Australian climber left for dead on Everest reaches base camp

[Guaranteed]

SYDNEY (AFP) - In an astonishing feat of survival, an Australian mountaineer left for dead shortly after conquering the summit of Mount Everest has been found alive and walked back to base camp in "reasonably good" condition, a colleague said.

Lincoln Hall, 50, had been reported dead by his expedition teammates after reaching the 8,848-meter (29,028-feet) summit of Everest on Thursday but then succumbing to acute altitude sickness as he began his descent.

<snip>

The initial decision to leave Hall on the mountain and the erroneous reports of his death are likely to revive debate about the ethics and practices of the high-priced Everest expeditions.

Last week a British climber, David Sharp, 34, died on Everest after being passed by up to 40 climbers who said they were unable to help him.

<more>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060527/en_afp/nepalmountaineeringaccidenteverestaustralia_060527130903

[Ian David]

1. I think the richest 2% of Americans should ALL be FORCED to climb Everest

Those that survive, keep their tax breaks.

[grytpype]

3. Can I vote for you?

I like the way you think!

[tanyev]

4. Lee Raymond has lots of time on his hands now that he retired

from Exxon Mobil. He could use the exercise.

[Maine-ah]

61. he's been sitting behind a desk way too long.

how's that saying go...he's got more chins than a chinese telephone book?

[liberalnurse]

6. I second that Motion.

:patriot: :thumbsup:

[wryter2000]

Great idea

Or put them on one of the islands they use on Survivor, but without the support team.

[bunny planet]

9. And they say we aren't the party of ideas

:evilgrin:

[astroBspacedog]

11. Could You Imagine the Bushies on an Everest Expedition !!

The Chimpy as guide along with Cheney, Rummy, Condi, Rove etc. Just for chuckles, throw in Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity and a few others. Could be the makings of a hilarious comedy.

[Porcupine]

12. At least there would be plenty to eat........long pig, raw. nt

.

[Lisa]

36. unfortunately, the title "Lost" is already taken (n/t)

[classysassy]

14. Their guide

Tom"Buggs"DeLay and Dennis"the menace".

[acmavm]

20. No oxygen tanks, no thermal underwear.

[Lisa]

37. of course not -- those were invented by godless scientist types

And therefore ought to be scorned by the faith-based mountaineering community.

[DiscussTheTruth]

41. And we should build a wall behind them after we send them up the hill.

[goodboy]

60. I vote for this fucker! >>>> (photo)

<>


Q: Do they make oxygen masks that'll fit a harelip?


inbred fuck.

[tanyev]

2. "But I'm not dead yet!"

[Ian David]

7. "I feel happy! I feel happy!" n/t

[kenny blankenship]

5. I imagine there might be some strained feelings btwn Mr. Hall & teammates

his ex- expedition teammates. A slight...um...chill in the atmosphere.

[Ian David]

8. They shouldn't have wished on the monkey's claw. n/t

[xchrom]

10. they'd see me at base camp -- after a couple of days -- picking my

teeth clean with a finger bone.

leave me for dead, motherfucker!

[Gormy Cuss]

13. I'm hiking with you! n/t

[Puglover]

15. Wow...another team came upon him and

organized a "rescue" attempt. I recognize that the situations are probably different but where are all the folks that said rescues are "impossible".

[patcox2]

39. They are impossible if it requires carrying a person.

If, on the other hand, the person can be revived to the point he can walk, even with assistance, thats another thing.

The heights above 26,000 feet are known as the death zone because people simply canot survive there. They have to get up and down on what reserves of energy they have. If people stay there too long, they will die. Period.

The climbers acclimate gradually, and even they have a limited time they can survive, if a person, even an amazingly fit person, were to be simply set down on the top of everest, he would die, quickly.

Everyone up there is literally on the edge of survival, they are all dying slowly while they are up there and its a question of whether they can get down again before they succumb. Thats why they cannot offer any serious physical assistance to an incapacitated person. They can give a person in trouble oxygen, medicines, shots of adrenaline, whatever, but if he or she cannot get up and walk, the others cannot carry them down.

It really comes down to the particulars of the person in trouble. And some who are left for dead can surprise those who made a judgment that they are beyond help, as Beck Wethers did, while others are simply beyond help.

[northzax]

62. which is where the late, great Anatoli Bourkeev

who, despite all the criticism, had the stamina to go get people off the mountain.

People die on everest, it's why people climb it, to be the one who didn't die.

[Coventina]

16. Jesus said it better than I ever could:

"On one occasion a lawyer came forward to put this test question to him : "Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said, "What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?" He replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." "That is the right answer," said Jesus; "do that and you will live."

But he wanted to vindicate himself, so he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was on his way from Jerusalem down to Jericho when he fell in with robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went off leaving him half dead. It so happened that a priest was going down by the same road; but when he saw him, he went past on the other side. So too a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him went past on the other side. But a Samaritan who was making the journey came upon him, and when he saw him was moved to pity. He went up and bandaged his wounds, bathing them with oil and wine. Then he lifted him on to his own beast, brought him to an inn, and looked after him there. Next day he produced two silver pieces and gave them to the inkeeper, and said, "Look after him; and if you spend any more, I will repay you on my way back." Which of these three do you think was neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He answered, "The one who showed him kindness." Jesus said, "Go and do as he did."
Luke 10: 25-37

[faithnotgreed]

43. perfect response coventina

which is fitting isnt it.....

thank you

[Kingshakabobo]

17. After reading the "Into Thin Air" article posted in one of the other....

......threads, this doesn't surprise me. They (in the "Thin Air" article) left one of theirs, Beck Weathers, for dead and he showed up the next day with his hand completely frozen to the bone. Mind you, the "Thin Air" folks thought Weathers was frozen. Also, after reading that article, I don't see how they could have left Sharp to die without trying to mount a rescue mission and/or trying to revive him. From what I understand, a rescue is more than just trying to "drag" a lifeless bondy down the mountain. It entails revival with medicine, oxygen and food/tea. More was done late in the day, AND during a storm, to help the "Thin Air" victims than the Sharp not-so-good samaritans tried - earlier in the day and under good conditions.

