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Dozens of climbers walk by a dying man on Mt Everest...

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Read "In to Thin Air"

Everest is not like driving past an accident scene. If you die, you die. ANd you're left up there forever. The mountain is literally littered with bodies of the dead. At 29,000 feet your responsiblity is YOU and that's it. Not your buddy, not anything else. You. And all big mountain climbers are aware of this.

It'd be nice to think you can help, but you can't. You don't carry extra oxygen, because you cant. You are barely alive yourdamnself, and you can't really think straight. Morality? You probably left that somewhere around 15,000 feet.
 
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"Into Thin Air" is one my favorite books.

I had initially posted on this thread that we shouldn't criticize the climbers because morality has no place at 29,000 feet unless you want to die yourself.

But then I remembered that the person who criticized the climbers was Edmund Hillary himself, so I deleted my post. I do believe he has earned the right to have an opinion on this.

Nevertheless, Hillary is old now. And retired. And he's famous. What would he have done if he was 30 years old? I doubt even he knows.
 
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After mulling it over for a day I think that I would stop and give the guy some comfort, tell him that he is not alone, and I would leave him. At 29,000 feet spending 30 min stationary you are putting a gun to your head. Climbers know the risks and people die. C'est la vie.

This climber had been seen screwing with his oxigen equipment for most of the day. If it was that fucked up he should have gone back to camp 5 while he had the chance.

Besides Everest is for Pussies, go to K2 and then you can tell me you are a climber. :wink2: More people have died on that beast than have climbed it.

Oh yea, Reinhold Messner is the man.
 
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My cousin and a buddy went up Rainier last year... or two years ago... It's 14,409 feet. (Everest is double that, of course) Anyway, he was trained in assisting his buddy, and his buddy to assist him, should any problems arise. At some point during their push to the top, they both agreed that neither one of them had enough in the tank to be able to help the other. This moment of lucidity had been after the two of them couldn't figure out how the Sun was rising in both the east and the west that morning. (The "Western Sun" as it turns out, was Venus setting) 14,000 feet and BOTH of these guys couldn't think straight. Oxygen would have helped, for sure... but not to the point of sea level lucidity.
 
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Reminds me of that old Eddie Murphy schtick about the guy hit by a car in Brooklyn. "Sorry, Man, but you goin' ta die.... Guess you won't be needin' dem shoes no mo'."

Check out the failure (meaning death) rate for Everest. Holy shit, 190 dead out of 1500.
 
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Buckeyeskickbuttocks said:
My cousin and a buddy went up Rainier last year... or two years ago... It's 14,409 feet. (Everest is double that, of course) Anyway, he was trained in assisting his buddy, and his buddy to assist him, should any problems arise. At some point during their push to the top, they both agreed that neither one of them had enough in the tank to be able to help the other. This moment of lucidity had been after the two of them couldn't figure out how the Sun was rising in both the east and the west that morning. (The "Western Sun" as it turns out, was Venus setting) 14,000 feet and BOTH of these guys couldn't think straight. Oxygen would have helped, for sure... but not to the point of sea level lucidity.
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Pussies. :wink: :p

Oh, and I also echo IronBuckI's sentiments. With ~190 deaths on the mountain, something tells me this isn't the first time this has happened...
 
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Oh8ch said:
So the dead guy shoulda been familiar with the risks HE was taking.

Anybody interested in a hike up Everest for the next BP Outing?
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I would still do it if I had the chance. I am fit enough to do it. It is only a question of how you handle altitude. There is very little technical climbing on the climb. Cash and time are the two biggest limiters.

There is a 20,000+ in South America that is basicly a walk up to the top. You will know very quickly above 20,000 if you are meant to try Everest.

Honestly, if you are in shape, do not get the coughs and have some luck with weather you will make it to the top and back down (that's the important part).
 
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Oh8ch said:
So the dead guy shoulda been familiar with the risks HE was taking.

Anybody interested in a hike up Everest for the next BP Outing?
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I'll take the helicopter.

3.jpg
 
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That shit, like sky diving, is just something for which I have no desire. The regulars know I'm all for doing stupid things, but 190/1500, wow. I wonder what the chance of contracting HIV and/or AIDS is for having unprotected sex with someone who's HIV+. My guess is that the rate for one incidence is not as high as the death rate for Everest. Who would risk unprotected sex with a gorgeous supermodel who's HIV+?

BP trip to run with the bulls at Pamploma?
 
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What's funny is all the bad-asses here saying, "Fuck it, he knew the risks...tough shit", while the man who conquered the mountain in the first place is the one criticizing the non-actions of the climbers. I think he's got the credentials to make that criticism.

Back to my scuba analogy, scuba divers also know the risks when diving, but that doesn't make it OK to abandon another diver just because "he knew the risks". Being at 27,000 feet doesn't relieve you of your moral responsibility as a human being. Morality isn't inversely proportional to elevation.
 
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