose screws.
-ccm
I imagine it's even harder to carry a "big" man who's partially frozen solid.
Hanging on a wall? Art.
Just to show you how "Political Correctness" affects me, I need to ask: "Is his body above the buzzard line?"
I285 around Atlanta kills far more than that each year. The place is overrun with amateur drivers from the Northeast.
As a matter of fact, yes.
Here is a picture of Mallory's body, preserved for over 50 years on the slopes of Everest. See how his skin and hair, while bleached, are still in tact?
Remember how many self-righteous comments were made last time before all these facts were known?
I wonder if any of those "armchair Samaritans" who quoted the Bible to condemn these climbers will show up on this thread.
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