Fascinating reading. I never read the book:

http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_1.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. More than one group gave Sharp oxygen

Max spent an hour with the distressed climber. He tried to give him oxygen, sacrificing his own attempt on the summit. Killip said: "Max was crying, seeking advice on the radio" from the expedition leader, Russell Bryce, an experienced New Zealander, and a doctor at base camp.
...
Sherpas from Bryce's Himalayan Expeditions and Arun Treks got Sharp to his feet but he was unable to stand, even with support. They, too, gave him oxygen, but it failed to revive him. In tears, they left him.

Sharp was unable to walk or help himself. "If you can't walk, you're finished," said Zac Zaharias, 49, who has led two assaults on Everest, climbing past the dead Pole in 2001. "No one has been carried off that ridge at that altitude - ever. It is not humanly possible."

Below the overhang, there is a 500-metre drop on a 50 degree slope over broken rock. At that altitude, even with breathing equipment, it is deemed impossible to carry an 80-kilogram person, even working in relays.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/death-and-ethics-collide-at-top-of-the-world/2006/05/26/1148524886082.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2

It all depends on where the person is, and their condition.

[Kingshakabobo]

23. Yes, I read that. My point is: Apparently there is more to...

....reviving someone than just giving oxygen(food, medicine etc.). But then again, what do I know? Clearly, I'm no expert after reading one article...LOL

edit to add: I'd be curious to hear what Sir Edmund Hillary has to say abut the details and how he should have been rescued.

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. Let's remember what happened with Weathers

The first body turned out to be Namba, but Hutchison couldn't tell who it was until he knelt in the howling wind and chipped a three-inch-thick carapace of ice from her face. To his shock, he discovered that she was still breathing. Both her gloves were gone, and her bare hands appeared to be frozen solid. Her eyes were dilated. The skin on her face was the color of porcelain. "It was terrible," Hutchison recalls. "I was overwhelmed. She was very near death. I didn't know what to do."

He turned his attention to Weathers, who lay 20 feet away. His face was also caked with a thick armor of frost. Balls of ice the size of grapes were matted to his hair and eyelids. After clearing the frozen detritus from his face, Hutchison discovered that he, too, was still alive: "Beck was mumbling something, I think, but I couldn't tell what he was trying to say. His right glove was missing and he had terrible frostbite. He was as close to death as a person can be and still be breathing."

Badly shaken, Hutchison went over to the Sherpas and asked Lhakpa Chhiri's advice. Lhakpa Chhiri, an Everest veteran respected by Sherpas and sahibs alike for his mountain savvy, urged Hutchison to leave Weathers and Namba where they lay. Even if they survived long enough to be dragged back to Camp Four, they would certainly die before they could be carried down to Base Camp, and attempting a rescue would needlessly jeopardize the lives of the other climbers on the Col, most of whom were going to have enough trouble getting themselves down safely.

Hutchison decided that Chhiri was right. There was only one choice, however difficult: Let nature take its inevitable course with Weathers and Namba, and save the group's resources for those who could actually be helped. It was a classic act of triage. When Hutchison returned to camp at 8:30 A.M. and told the rest of us of his decision, nobody doubted that it was the correct thing to do.

http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_11.html

This Camp 4 was at about 26,000 feet. Sharp was 300m below the summit, or about 1000 feet, ie at 28,000 feet - a lot further away from a camp. Giving tea, food or medicine to Sharp might not have helped - Weathers had been strong enough to stagger on his own before he got any of those. You can give someone tea if you have a flask of it - we don't know if the climbers who found Sharp still did. The climbers in 1996 didn't try to bring back people who were about 400 yards from the tents, and barely alive - the weather was bad, but they'd made it out to them.

[sofa king]

32. I still don't buy it.

I distinctly recall from Krakauer's book that at least one dilettantish climber was more-or-less dragged up the slope by a Sherpa guide, and then hauled back down after the storm hit. Anyone remember who those two were? My point being that not only can it be done, but it is regularly done. This climber's primary error was in not purchasing such a personal guarantor of safety prior to his ascent.

Whatever the agreed upon rules of the mountain are there, the rules are made by a group of self-absorbed people who are unwilling to risk their own personal triumphs in order to save another's life. That of course is just my opinion.

[TorchTheWitch]

40. Sandy Hill Pittman

Her husband is/was Bill Pittman who pretty much owned or still owns MTV. She was a client of Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness expedition. It was Lopsang Jangbu (climbing sirdar of Mountain Madness team) who short-roped her to get her up the last bit to the summit. In the storm Pittman was treated no differently than anyone else in the group and was given medication by Neil Beidleman (a guide on the Mountain Madness team) who then left for the tents to summon help since he had enough energy left to try.

