Dying for Everest

When double amputee Mark Inglis reached the summit of Mt. Everest in May 2006, he was feted by the press and public alike. But a few days later he was plunged into controversy when it was learned he and his team mates had passed an incapacitated climber, David Sharp, leaving him to a lonely death high in the Death Zone. In Dying for Everest we hear the stories and witness the strange effect Everest has on the rules of survival and finally, the end, we are able to judge for ourselves the morality of climbing in the Death Zone.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• MountEverest
• Death
• Mountaineering

[flafik]

Its called a Death Zone for a Reason

[liquidcrack003]

@zkiltez22 Why try and risk there own lives when there is no chance in the world that they could save him? The energy it would take to carry him down at that high of an altitude and down that rough of terrain is just not possible.

[manovas]

is that david sharp or are they actors?

[Zyworski]

There is only one plausible way to conduct a rescue at that altitude and it is the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system. Drag your evacuee unto an opening, strap the harness onto him, inflate the balloons, pop smoke, wave bye bye. The other half of the Fulton system is an MC-130E that grapples the line string between the two balloons to pluck the stricken man off the mountain.

Sharp's minimalist approach to Everest was a fools mission, he had zero back-up.

[rgneufeld]

Sad story but, unless we are faced with the identical circumstances, we can not sit here playing the armchair critique stating that we would have been able to get that man off of the mountain. David sharp understood full well the risk involved in climbing that high, that is why he was there. David Sharp wanted that exact challenge or he would have climbed mount rainier.

[vespompeii]

CLIMBING MT. EVEREST IS MORE STUPID AND USELESS THAN BEATING YOUR HEAD AGAINST A ROCK, OR PUTTING A PLASTIC BAG OVER YOUR HEAD.

IT IS A PURSUIT OF IDIOTS WITH NOTHING TO DO.

[KayakingWizard]

Different rules apply in the death zone, I understand how harsh it is. People who die up there, aren't retrived they are stone burred as its so so dangerous to get them down. To someone who can't move or do anything, its impossible and climbers have just had to keep people who are dying company. Its a risk going up and its not worth making it worse getting them down with no hope for survival. He was dead from the moment he stepped in the cave, its a harsh reality but nothing could have been done

[loner1878]

@TheGodBlessAmerica

Dude, there isn't enough international funds collected to assist famine or disaster victims or refugees of war.

[loner1878]

@fraerot

Different case. The temperature was not as low. Hall could walk and communicate - these two factors were critical to his rescue.

[loner1878]

@HerrKorbes

Tried what? You obviously have zero idea of the realities of being in the Death Zone. It was too dark to attempt any sort of rescue. The climbers did not have the skills to do a rescue and there were not enough sherpas to have done a proper rescue attempt.

Sharp was live, but that makes no difference. He was unable to walk or communicate - this essentially doomed him.

Sharp made fatal mistakes. Even Shap's own family knows the other climbers are not to blame.

[loner1878]

@ontheedge33371

Drop the childish naivety. There was no chance for any of them to rescue Sharp. There were nowhere near enough sherpas to maneuver him down the mountain there.

Fact is, Sharp made his own fatal mistakes. He climbed at the wrong time of day, alone, without sherpa help, without proper gloves, without a radio and without sufficient oxygen.

Even Sharp's own family knows the other climbers are not to blame.