Mount Everest 2006

According to the Everest website, 10 people died on the mountain this climbing season.  The site says, “In terms of fatalities, the 2006 Everest season is now second only to the 1996 spring season which claimed 12 lives.”  I usually follow climbing season with interest because I think climbing Everest is at the very top of my “Things I Dream of Doing But Know I Never Will” list, just because it seems like such an incredible physical and mental achievement, the ultimate challenge.  I don’t think I’d ever attempt it though because I don’t think I could be healthy enough for the time commitment it requires, and because I have too many animals/people who depend on me to go off and do something both frivolous and life-threatening.  I also don’t think that people with no experience, like me, necessarily have any business up on a mountain like that, especially if there’s a risk of it endangering others.

This climbing season did take a bit of the shine off “my dream”.  People are dying right and left, many because they’re trying to climb the mountain “on the cheap”, and too many tour operators are allowing it.  There’s a reason a guided expedition costs $35000 and an unguided one costs as little as $6000.  The government of China is being creepy about these matters, too, giving climbing permits to anyone who asks because they want the money, but then refusing to help or allow search and rescue operations if they’re needed on the Chinese side of the mountain.  I think my biggest shock this year though came when I read of all the theft occurring on the mountain.  Theft on Mount Everest!  People are stealing gear and oxygen, literally endangering others’ lives.

I always figured there’d be something noble about climbing Everest, and something noble about the people who do it, but I’ll just be content in the knowledge that I can get mugged at sea level for free, rather than than paying $35000 to have it happen at 26000 feet.

Updated to add: as of today the death toll for this year is at 15.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 05/24 at 10:49 PM

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

  1. Mount Everest itself seems to be the only noble part of the equation. Why is it that the addition of Man suddenly takes away from the total. Sad.

    Posted by Simply Coll  on  05/26  at  12:21 PM

  2. The Everest site is really interesting, I’m still reading through the accounts. Not only the thefts, but that so many people refuse to help others in trouble on the mountain….sad.

    Posted by Carina  on  05/27  at  04:25 AM

  3. I feel very torn over the stories about 40+ climbers refusing to help rescue David Sharp.  The stories all say the other climbers “walked right past him”, but at that altitude (he was above the highest camp and on his way to the summit), you really have to just look out for yourself.  Most climbers are only carrying enough oxygen for themselves to keep their load light, and they’ve been climbing for hours by the time they summit.  They still have hours of climbing left as they go back down the mountain the same day, and it’s exhausting with no room for error.  How could someone afford to lend David Sharp their oxygen, knowing he might need hours and hours of it before he’d be in any condition to be moved?  Also, David Sharp chose to climb alone, and to climb without carrying enough oxygen, as he wanted to summit without it.  That was a reckless decision for him to make, and he must have been aware of the consequences.

    I guess reading about the rescue of Lincoln Hall really brought the situation into focus for me.  People knew Hall was missing, and they dispatched 13 sherpas to look for him.  Eventually 3 sherpas found him, and it took them 9 hours to help him descend less than 1000 meters.  9 hours with trained rescue people, equipped with enough oxygen.  I don’t think David Sharp ever had a chance, no matter who stopped to help him.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/28  at  01:30 AM

  4. Good point for folks coming down, but I thought there was criticism of an entire group passing him on their way up?  They’d have some extra oxygen if they had turned around, and a group effort to get him down might have succeeded, although I didn’t see any acknowledgement that anyone was guaranteeing his life would have been saved.

    When I read about this my mind went to the movie - can’t remember the name, drat it all - based on the true story of 2 climbers, where one broke his leg and the other eventually had to cut him loose.  Miraculously the injured one managed to drag himself down the mountain (I can still hear the haunting cries of “Simon!”). 

    Simon was demonized by the climbing community, evidently, and honestly I couldn’t see any other option for him.  He continues to be criticized to this day, although not by his climbing companion (who resumed climbing, against all odds).

    Posted by Print  on  05/28  at  11:33 AM

  5. Print, I inferred from what I’ve read that 40 did pass him on the way up, but that they were only a few hundred metres from the summit so they were essentially “halfway”.  If they’d each already used 2.5 litres of oxygen to get to the point they were at, it stands to reason they’d need their remaining 2.5 litres to travel the same distance back to camp, whether they actually reached the summit or not.  I may be incorrect, as I’ve just envisioned this from news accounts I’ve read.  I also wasn’t sure if it was an actual group of 40 climbers who passed him (i.e., an organized expedition with sherpas with extra oxygen and rescue training), or if it was just “40 climbers”, not necessarily together.  As it took three trained sherpas to help Lincoln Hall down, and it took them 9 hours to do it, I don’t know if 40 climbers sharing oxygen would have still provided enough for everyone in the chance that bad weather or other trouble was encountered.  I’m pretty sure that in 1996, when so many climbers died, at least a couple deaths were of people attempting to rescue others.

    I mostly continue to be bothered by the fact Sharp chose to climb without enough oxygen, and that’s what killed him.  If he’d just carried the extra oxygen that was recommended, he wouldn’t have developed altitude sickness like he did.  His decision to not carry enough oxygen and to climb alone, without even a sherpa to assist him, seem to be the most selfish decisions made.  When he was found he was so delusional that he’d removed, and lost, his gloves and I think his coat, so other climbers would have had to loan him their clothing, too.

    I’ve been curious about the effects of oxygen-deprivation on the brain at such cold temperatures.  I wonder how long the brain can exist on low oxygen and still recover?

    I’ll continue to follow the stories on MountEverest.net and see if I can glean more information from them.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/28  at  01:06 PM

  6. I admit I haven’t followed this enough to get complete details, such as how close to the summit they were, and I do agree that people who go unprepared into such dangerous situations are ultimately responsible for the outcome.  Around here there are lots of mountain rescues during skiing season because people - often surprisingly ‘seasoned’ veterans of mountain climbing as well as skiing - insist on going into areas clearly marked with signs warning of avalanche danger and whatnot.  It’s always a relief when people are found, but the biggest relief is that the rescuers suffered no injuries or loss of life in pursuit of essentially stupid or, yes, selfish fools.

    Posted by Print  on  05/28  at  09:15 PM

  7. Print, there’s a great book I recommend if you’re interested in the overall survival topic—“Surviving the Extremes: What Happens to the Body and Mind at the Limits of Human Endurance”.  It’s written by Kenneth Kamler.  I wrote a little review of it on my blog last year:

    http://www.theblogpound.com/index.php/weblog/comments/surviving_the_extremes/

    The author explains a lot about what happens to the body in really harsh conditions, and it’s fascinating.  He writes a lot about Everest and altitude sickness.  If you can pick up a cheap used copy, it’s a great book for the armchair adventurer.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/28  at  11:52 PM
    8. Page 1 of 1 pages

Name:

Email (required, but will not be made public):

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my details for future comments?

Let me know about new replies to this topic?

Next entry: Overlooking the obvious

Previous entry: Here's a quarter...

<< Back to main