Once again there's horrifying news from Mt. Everest. It's bad enough that some 14 climbers have died trying to reach the summit of Earth's highest peak this year. What's worse is that some were merely abandoned by their fellow climbers on the way to the summit.
Maybe it's too many years as a Boy Scout, but I just can't understand that mentality.
How many times have you seen a cyclist at the side of the road fiddling with his or her bike. “Everything all right?” “Need anything?” “You OK?”
I remember changing my tire last year on the Lake Washington bike route. So many cyclists asked about my welfare that it started to get a little annoying.
You might say I'm comparing apples and oranges here. Interrupting your ride to help a fellow cyclist patch a tube or borrow a chain tool isn't exactly the same as stopping to help an injured man at 27,000 feet elevation. You stop to help someone on Everest and your summit attempt is over.
Would you abandon dream tour to save a life?
It's an unlikely scenario, but if you were on a cross-country bicycle trip and stopping to help a critically injured bicyclist meant you couldn't finish your tour, would you do it? I hope you would. Apparently it isn't always done on Mount Everest.
This year there is the case of British climber David Sharp, who died on the mountain about three weeks ago. At least a dozen people climbed to the summit the same day he did and may have noticed he was having problems; the next day 30 people on the way to the summit passed the climber dying in the snow.
He was even filmed by sherpas: “My name is David Sharp, I'm with Asian trekking and I just want to sleep.” MountEverest.net talked to expedition leaders who said a couple of sherpas could have put him in a sleeping bag and dragged him to safety. As it was, even his own expedition didn't put out an alert he was missing.
“Into Thin Air”
I first read about people being abandoned on Mt. Everest in Jon Krakauer's book, “Into Thin Air.” As I recall, his main thrust was that there are people trying to climb that mountain who have no business being there. Fellow climbers are stressed enough to get themselves back down the mountain, much less help anyone else.
MountEverest.net interviewed experienced climber Carlos Pauner about the ethics on Everest. He said:
“Most people attempting Everest are not experienced in high altitude, and they don’t go there to enjoy a climb, but to achieve a summit for which they’ve paid huge amounts of money. In the same way, they are moving in a hostile terrain they don’t know and don’t control. Once they reach higher camps, they are insecure, often terrified. They are incapable of making decisions, and thus they depend completely on their Sherpas and guides.
“Under such circumstances, they focus on the summit and their own performance. They don’t even look around, least of all change their plans to help anyone. In fact, they often can’t help themselves if something goes wrong – and that’s why many tragedies happen.”
Life savers
There's also the case of Lincoln Hall, an Australian who was literally abandoned on the mountain by his sherpas, who reported to base camp that he had slipped into a coma and died. The next morning, climbers found him sitting upright fiddling with his clothes. They struggled to keep him safe until members of his expedition could arrive to rescue him. His rescuers had to give up their summit attempt because of the delay.
One of the rescuers, Myles Osborne, wrote: “I know that trying to sleep at night knowing that I summited Everest and left a guy to die isn't something I ever want to do. The summit's always there after all.”
For some, achieving the summit of Mount Everest must be like acquiring a possession. Even if it costs $65,000 to pay for a top notch expedition, what's the point if you lose your soul in the process.
So why is bicycling better than climbing Mount Everest? Most of the cyclists you ride with aren't operating out of their element. They'll stop and help. And one in 10 might even have the tool you need for a repair.
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