Dying Brit climber 'too big' to rescue off Everest (the REAL story)

Star Times ^ | 6/13/06

[eddie willers]

Mallory's body, preserved for over 50 years on the slopes of Everest.

Almost exactly 82 (lost June 1924)

There are some little black birds that can make it up that high for a few months a year.

[Mr. Brightside]

Wow. Time flies, huh?

(lol)

[SaveUS]

I guess that answers the question that one mountain climber asked: "Why so blue?"

[jiggyboy]

It took them a month to come up with this excuse. You'd think it would have been the first thing they said.

[palmer]

Someone is lying either Brice in this piece or Inglis in previous interviews. See, for example, http://www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=817479

Inglis told Television New Zealand last month that members of his party found Sharp close to death, tried to give him oxygen and sent out a radio distress call before continuing to the summit. Inglis said that when they radioed Brice at base camp he had advised them to carry on with the summit bid without attempting a rescue.

[Mr. Brightside]

What makes you think that this story is any different that the one they have been telling since the accident?

[Flightdeck]

What happened to the people the dead guy was climbing with? Do people actually try and climb Everest alone?

[Mr. Brightside]

When Brice first knew about Sharp may have had little effect on whether anything could be done for him.

The man was still frozen at the top of the highest mountain in the world.

[Mr. Brightside]

The account said he successfully made a 'solo' ascent to the summit before he stopped 1000 feet below.

[jiggyboy]

Well it seems that it is big news only today that they said "he's too big". I've never heard that before, but I'm too lazy to see if it has in fact ever been published in the previous month.

[denydenydeny]

The ghoulish thing to me is that all of those bodies are just sitting up there forever, preserved by the cold, and serve only as landmarks. This bothers me, and it's wrong in multiple ways.

[palmer]

The critique of the climbers hinges on whether they knew he was dying on the way up or didn't find out until the way down. There are conflicting stories about that because it obviously looks bad to walk around a dying man to get to the top. Whether they could have saved him instead of going to the top may well remain an open question.

[abner]

More here

[schu]

From the article, if Viesturs says they should have given a rescue a go, that is a pretty good source.

David Sharp was not so lucky and many of the world's top climbers have reacted to the incident with little surprise. American Ed Viesturs, who has scaled all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks without bottled oxygen, told Seattle Times, "This isn't the first time this has happened, passing people who are dying is not uncommon. Unfortunately, there are those who say, 'It's not my problem. I've spent all this money and I'm going to the summit.' "

Viesturs himself helped to rescue a lady climber a few years back just 300 feet beneath Everest's summit. "We put her on oxygen right away, and we carefully pushed and pulled her down the mountain," Viesturs told Seattle Times. "If you're strong enough to mount a summit attempt, you're strong enough to attempt a rescue, or at least sit there with him and try to provide a little comfort."

Recall when Krakauer wrote his first article for Outside mag about the Everest disaster back around 1995 he made a few serious factual errors. He corrected them in his book to his credit.

I still say they should have made an attempt to get the guy off the mountain.

schu

[WKUHilltopper]

They left the guy to die so they could finish their little recreational trip. What else is there to know? They participated in this guy's death.

[baltoga]

So I'm to believe that 40 climbers couldn't carry a single person?

What a bunch of bull! They left him behind out of their own greed.

[Trust but Verify]

He looks tall but not heavy.

How would you like to go from being a human being to being a landmark known only as 'Green Boots'?

[johnny7]

Maybe the others were... size-challenged.

[Dont Mention the War]

How would you like to go from being a human being to being a landmark known only as 'Green Boots'?

I don't know. Not many humans get to end up as landmarks. If you have to go, there are worse legacies to leave, IMHO.

[StormEye]

"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 intact?"

I don't see his head. Could you point it out?