Some members of the group (Charlotte Fox, Tim Madsen and Sandy Pittman) were brought in by Anatoli Boukreev (another guide on the Mountain Madness team) who was summoned by Beidleman once he reached the tents. Mike Groom (guide for Adventure Consultants expedition) and clients with Adventure Consultants team (Yasuko Namba and Beck Weathers) were also in that same group caught in the storm. Namba died, Beck was left for dead but rallied on his own and walked out. As I recall, Mike Groom left with Beidleman to summon help but was so racked by the time he reached the tents, he needed help himself. Tim Madsen (a client on the Mountain Madness team) who could have left on his own with Groom and Beidleman elected to stay behind with those who couldn't walk out on their own at that time (Fox and Pittman).

If Pittman had not rallied on her own after the dexamethazone shot Beidleman gave her, she probably would have been left for dead. Since she was able to walk on her own, she made it out alive. I have no doubt that if she was unable to rise, Boukreev would have left her since Boukreev's motto seemed to be that anyone that needs to be dragged dies on the mountain. It was Lopsang who paid undue attention to Pittman by short-roping her and carrying insane poundages of her personal effects (like the thirty pound satellite phone that didn't even work) because he knew that her celebrity was important to Fischer's business. No one knows if Fischer asked Lopsang to treat her specially or if Lopsang did it on his own due to his deference to Fischer. Since Lopsang died on Everest in an avalanche months later, we'll never know.

In any case, Pittman is one of those people who has no business being on the mountain, and I was particularly disgusted by all the unnecessary crap she insisted on having carried for her (gourmet food, the satellite phone, magazines... ugh). She continues to insist that she didn't want to be short-roped and it was only for about a half hour rather than the several hours other people recall, but I don't buy that for a second considering her attitude and behavior during the entire expedition. She caught a lot of well deserved public grief when she returned to New York.

I think these guided tours are a mistake. Clients are used for their money so that people who don't have it have a chance to get back on Everest and summit, and those clients think they're buying not only a guarantee of safety but a guarantee that they'll be hauled to the top, which is no guarantee. I think it taints the thinking of tour guides and business owners who are part of the expeditions where their primary concern is for their clients (and sometimes themselves ahead of their clients) and not who is in the most need of help.

In the case of Boukreev, to me it seemed like his entire thinking in taking the job as guide was just an excuse to have someone else pay for him to get on the mountain, bag the summit and to hell with everyone else. His decisions to climb on his own leaving his clients behind, climb without oxygen thereby putting his clients in jeopardy, and to never seem to be anywhere where his clients were when they needed him tend to speak for themselves. As a result of that kind of thinking, it was other CLIENTS even from other expeditions as well as other guides and Sherpas from other expeditions that were needed to fill the void left by those whose job it was to be there and help as needed.

Thankfully there are those who when called upon in an emergency outperform those whose job it is to be the ones to help and who aren't nearly as qualified... I think the mountain makes a mockery of skills and reduces everyone to the same level in a lot of cases. Stuart Hutchinson, a client on the Adventure Consultants team, admirably filled the void left when all the guides on that team were either lost or so sick they needed help themselves. Rob Hall, the owner of Adventure Consultants, refused to leave a dying client and basically made the choice to die by that refusal. Neil Beidleman is most haunted by the death of a client he didn't know, was not even on his team and who he most tried to help. Tim Madsen, a client with Mountain Madness team, elected to stay with Fox and Pittman who were unable to walk out on their own even though he was physically able to walk out himself. Sherpas and guides from other teams gave up equipment and summit bids and tried to help where they could.

I just finished the book very recently for the third time so although I had to look up a few things, most of this is fresh in my mind. It's an amazing and moving and heartbreaking story and one of the few books I could read over and over and wish had a sequel... every time I get to the end I still feel like there should be more and still hope things turn out differently even though I knew how it ended when I read it for the first time.

[LostinVA]

53. Pittman was actually dragged and "snow surfed" down part of the summit

Per Krakauer's book... and that the rest of the team was very, very glad the "dex" kicked in. Antoli wasn't with them then -- he -- the head guide -- was safely back at camp sipping hot tea, leaving his charges to fend wither for themselves or with junior guides. It was later, while in "The Huddle," that Pittman had more strength and lucidity than Beck, Namba, Fox, etc.

Actually, you've read the book, so you know that. Sorry!

And, you're right -- Hutchinson,Madsen, Krakauer, etc. stepped into the void left by missing, dead, or apathetic guides/owbers/sherpas... without them, who knows what may have happened. And, special props to the IMAX team....

Great book, btw.

[TorchTheWitch]

57. For about 20 minutes, yeah

She collapsed right after walking off the summit when her oxygen ran out. Lopsang gave her another one, and Sandy asked Fox to jam her with a needle of dex. Beidleman thought she was too out of it to clip into the ropes properly so he dragged her by her harness a few feet and then slid her down for about 20 minutes until the dex kicked in, body blocking her decent every so often (and her crampons ripped into his down jacket making feathers fly all about).

Man, she bugged me. But it was Boukreev who really pissed me off... Krakauer was too kind to him in the book. No doubt in my mind that he took the job for the $25,000 Fischer paid him as senior guide and the free trip for a summit bid. Prick was NEVER with his clients and sat on his ass napping and sipping tea while they were all up there needing help and dying. UGH!

