[t18amgr]

They know the risks.Bless.

[William May]

Dooflotchie:
Like scuba diving, Everest climbing is a sport that is pretty dangerous. When you climb, you acknowledge that you are risking your life.
In shallow water scuba, nearly everyone has what is called an "octopus" which is another breathing regulator on the end of a air line. If someone has trouble while diving, you share your air with them until you both can surface.
No problem there.
However, just like Everest, when you do technical scuba diving, to great depths, the danger increases exponentially. Technical divers very rarely carry an octopus.
Why?
Because it is considered too dangerous to help someone who is deep diving. A lot of times they are incoherent when they get into trouble, or can be violent. The result of this is 2 divers dead instead of one.
This situation is an accepted fact of technical diving. When I was first starting scuba diving and heard this, I was dumbfounded. But after talking to technical divers, including some who had lost good friends in diving accidents, it became more understandable.
The margin of survival is so slim in both sports, that there is no
extra (or very little) to help anyone else in distress. It is incumbent on the person doing the sport to prepare themselves and plan and equip themselves so that danger is minimized.
Those people that helped others on the Everest climbs were very generous, and willing to risk their own lives just to help another individual. That is very commendable. But it is easy to get to the point where you yourself are now at risk of dying, NOT because you did anything wrong, but just through a misguided attempt to help someone else.
When you climb Mt. Everest, you are ON YOUR OWN. When you technical dive, you are ON YOUR OWN. When you hang-glide, or fly an experimental aircraft, you are ON YOUR OWN.
If you are not willing to risk death, then don't engage in the sport.
If you talk to mountain climbers, you will find no pity or sympathy for those who died while climbing. They were doing what they wanted to do, and they knew the risks. And they feel the same way about themselves "If I die doing it, then it's just too bad"
It may sound cold, but it isn't. It is a logical approach to doing something that carries great danger with it. None of the things I mention are activities that you are just going to decide to do over a beer. They require a lot of thought and planning, and I can say that no-one involved is ignoring any risks. Sometimes the odds just go against you, and there is nothing you can do.
At least freezing to death is a very pleasant way to go.....you just fall asleep...and it's over.....

[w i l l]

'lain'

[mhyst]

I love stories about Mt Everest, went to see the movie too. It's a shame they can't bring these poor souls off the mountain to bury them or whatever but I guess they are exactly where they wanted to be, trying to climb the highest mountain in the world.

[snookiea]

Originally Posted by mhyst ↗

I love stories about Mt Everest, went to see the movie too. It's a shame they can't bring these poor souls off the mountain to bury them or whatever but I guess they are exactly where they wanted to be, trying to climb the highest mountain in the world.

I used to think so too, how sad it is that their bodies are stuck there. But after some thought, it seems like it wouldn't be so bad. I mean if you died doing what you love , so you're already dead anyway, and now anyone else can see the proof of how far you did make it. Somehow it seems worse to me for the guy who took it upon himself to push the bodies off the side of the mountain. Now they're just heaps of bones, and it just seems undignified to me. But I don't know, maybe I'm the weird one huh?

[MarmaladeGypsy]

If you don’t remember your coat, there are plenty to borrow along the way.

[420]

I always see this thread bumped up to the front page every year or so. Still one of my favorite threads on this site.

[Zeeta]

I read somewhere Green Boots is no longer in his little cave.

[elnutty]

Here are some photos of Everest disaster of may 10th 1996...

Scott Fishers corpse:



His backpack is still covering his face as Anatoli Boukreev left it

Rob Halls corpse:



Note the lanyard on the ice axe closest to Rob Halls hand... it was speculated that Andy Harris made it up the mountain to give Rob oxygen, but there was no sign of Andy Harris’ corpse. If you look at the following picture of Andy Harris at the summit, you can see the same lanyard around his right hand...






In Robs picture it also looks like he was trying to make some shelter in the depression he took refuge in, with oxygen bottles...

[Dodecahedron]

Originally Posted by ralucagymnast ↗

Always feel a tinge of sadness when I see these pics; how terrifying must it be to realise that youre not going to make it to the top, knowing your supplies arent enough, slowly freezing and starving to death, whichever comes first

Those are rarely the cause of death. I don’t think anyone has ever starved, that takes weeks.

Exposure is always a risk, but high altitude issues are the deadly things. Cerebral edema and/or pulmonary edema. It can creep up on you slowly, so people push themselves too far and then it’s too late.