I stumbled around on a youtube video about all the dead bodies on Mt. Everest, something like 281 are up there. Then that lead me to another video about a guy named David Sharp, a solo climber who went up Everest in 2006, made some decision that ultimately led to him falling gravely ill, holing up in a cave next to a dead body known as green shoes, and 30 people passed him, some seeing him , others did not.
A double amputee named Mark Inglis and 3 other New Zealand climbers stopped to check on him on the way up. He was alive, but mostly incoherent and nearly frozen. They faced a decision as to help him, derailing their potentially once in a lifetime ascent to the Summit, and ultimately they made the decision to leave him there, climb to the top and descend back down. On the way back down they stopped again, he was still alive but in much worse shape, and at that point, no one had enough oxygen to do anything for him.
There is more to the story, especially regarding the decisions David Sharp made from choosing his outfitter to climbing alone to the time he chose to ascend.
So the Everest Test is....
If you planned a once in a lifetime trip to climb Everest, spent upwards of $50K for the climb, trained for months and then encounter a dying man on the mountain 1 hour from the summit, do you make the decision to do whatever you can to save him and forego the climb or do you do what you can in the moment to comfort him and then proceed on knowing you are leaving him to his fate, living the rest of your life knowing you left a person to die?
My wife and I immediately had different answers
FWIW, Sir Edmund Hillary condemned their actions.
Last edited by KFWA; 04/02/21.
have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues, can you bend them guitar strings
I doubt that guys who make the decision to climb think anything at all like I do. It would be presumptuous of me to think otherwise.
I suspect that those who are motivated to do such things do not expect others to give up their own dream of standing on the summit, and may even insist on being left to die.
I'm confident that my own mindset is different because I'm not the type of person who would consider climbing Everest.
WTF would I know about it?
Don't be the darkness.
America will perish while those who should be standing guard are satisfying their lusts.
Life or death............I'd do everything in my power to help. If it came down to leaving him if it compromised the safety of someone in my party, he's on his own.
�Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.�
Easy to have the noble answer when you are not faced with the circumstances of the place. Dozens of climbers are lined up for the final ascent at the green boots cave. To reach the summit may take another 30 minutes or 6 hours. How stable is the weather, do I have oxygen to share without risking my life or my companions? Give comfort? No such thing when you are bundled up beyond looking human and the one in distress is so hypothermic he feels nothing and his mind isn't really functional. Maybe you save him so he can later lose his hands, feet, lips and nose to frost bite and face nerve and circulation pain the rest of his miserable life. Hard decision but I bet those facing it never think about the money they spent to be there.
I think you know the potential situations before you ever embark on this type of journey. If I paid the money and did the waiting list and spent the time to prepare and I am one hour from my lifelong goal I am pushing to the top and I would expect everyone to do that to me if the situation aroze where I was stuck. I knew what the risks were going in and in no way would I expect you to give up your deams if I for some reason was not prepared or fell ill. If I was paying an outfitter/guide it would fall to him to decide to help me or not.
Life or death............I'd do everything in my power to help. If it came down to leaving him if it compromised the safety of someone in my party, he's on his own.
Yup, if you have put yourself in that position you probably have already decided on that scenario or you are low level peak bagger who shouldn't be there. Choosing to play in that unforgiving environment includes acceptance of the fact that Mother Nature does not care about you.
#prioritize
mike r
Don't wish it were easier Wish you were better
Stab them in the taint, you can't put a tourniquet on that. Craig Douglas ECQC
That seems like a decision that is best made before the situation even arises. Personally I wouldn’t even attempt the climb in the first place. That’s just me, but Those that do might accept that very thing as a possible reality of the effort and accept it for what it is to begin with.
I would never go there in the first place. But if I were in that situation, I would try to save the guy. $50K be damned. Somewhere I heard something about, "No man left behind."
How do you want to brag to some suburbanites at the cocktail party? "I climbed Everest along with a gazillion other guys. Cost $50K." Or, "I paid $50K to climb Everest but on the way found a guy freezing to death. I abandoned my climb to save his life."
Don't blame me. I voted for Trump.
Democrats would burn this country to the ground, if they could rule over the ashes.
WTF you get up there and it looks just like the photos, stay 10 minutes and you gotta leave. I don’t think it’s even the toughest peak to climb, I mean it ain’t like free-climbing El Capitan, the Sherpas could hustle most anyone up there.
OTOH to save a life, now there’s a good story to take with you.
Here’s a guy who made the right decision, I know there’s others too.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
It's a known risk before the climb. Attempting a rescue is also a death sentence. There are other cases where rescues are not attempted because the rescuer will also die - fact of life.
Originally Posted by mauserand9mm
Originally Posted by mauserand9mm
Originally Posted by Raspy
Whatever you said...everyone knows you are a lying jerk.
That's a bold assertion. Point out where you think I lied.