How could I have forgotten about the IMAX team! They were wonderful. Gave up radios, oxygen, medicine, Sherpas, guides... whatever they could to help and stopped the filming even though that could have been the end of the film. I was actually pretty surprised that when the film came out, they hardly mentioned the disaster at all, and I can't even recall if they mentioned anything of their own part in helping out.

I also forgot about the guy that got smacked by a falling rock not once but twice in the same expedition... weird how two rocks picked out the same dude to bash into on the same climb in two different places and at two different times!

Such a great book. I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

[Scairp]

65. The IMAX team saved lives

If it hadn't been for David Breashears and his team, who brought Beck Weathers down to base camp, many of them would not have lived. They brought the oxygen that none of them had left, in a freezing hurricane no less. Those guys are the real hero's of that doomed expedition.

[TorchTheWitch]

68. A LOT of people saved lives

Beck Weathers was brought down from the tents on the South Col (just above Camp Four and where he managed to arrive on his own) by Pete Athans (Alpine Ascents) and Todd Burleson (Alpine Ascents) to 25,000 feet (Camp Three is at 24,000 feet) where they were then helped by Ed Viesturs (IMAX) and Robert Schauer (IMAX) to lower Beck down the steep rock there. They were then met by Breashears (IMAX), Jim Williams (Alpine Ascents), Veikka Gustafsson (Mal Duff's International Commercial Expedition) and Araceli Segarra (IMAX) at Camp Three who all got him down the Lhotse Face to where he was picked up by the chopper (at 19,860 feet, just above the Icefall).

David Breashears - leader/film director, IMAX team


Ed Viesturs - climber, IMAX team


Robert Schauer - climber/chinematographer, IMAX team


Jim Williams - guide, IMAX team


Araceli Segarra - climber, IMAX team


Veikka Gustafsson (Mal Duff's ICE team)

Guy Cotter (New Zealand-Malaysian Expedition) at Base Camp convinced the powers that be for a chopper to come for Beck and Makalu Gau who were miraculously picked up from 19,860 feet, which is 1440 feet lower than Camp Two (Camp Two is at 21,300 feet) and flown to Katmandu.

Guy Cotter

Beck never was brought down to Base Camp (17,600 feet) as he was choppered out from the Cwm just above the Icefall near Camp Two. Beck would never have made it through the Icefall, which is why he needed to be choppered out... and why his being choppered out was so miraculous as no chopper had ever attempted to go higher than the Icefall in 23 years (as every attempt before that had crashed), and there is only juuuuust enough room for a chopper to land anywhere on the Cwm. A LOT of credit for ultimately saving Beck goes to the pilot of that chopper, Colonel Madan K.C., from the Nepal Army Air Force.

Dr. Ken Kamler (client with Alpine Ascents team) treats Beck Weathers during his rescue


Beck Weathers in Katmandu after his rescue

The IMAX team was incredible in helping out, giving 50 canisters of oxygen (half of what they had brought with them) and everything else they had at their disposal including guides and Sherpas, but they certainly weren't the only people responsible for getting Beck down from the South Col and off the mountain. Plenty of other people from other expeditions (which included clients, guides, doctors and Sherpas) besides the people from the IMAX team were absolutely heroic in saving and attempting to save people in that disaster...

* Rob Hall (leader/owner of Adventure Consultants) gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life by his refusal to leave his dying client, Doug Hansen, at the top of the Hillary Step. His last radio transmission came from the South Summit which is an average half hour descent from the top of the Hillary Step and where his body was found. It's presumed that Hansen fell to his death from some point on the Hillary Step while he and Hall descended to the South Summit in the storm as Hansen's body has never been found.

Rob Hall

* Andy Harris (guide for Adventure Consultants team) also sacrificed his life to help save people and was last seen alive by Lopsang Jangbu (guide for Mountain Madness team) on his way up to the top of the Hillary Step to help Rob Hall bring Doug Hansen down. It's presumed he fell to his death (either ascending to help Hall and Hansen or descending with Hall and Hansen) somewhere between Lopsang's encounter with him and the top of the Hillary Step as his body has never been found. It is further presumed that Harris DID make it to the top of the Hillary Step to help Hall and Hansen as in one of Hall's radio transmissions from the South Summit in the early morning hours he insists that Harris was with him that night but no longer was (although he didn't say what happened to him)... at the time it was thought that Hall was rambling incoherantly as it was universally thought that Harris was back in his tent on the South Col as Krakauer had mistakenly reported. An ice axe confirmed to belong to Harris was also found with Hall's body on the South Summit, so it seems likely that Harris did indeed make it to Hall and Hansen before he disappeared.

Andy "Harold" Harris

* Neil Beidleman (guide for Mountain Madness Team) got Sandy Pittman (client with Mountain Madness team) down from the summit to where they were hit by the storm near the tents on the South Col. and went to get help for others in the group caught in the storm that were close to the tents on the South Col. He also helped the ambulatory people of the group back to the tents at that time.

Neil Beidleman

* Mike Groom (guide for Adventure Consultants team) went with Beidleman to the tents on the South Col for help. The two together did everything they could including physically dragging Yasuko Namba and Beck Weathers (clients with Adventure Consultants team) when they both became incapacitated at the same time and place... 1000 horizontal feet from the tents on the South Col where the group of Beidleman, Groom, two Sherpas (Tashi Tshering and Ngawang Dorji) and seven clients (Klev Schoening, Charlotte Fox, Sandy Pittman, Lene Gammelgaard, Yasuko Namba, Beck Weathers and Tim Madsen) when they got caught in the storm. Groom was so exhausted by the time he got people back to the tents on the South Col he became ill himself, but as the only surviving guide of the Adventure Consultants team and although still quite ill he rallied to lead the remaining members of that team down from the South Col.

