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
Dying Brit climber 'too big' to rescue off Everest
By MICHAEL FIELD
The New Zealand mountaineer who ordered climbers to leave a dying Briton near the summit of Mt Everest says it was impossible to carry the big man off the peak.
Double amputee Mark Inglis was one of four New Zealanders in a group of 40 who walked past dying David Sharp during their descent of Everest on May 15. Most of them were part of a Discovery Channel film crew, which included Queenstown cameraman Mark Whetu.
The crew filmed the dying British mountaineer in his last conscious moments on the mountain.
Inglis' party and the Discovery crew were under the direction of Himex, a major professional guiding company run by Kiwi mountaineer Russell Brice.
Brice revealed yesterday that Sharp was lying on top of the body of an Indian climber known as "Green Boots". The Indian's body had been in a small 8500m high cave since 1996.
The gruesome events on top of Mt Everest this summer, in which 11 people eventually died, sparked a storm of controversy led by Sir Edmund Hillary, who said the attitude displayed by the climbers was horrifying.
As Inglis was last week having surgery on his frostbitten hands, a fuller story of what happened has begun to emerge as professional climbers and support crews get home.
Brice said on the day of the incident he had been based at the North Col camp, watching his clients' progress through a telescope.
At 1.41am his "sidar" or head sherpa, Phurba Tashi, radioed saying he was at "Green Boots" but made no mention of Sharp. Ten minutes later the main group, including Inglis, reached that point.
"At no stage during the ascent did I know that there was a man in trouble," Brice said.
Most of Brice's climbers reached the summit between 6.15am and 7.03am, but Brice said he noticed two of his clients were ascending too slowly and ordered them down. Both needed help to get off. After reaching the summit, Inglis began his descent and joined the other two climbers at the Third Step at 9.15am.
Fifteen minutes later Brice said "one of the climbers called me to say that there was a big man about to die". This was the first he heard of Sharp's predicament.
"I established that David was still alive but unconscious and that his arms were frozen to the elbow and his legs were frozen to the knee, and that he had frost bite to the nose," Brice said.
"The climber said that David had an oxygen system with him but was not wearing it, and was trying to assist with getting the mask back onto David."
Brice said he was acutely aware of the "struggle" going on to get Inglis and the other two off the mountain and knew the sherpas had been out of camp for more than 10 hours and were low on oxygen.
"I told the climber who encountered David to continue down the mountain as at this altitude and with this terrain it is not possible to carry an unconscious person with only the people that I had on the mountain at that time."
A Turkish group tried to help and Phurba found some oxygen and gave it to Sharp.
"They attempted to get David to his feet, but he kept collapsing, so they shifted David just a few feet into the sun."
Brice said he had worked with Phurba, one of the strongest sherpas on the mountain, for years.
"We have been involved in many self, and assisted rescues over the years, so I know that if there was a chance to help he would willingly do so, and would have immediately called me to start the logistics that would be required. His silence was ominous."
Brice said he had no idea of Sharp's movements before his death and had no reports about him in trouble before finding him at "Green Boots."
He assumed people did not see him on the way up because it was extremely cold and their hoods and oxygen masks would have severely restricted vision.
"Our people saw David, but assumed that this was the body of the Indian who died in exactly the same place in 1996, and whose body I had told members to expect to see," Brice said.
"In fact David was lying right on top of the Indian when Phurba found him on the descent. Our people saw David and assumed that he was already dead."
Brice found out who the dead man was and although it was not his responsibility, telephoned Sharp's family.
"I told them that we had seen David the day before, and that we had left him even though he was still alive, but in an unrecoverable state, and that he was confirmed dead that morning.
"This was a very hard call to make but something that I felt had to be done."
Brice said had he known on the way up that Sharp was in trouble he would have investigated the possibility of a rescue. Since 1994 he had initiated or been involved with 15 major rescues on Everest.
"During this time I have been responsible for the unenviable job of removing about 10 bodies from the mountain, something that we never mention."
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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