Mike Groom

* Tim Madsen (client on the Mountain Madness team) refused to leave Charlotte Fox and Sandy Pittman (both clients on the Mountain Madness team) though he was physically capable and elected to stay behind and help them as best he could until help arrived. Before the summit bid, Madsen at Camp Two helped administer life saving treatment by instruction from Base Camp to Ngawang Topche (Sherpa on Mountain Madness team who had come down with a serious case of HAPE) and helped drag him from Camp Two to Base Camp.

Tim Madsen

* Klev Schoening (client on Mountain Madness team) at Camp Two and before the summit bid helped administer life saving treatment by instruction from Base Camp to Ngawang Topche and helped Madsen drag him from Camp Two to Base Camp.
(((NO PHOTO)))

* Anatoli Boukreev (guide on Mountain Madness team) went out in the storm twice to find Fox, Pittman and Madsen and bring them back to the tents on the South Col.

Anatoli Boukreev

* Lopsang Jangbu went up to rescue Scott Fischer (leader of Mountain Madness team), who collapsed on a ledge 1200 feet above the South Col, but couldn't bring him down by himself and went back for Boukreev to help. Boukreev went to get Fischer, but in the storm was unable to get to him (Lopsang was too exhausted at that point to go up again with Boukreev for Fischer). When the storm abated, Lopsang helped others down while Boukreev went up yet again in the dark in hopes of finding Fischer alive, but he was found dead (Fischer, in his death throws, had removed his gloves and was half way out of his parka... another climber in this same disaster who was found dead had removed much of his clothing in his death throws as well).

Lopsang Jangbu

* Stuart Hutchinson (client with Adventure Consultants team) admirably helped fill the void with Jon Krakauer (author of Into Thin Air) left when there were only clients left on the Adventure Consultants team as all the guides were either too ill and needed help (Mike Groom) or lost and presumed dead (Andy Harris and Rob Hall). Hutchinson and Krakauer tried several times to go out into the worst of the storm to find/help people and bring them in, but the storm was too severe for them to get very far past the tents. Hutchison, a doctor, also helped to administer to the sick and injured as best he could.
(((NO PHOTO)))

* Pete Athans (Alpine Ascents) and Todd Burleson (Alpine Ascents) brought Makalu Gau (leader of Taiwanese National Expedition) down from a ledge 1200 feet above the South Col. They also brought Beck Weathers down from the tents on the South Col (just above Camp Four and where he managed to arrive on his own) to 25,000 feet (Camp Three is at 24,000 feet) where they were then helped by Ed Viesturs (IMAX) and Robert Schauer (IMAX) to lower Beck and Gau down the steep rock there. They were then met by Breashears (IMAX), Jim Williams (Alpine Ascents), Veikka Gustafsson (Mal Duff's International Commercial Expedition) and Araceli Segarra (IMAX) at Camp Three who all got them down the Lhotse Face to where they were picked up by the chopper (at 19,860 feet, just above the Icefall).

Pete Athans - Alpine Ascents team


Todd Burleson - Alpine Ascents team

* Sherpas, Ang Dorje and Lhakpa Chhiri (both of Adventure Consultants team) took an unprecidented risk and left Camp Four in the early morning in an attempt to rescue Hall during the storm, which was an 8 or 9 hour climb from Camp Four to the South Summit in the best of circumstances. By late in the afternoon still 700 feet below Hall, the wind and cold of the storm was too intense and they were unable to ascend any higher, and thus, their attempt to rescue Hall had to be abandoned.

Ang Dorje - Sherpa with Adventure Consultants

* Sherpas, Tashi Tshering (Mountain Madness team) and Ngawang Sya Kya (Mountain Madness team and the father of Lopsang) along with an unknown Sherpa from the Taiwanese team attempted to rescue Scott Fischer and Makalu Gau where they were stranded on a ledge 1200 feet up from the South Col. They were unable to even administer oxygen to Fischer as he was nearly dead, but were able to short-rope Gau down.

Makalu Gau (left) with Janet Brommet (journalist with Mountain Madness team)

* Several unknown Sherpas from a Nepalese cleanup expedition ascended to assist the group led by Beidleman and Groom who were caught in the storm 1000 horizontal feet from the tents on the South Col with their descent of the Lhotse Face. One of the Sherpas in that group was struck not once but twice in the back of the head by falling rocks and had to be carried into Camp Two.

* Several unknown Sherpas dragged Makalu Gau from Camp Two (roughly 21,300 feet) down the glacier to 19,860 feet on a scrap piece of plastic where he was choppered off the mountain.

* Several doctors (both expedition doctors and clients) gave life saving treatment to all who were in need... Henrik Jessen Hansen (expedition doctor on Mal Duff's International Commercial Expedition) and Ken Kamler (client and doctor on Alpine Ascents team) transformed a mess tent at Camp Two into a field hospital to administer to the sick and injured. Caroline MacKenzie (Base Camp expedition doctor with Adventure Consultants team) and Ingrid Hunt (expedition doctor of Mountain Madness team) struggled valiantly to save the life of Ngawang Topche who had come down with a severe case of HAPE and died in the hospital in Katmandu. John Taske (client with Adventure Consultants and a doctor) evacuted the mountain from Base Camp by chopper with Charlotte Fox and Mike Groom (who both had severe frostbite) to administer to them enroute to the hospital.

Dr. Henrik Jessen Hansen


Dr. Ken Kamler treats frostbitten feet of climber


Dr. John Taske, client with Adventure Consultants team

* Colonel Madan K.C., from the Nepal Army Air Force, piloted the chopper that brought Beck Weathers and Makalu Gau down from 19,860 feet, the highest helicopter rescue in the history of Mount Everest.
(((NO PHOTO)))

A LOT of people from many expeditions gave everything they could to save people in that disaster and were collectively responsible for the ones that were saved. Credit where credit is due.

[tabasco]

46. You are quite correct not to buy it.

Tons of equipment is carried up to high camps and back down.

It is certainly possible to construct a litter (sleeping bag secured with poles), even above 8000m, to transport a person.

One person does not have to carry the casualty on his/her back.

Only cowardly, selfish people would not attempt an evacuation, unless they were on the verge of death themselves. This is not the case with the majority of climbers, despite what many have said.

[TorchTheWitch]

58. None of that goes up from Camp Four

From Camp Four (26,000 feet - 8000m - and just below the South Col) to the summit, which is about an 18 or 20 hour climb, nothing but the bare essentials go up (only what each climber can carry)... even only enough oxygen per person for a limited time to bag the summit and get back, and extra bottles are stashed to pick up at various places in case it takes more than the estimated time to get up and back. Most expedition teams figure on no more than 14 hours from Camp Four to the summit and place a manditory turn-around time at the end of those 14 hours no matter how close you are to the summit at that time (so if you start out from Camp Four at midnight, manditory turn-around time would be about 2:00 in the afternoon... being anywhere near the summit when the sun is setting is suicide). With 14 hours given from Camp Four to the summit, up and back is a 28 hour climb... 20 hours is for REALLY good climbers in good weather conditions that don't stop at all during the climb.

This is why so many of the casualties occur high up between Camp Four and the summit. Even at Camp Four there is only the barest of necessities in tiny tents. Leaving from Camp Four to the summit and back is a race against time. Everyone that goes up higher than Camp Four has to be stripped down to the absolute bare necessities for the climb as carrying any extra weight can mean death. Only enough oxygen bottles, climbing equipment, prepared injections of dex and maybe a candybar go past Camp Four (and some of the needed oxygen bottles are stashed by Sherpas somewhere around the Southeast Ridge/South Summit so they all won't need to be carried).

Some teams make their summit bid from the South Col which is just a hair above Camp Four, the distance between being hardly anything to speak of.

Long story short... nothing that isn't manditory for the climb goes from Camp Four/South Col (26,000 feet) to the summit (29,028 feet), which is 3028 feet and at least a 20 hour climb up and back - and it's the climbing TIME that's the problem, not the distance.

Also, much of the distance between Camp Four and the summit a person CAN'T be carried on a litter. They can be drug along or slid down in places, but there are a lot of places where you have to clip into fixed ropes. This isn't a HIKE after all. ONE wrong step and you plunge into Tibet.

[TorchTheWitch]

25. You should read it

It's a great book. I read it a few times.

[1monster]

28. I read the book (INTO THIN AIR) and saw the movie. I cannot

understand why anyone who had done the climb before, successfully completed or not, could ever want to do so again.

According to most of people who have written or spoken about reaching the summit, by the time they do reach the summit, they are soo exhausted by extreme cold, lack of sufficient oxygen, and the inability to keep food down, that they are unable to appreciate reaching the top... Krakow (spelling may be wrong) who wrote INTO THIN AIR wrote about the conizant and reasoning abilities of the brain being reduced to less than that of a six-year-old before reaching the summit.

I think that the loss of reasoning may be responsible for the loss of natural self and group survior instincts. One can only focus on the goal. Anything else, including survival, becomes secondary.

[TorchTheWitch]

35. I think you're right

I read the book Into Thin Air by John Krakauer three times it was so facinating and moving. I think you're right about what the lack of oxygen does to the reasoning abilities of climbers that high up. The stories of people who mistakenly walk in the wrong direction and just march off the edge of the mountain falling thousands of feet into Tibet while the other people just wave at them not being able to summon the mental energy to realize the dude is walking right off the mountain to their death ("ok, pal, see ya")... people who have been found dead or near death that for some inexplicable reason tore off their outer clothing or threw away their full oxygen bottles or other vital equipment... or walk out of their tent in their underwear and bare feet to take a piss... just incredible what the lack of oxygen does to everyone on some level.

The last passage of the book still moves me. The whole book was moving but there is something about this last passage that gets to me (maybe it's just because no more is said after this). Months later Krakauer and Beidleman talk about the disaster of '96 on Everest, and Beidleman says...

"People were crying. I heard someone yell, 'Don't let me die here!' It was obvious that it was now or never. I tried to get Yasuko to her feet. She grabbed my arm, but she was too weak to get up past her knees. I started walking, and dragged her for a step or two, then her grip loosened and she fell away. I had to keep going. Somebody had to make it to the tents and get help or everybody was going to die."

Beidleman paused. "But I can't help thinking about Yasuko," he said when he resumed, his voice hushed. "She was so little. I can still feel her fingers sliding across my biceps, and then letting go. I never even turned to look back."

"I never even turned to look back" just kind of sums it up for me how irrational one's thinking is high up on Everest and that the unbelievably harsh conditions coupled with the lack of oxygen strip away peoples' normal sanity and humanity.

[uppityperson]

18. Wow, that is something. Reminder, don't assume 'til have all info

Don't assume you know what is going on until you have all the information Uppityperson. I was wrong, saw this as a triage thing (sometimes people die, if they are going to die no matter what and the choice is 1 or many, go with the 1). I let my natural cynacism step aside. Sorry.

I am really glad that he made it and hope there will be changes there now.

[chascaz]

19. Amazing...

It reminds me of the guy who chewed off his arm a few years ago, when trapped by a boulder out in the wilderness somewhere. Remember, he was on David Letterman. He later became a big fan of String Cheese Incident. That's where I met him once, at a String Cheese show. I just wonder if he's going to survive those who abandoned him. I'd be pretty pissed right now, if I were him.

Peace - :)

[Scairp]

21. He didn't CHEW off his arm

He used a pocket knife. Jeez, so dramatic.

[Kingshakabobo]

27. Yea, but it was a dull knife and he had to break the bone.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[ShortnFiery]

30. That is #1 *outstanding* show of one's WILL to LIVE!

I wonder how many of us could brave that?!? :scared: :applause: :scared:

[Hoping4Change]

49. He was saved be a Canadian and 2 Aussies.

"The Calgarian was close to summit

Brash was only 200 metres from the summit when he decided to abandon his climb and help the Australian, his wife said.

It was Brash's second attempt in the last two weeks to reach the top of the world's tallest mountain.

"I'm sure he has some mixed emotions, maybe not right now, but in the future he might, and it will probably haunt him for the rest of his life," she said.

"But I know that he'll be happy with his decision."


Lincoln Hall reached the summit on Thursday and was descending with his Russian-led expedition when he reportedly became delirious, a sign of fluid on the brain, and could not be moved. His wife and teenage sons had been told he had died.

Hall spent the night alone at an elevation of 8,700 metres, before other climbers including the Calgarian found him the next morning.

Brash's group gave Hall tea, oxygen and a radio for communication. Hall later received medical attention from Sherpas who moved him to a warm tent.

On Saturday, Hall was able to walk into the advanced base camp, 6,400 metres above sea level. He was being treated for frostbite and cerebral edema — swelling to the brain caused by altitude sickness."



http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/05/27/everest-rescue.html

[TorchTheWitch]

67. talking about a different guy here

Maybe you posted in the wrong place, but this subthread is about that guy that got his arm pinned under a rock and had to saw it off with a pocket knife to save his own life (ick, ick, ick).

[TorchTheWitch]

66. eeeeeeeeekkk!

Gawd! I could never imagine ever having to make the choice to do something like that to myself much less actually DO it. Man oh geez oh man and YIKES, that's horrible in the extreme!

:scared: :scared: :scared: <---- that's for sure!

[Posteritatis]

52. I saw a pic of the knife...

That's effectively the same as having to chew it off, IMO.

Ow.

[TorchTheWitch]

24. DUPE - MORE HERE...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1289140

I was talking about this before but apparantly nobody was interested.

It's a great story. Hopefully there won't be any complications and he'll pull through.

[oasis]

26. "High-priced Everest expeditions" spawn GOP ethics. (eom)

[ShortnFiery]

31. Well put OASIS!

Tis true ... the Republicans eat their own ... sometimes just for sport, i.e., without provocation. :P :woohoo:

[oasis]

33. What matters most to Republicans is the Almighty.............Dollar. nt

[DiscussTheTruth]

42. Because he who has the gold makes the rules. nt

[Generic Brad]

34. If his name were John Rambo...

...I would not want to be the Russian guides who left him for dead.

[CHIMO]

38. 200 metres from Everest summit, Canadian halts climb to rescue man

200 metres from Everest summit, Canadian halts climb to rescue man
Last Updated Sat, 27 May 2006 14:43:40 EDT
CBC News

A Calgary woman says she's very proud of her husband for being part of a team that saved an Australian climber who was left for dead on Mount Everest.

"I know he feels he made the right decision," Jennifer Brash said of her husband Andrew. "He was very close to the summit, but more importantly, he did the right thing for this climber," she told CBC News on Saturday.

Lincoln Hall reached the summit on Thursday and was descending with his Russian-led expedition when he reportedly became delirious, a sign of fluid on the brain, and could not be moved. His wife and teenage sons had been told he had died.

Hall spent the night alone at an elevation of 8,700 metres, before other climbers including the Calgarian found him the next morning.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/05/27/everest-rescue.html

[Briar]

45. Good for them

Saving a life is a much greater achievement than climbing a big hunk of rock. What a pity our culture, with its worship of callous machismo and ruthless success, doesn't regard it as such.

[Random_Australian]

44. YEAH! YEAH! YOU CAN'T KEEP US AUSSIES DOWN, STUPID MOUNTAIN!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:)

[Catchawave]

47. Is this the same guy ?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1278203&mesg_id=1278203

[LostinVA]

54. No -- Sharp died, after being passed by 40 climbers

[TriSec]

48. Hillary on 'modern' Everest

It was asked downthread what Sir Hillary thinks about all this. I did check the BBC, as I read some comments of his earlier in the week. I couldn't find the story, but I did find this tidbit from 2003, on the ocassion of the 50th anniversary of his succesful attempt....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2938596.stm

[LostinVA]

55. He also made a statement just the other day

About David Sharp being ignored by approximately 40 climbers as he huddled in the snow by the summit without oxygen. Sir Edmund wasn't too jazzed about that...

[Marie26]

50. That must be an awkward meeting.

"Um... sorry about leaving you on Mt. Everest and all. No hard feelings?"

[Hoping4Change]

51. It should be mentioned that he was saved by Canadian

and 2 Aussies who only 200 metres from the summit abandon the climb and help the Australian.



"The Calgarian was close to summit.

Brash was only 200 metres from the summit when he decided to abandon his climb and help the Australian, his wife said.

It was Brash's second attempt in the last two weeks to reach the top of the world's tallest mountain.

"I'm sure he has some mixed emotions, maybe not right now, but in the future he might, and it will probably haunt him for the rest of his life," she said.

"But I know that he'll be happy with his decision."
...

Lincoln Hall reached the summit on Thursday and was descending with his Russian-led expedition when he reportedly became delirious, a sign of fluid on the brain, and could not be moved. His wife and teenage sons had been told he had died.

Hall spent the night alone at an elevation of 8,700 metres, before other climbers including the Calgarian found him the next morning.

Brash's group gave Hall tea, oxygen and a radio for communication. Hall later received medical attention from Sherpas who moved him to a warm tent.

On Saturday, Hall was able to walk into the advanced base camp, 6,400 metres above sea level. He was being treated for frostbite and cerebral edema — swelling to the brain caused by altitude sickness."



http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/05/27/ever...

[TorchTheWitch]

59. Correction

It was an unprecidented rescue involving all the teams on the North side. He was found alive by American climber Dan Masur.

Joint effort never before seen on Everest’s North side: Lincoln Hall in C1
10:55 am EST May 26, 2006
(MountEverest.net)

Early this morning, climbers on their way up the mountain found Australian Lincoln Hall still alive - after his spending one night in the open at 8700m. A rescue operation was immediately launched – resulting in an unprecedented joint effort from all teams still on Everest’s north side.

Sherpas reached Lincoln who, after receiving O2 and drugs, regained consciousness but remained in extremely serious condition. He was transported down across the technical upper sections of Everest.

This morning, Dan Mazur reached Lincoln on his way to the summit with some clients, and found him still alive. He gave him oxygen, tea and lent him his radio, so Lincoln could speak to his team. Dan then proceeded to the summit* while Abramov and other teams on the mountain immediately dispatched all resources up the mountain to save Lincoln.

*Ed correction May 27: In a rescue debrief on May 27 it turned out that the two stayed with Lincoln until help arrived.)

http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=3303


Climber Reported Dead On Everest May Be Alive
26 May 2006 12:08

<snip>
But that report was thrown into doubt on Friday when another Australian Everest summiteer, Duncan Chessell, said Hall had been found alive by another climber and a rescue operation was under way.

Chessell said he had been told by radio that Hall was being brought down the mountain by Russian-led team of sherpas.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=272811&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news


A LOT of people helped save Hall which is part of what makes this an incredible story. Credit where credit is due.

[Hoping4Change]

63. Correction

"Lincoln Hall, 50, was found alive Friday morning by American Dan Mazur, Canadian Andrew Brash, Nepalese Jangbu Sherpa and Briton Miles Osborne, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

Hall had already reached the peak and was on his way back down when he fell ill from oxygen deprivation. His two Sherpa guides, who tried for hours to help him down, had to eventually abandon him. Hall was declared dead, according to media reports."


I have actaully so many different accounts about his rescue that at this time am waiting for Hall to be interviewed. From early accounts I read it was with the Russians and it was the Russian team that left him for dead and that it was the Canadian and 2 Aussies who saved him.

At this point determining who did what is premature.

[TorchTheWitch]

64. My point was

That it was a hell of a lot of people involved in the rescue. Who did exactly what is probably sketchy at this point. I doubt that Hall will be able to attest to very much of the rescue since he apparently was out of his head most of time, and doctors at Base Camp said he didn't remember much of what happened. Just like the '96 disaster, it will probably take many interviews with many different people to piece together what happened with the rescue and who did what. In any case, since a lot of people were involved whoever they are they deserve credit for whatever they did to help.

The fact that so many people were involved to rescue this guy is part of what makes it an interesting story.

On another note...

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19302839-29157,00.html
Hall To Arrive in Kathmandu
May 30, 2006

Everest survivor Lincoln Hall is finally off the mountain and is expected to arrive in Kathmandu today.

Hall, 50, left Mt Everest base camp in the back of a jeep yesterday at the end of a dramatic rescue mission from the world's highest mountain.

Suffering from pneumonia and severe frostbite to his fingers, Hall is expected to receive further medical attention until he is well enough to fly home to Sydney. He could be back in Australia as early as the end of this week.

http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,5161299,00.jpg
Off the mountain ... Lincoln Hall during his descent/Reuters
(Hall's in the middle sitting on the yak)

Phewwwwwwwww! That was a hell of a cliff-hanger! (no pun intended). I'm so glad he's going to make it!
:woohoo:

[Dead_Parrot]

56. Toon...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/gallery/photo/0,2540,237607a460a324,00.jpg

:evilgrin: