Many people know that conquering peaks is deadly. And those who rise do not always come down. Both beginners and experienced climbers die on the Mountain.
But to my surprise, not many people know that the dead remain where their fate overtook them. For us, people of civilization, the Internet and the city, it is at least strange to hear that Everest has long been turned into a cemetery. There are countless corpses on it and no one is in a hurry to take them down.
I recently told a friend about this, but he didn’t believe me.
He said that it could not be that people were left to lie where they died.
But in the mountains the rules are slightly different. Whether they are good or bad is not for me or from home to judge. Sometimes it seems to me that there is very little humanity in them, but even being five and a half kilometers away, I didn’t feel too good to, for example, drag something weighing about fifty kilograms on myself. What can we say about people in the Death Zone - an altitude of eight kilometers and above.
Without being lazy, especially for those who still do not believe in the dead on the mountain, I found some memories of climbers and documentary evidence of the conquest of just one peak - Everest.
I want to warn you that I don’t intentionally put photos in LJ, but make them links. Not everyone is pleased or interested in looking at bodies abandoned in the snow. There is nothing good or pleasant in this spectacle. Personally, when I looked at them, I felt the deepest pity. Unhappy people, left by everyone at the mercy of Sagarmatha.
Everest is a modern Golgotha. Anyone who goes there knows that he has a chance not to return. Roulette with Mountain. Whether you're lucky or unlucky. Not everything depends on you. Hurricane winds, frozen valve on an oxygen tank, incorrect timing, avalanche, exhaustion, etc.
Everest often proves to people that they are mortal. At least because when you rise you see the bodies of those who are never destined to come down again.
According to statistics, about 1,500 people climbed the mountain.
Remained there (according to various sources) from 120 to 200. Can you imagine? Here are very revealing statistics up to 2002 about people who died on the mountain (name, nationality, date of death, place of death, cause of death, whether they made it to the top).
Among these 200 people there are those who will always meet new conquerors. According to various sources, there are eight openly lying bodies on the northern route. Among them are two Russians. From the south there are about ten. And if you move left or right...
I’ll tell you only about the most famous losses:
“Yes, in the mountains there lie hundreds of corpses frozen from cold and exhaustion, who fell into the abyss.”. Valery Kuzin.
I am one of those who believe that Mallory was the first to reach the summit and died on the descent. In 1924, the Mallory-Irving team launched an assault. Last time they were seen through binoculars in a break in the clouds only 150 meters from the summit. Then the clouds moved in and the climbers disappeared.
The mystery of their disappearance, the first Europeans remaining on Sagarmatha, worried many. But it took many years to find out what happened to the climber.
In 1975, one of the conquerors claimed that he saw some body off to the side of the main path, but did not approach so as not to lose strength. It took another twenty years until in 1999, while traversing the slope from high-altitude camp 6 (8290 m) to the west, the expedition came across many bodies that had died over the past 5-10 years. Mallory was found among them. He lay on his stomach, spread out, as if hugging a mountain, his head and arms frozen into the slope.
On video it is clearly visible that the climber’s tibia and fibula are broken. With such an injury, he was no longer able to continue his journey.
“They turned it over - the eyes were closed. This means that he did not die suddenly: when they break, many of them remain open. They didn’t let him down - they buried him there.”
Irving was never found, although the bandage on Mallory's body suggests that the couple were with each other until the very end. The rope was cut with a knife and, perhaps, Irving could move and, leaving his comrade, died somewhere lower down the slope.
In 1934, he made his way to Everest disguised as Tibetan monk, the Englishman Wilson, who decided through prayers to cultivate in himself the willpower sufficient to climb to the top. After unsuccessful attempts to reach the North Col, abandoned by the Sherpas accompanying him, Wilson died of cold and exhaustion. His body, as well as the diary he wrote, were found by an expedition in 1935.
A well-known tragedy that shocked many occurred in May 1998. Then a married couple, Sergei Arsentiev and Francis Distefano, died.
Sergey Arsentiev and Francis Distefano-Arsentiev, having spent three nights at 8,200 m (!), set out to climb and reached the summit on 05/22/1998 at 18:15. The ascent was made without the use of oxygen. Thus, Frances became the first American woman and only the second woman in history to climb without oxygen.
During the descent, the couple lost each other. He went down to the camp. She doesn't.
The next day, five Uzbek climbers walked to the top past Frances - she was still alive. The Uzbeks could help, but to do this they would have to give up the climb. Although one of their comrades has already ascended, and in this case the expedition is already considered successful.
On the descent we met Sergei. They said they saw Frances. He took the oxygen cylinders and left. But he disappeared. Probably blown by a strong wind into a two-kilometer abyss.
The next day, three other Uzbeks, three Sherpas and two of South Africa- 8 people! They approach her - she has already spent the second cold night, but is still alive! Again everyone passes by - to the top.
“My heart sank when I realized that this man in the red and black suit was alive, but completely alone at an altitude of 8.5 km, just 350 meters from the top,– recalls the British climber. – Katie and I, without thinking, turned off the route and tried to do everything possible to save the dying woman. Thus ended our expedition, which we had been preparing for years, begging money from sponsors... We did not immediately manage to get to it, although it was close. Moving at such a height is the same as running under water...
Having discovered her, we tried to dress the woman, but her muscles atrophied, she looked like a rag doll and kept muttering: “I am an American. Please don’t leave me”...
We dressed her for two hours. “My concentration was lost due to the bone-piercing rattling sound that broke the ominous silence,” Woodhall continues his story. “I realized: Katie is about to freeze to death herself.” We had to get out of there as soon as possible. I tried to pick Frances up and carry her, but it was no use. My futile attempts to save her put Katie at risk. There was nothing we could do."
Not a day went by that I didn't think about Frances. A year later, in 1999, Katie and I decided to try again to reach the top. We succeeded, but on the way back we were horrified to notice Frances' body, lying exactly as we had left her, perfectly preserved by the cold temperatures. No one deserves such an end. Katie and I promised each other that we would return to Everest again to bury Frances. To prepare new expedition 8 years have passed. I wrapped Frances in an American flag and included a note from my son. We pushed her body into the cliff, away from the eyes of other climbers. Now she rests in peace. Finally, I was able to do something for her." Ian Woodhall.
A year later, the body of Sergei Arsenyev was found: "Sorry for the delay with Sergei's photos. We definitely saw him - I remember the purple down suit. He was in a kind of bowing position, lying just behind Jochen's 'subtle rib' in the Mallory area at about 27,150 feet. I think it's - He." Jake Norton, member of the 1999 expedition.
But in the same year there was a case when people remained people. On the Ukrainian expedition, the guy spent a cold night almost in the same place as the American woman. His team brought him down to the base camp, and then more than 40 people from other expeditions helped. He got off easy - four fingers were removed.
"In such extreme situations everyone has the right to decide: to save or not to save a partner... Above 8000 meters you are completely occupied with yourself and it is quite natural that you do not help another, since you have no extra strength.” Miko Imai.
“It is impossible to afford the luxury of morality at an altitude of more than 8,000 meters”
In 1996, a group of climbers from the Japanese University of Fukuoka climbed Everest. Very close to their route were three climbers from India in distress - exhausted, sick people caught in a high-altitude storm. The Japanese passed by. A few hours later, all three died.
I highly recommend reading the article by a participant in the Everest expedition from GEO magazine “Alone with Death”. About the greatest disaster of the decade on the Mountain. About how, due to a bunch of circumstances, 8 people died, including two group commanders. Later, the film "Death on Everest" was made based on the author's book.
Scary footage from the Discovery Channel in the series "Everest - Beyond the Possible." When the group finds a freezing man, they film him, but are only interested in his name, leaving him to die alone in an ice cave.
(Excerpt) Hide spoiler
“The corpses on the route are a good example and a reminder to be more careful on the mountain. But every year there are more and more climbers, and according to statistics, the number of corpses will increase every year. What is unacceptable in normal life is considered normal at high altitudes.” Alexander Abramov.
Bodies on the way to the top:
“You can’t continue climbing, maneuvering between corpses, and pretend that this is in the order of things.”. Alexander Abramov.
It is believed that, from a technical point of view, climbing routes to Everest are not the most difficult. There are bigger mountains in the world. The main difficulties are caused by the weather. At times, wind gusts on Everest reach almost 200 km/h, and temperatures drop to -40°. After an altitude of 6000 meters, the climber is threatened with oxygen starvation; A common thing on Everest is landslides and avalanches. These are the main causes of death for climbers. “There is no branch of medicine that would study the problems of human survival in such conditions,” says the president Russian Federation basketball academician Valery Kuzin, whose expedition in 1997 conquered Everest along the same route as Mallory, the so-called North Face.
If you can't go to Everest, don't go...
Everest has long been turned into a cemetery. There are countless corpses on it and no one is in a hurry to take them down. It cannot be that people are left to lie where death overtook them. But at an altitude of 8000 meters the rules are slightly different. On Everest, groups of climbers pass by unburied corpses scattered here and there; these are the same climbers, only they were unlucky. Some of them fell and broke their bones, others froze or were simply weak and still froze.
Many people know that conquering peaks is deadly. And those who rise do not always come down. Both beginners and experienced climbers die on the Mountain.
But to my surprise, not many people know that the dead remain where their fate overtook them. For us, people of civilization, the Internet and the city, it is at least strange to hear that Everest has long been turned into a cemetery. There are countless corpses on it and no one is in a hurry to take them down.
In the mountains the rules are slightly different. Whether they are good or bad is not for me or from home to judge. Sometimes it seems to me that there is very little humanity in them, but even being five and a half kilometers away, I didn’t feel too good to, for example, drag something weighing about fifty kilograms on myself. What can we say about people in the Death Zone - an altitude of eight kilometers and above.
Everest is a modern Golgotha. Anyone who goes there knows that he has a chance not to return. Roulette with Mountain. Whether you're lucky or not. Not everything depends on you. Hurricane winds, frozen valve on an oxygen tank, incorrect timing, avalanche, exhaustion, etc.
Everest often proves to people that they are mortal. At least because when you rise you see the bodies of those who are never destined to come down again.
According to statistics, about 1,500 people climbed the mountain.
Remained there (according to various sources) from 120 to 200. Can you imagine? Here are very revealing statistics up to 2002 about people who died on the mountain (name, nationality, date of death, place of death, cause of death, whether they made it to the top).
Among these 200 people there are those who will always meet new conquerors. According to various sources, there are eight openly lying bodies on the northern route. Among them are two Russians. From the south there are about ten. And if you move left or right...
No one keeps statistics on defectors there, because they climb mainly as savages and in small groups of three to five people. And the price of such an ascent ranges from $25t to $60t. Sometimes they pay extra with their lives if they save on small things.
“Why are you going to Everest?” asked George Mallory, the first conqueror of the ill-fated peak. “Because he is!”
It is believed that Mallory was the first to reach the summit and died on the descent. In 1924, Mallory and his partner Irving began the climb. They were last seen through binoculars in a break in the clouds just 150 meters from the summit. Then the clouds moved in and the climbers disappeared.
They did not return back, only in 1999, at an altitude of 8290 m, the next conquerors of the peak came across many bodies that had died over the past 5-10 years. Mallory was found among them. He lay on his stomach, as if trying to hug the mountain, his head and arms frozen into the slope.
Irving's partner was never found, although the bandage on Mallory's body suggests that the pair were with each other until the very end. The rope was cut with a knife and, perhaps, Irving could move and, leaving his comrade, died somewhere lower down the slope.
In 1934, an Englishman named Wilson made his way to Everest, disguised as a Tibetan monk, and decided to use his prayers to cultivate willpower sufficient to climb to the top. After unsuccessful attempts to reach the North Col, abandoned by the Sherpas accompanying him, Wilson died of cold and exhaustion. His body, as well as the diary he wrote, were found by an expedition in 1935.
A well-known tragedy that shocked many occurred in May 1998. Then a married couple, Sergei Arsentiev and Francis Distefano, died.
Sergey Arsentiev and Francis Distefano-Arsentieva, having spent three nights at 8,200 m (!), set out to climb and reached the summit on 05/22/1998 at 18:15. The ascent was completed without the use of oxygen. Thus, Frances became the first American woman and only the second woman in history to climb without oxygen.
During the descent, the couple lost each other. He went down to the camp. She doesn't.
The next day, five Uzbek climbers walked to the summit past Frances - she was still alive. The Uzbeks could help, but to do this they would have to give up the climb. Although one of their comrades has already ascended, and in this case the expedition is already considered successful. Some offered her oxygen (which she refused at first, not wanting to spoil her record), others poured a few sips of hot tea, there was even a married couple who tried to gather people to drag her to the camp, but they soon left because put their own lives at risk.
On the descent we met Sergei. They said they saw Frances. He took the oxygen cylinders and left. But he disappeared. Probably blown by a strong wind into a two-kilometer abyss.
The next day there are three other Uzbeks, three Sherpas and two from South Africa - 8 people! They approach her - she has already spent the second cold night, but she is still alive! Again everyone passes by - to the top.
“My heart sank when I realized that this man in the red and black suit was alive, but completely alone at an altitude of 8.5 km, just 350 meters from the summit,” recalls the British climber. “Katie and I, without thinking, turned off the route and tried to do everything possible to save the dying woman. Thus ended our expedition, which we had been preparing for years, begging money from sponsors... We did not immediately manage to get to it, although it was close. Moving at such a height is the same as running under water...
When we discovered her, we tried to dress the woman, but her muscles atrophied, she looked like a rag doll and kept muttering: “I’m an American.” Please don't leave me."...
We dressed her for two hours. “My concentration was lost due to the bone-piercing rattling sound that broke the ominous silence,” Woodhall continues his story. “I realized: Katie is about to freeze to death herself.” We had to get out of there as soon as possible. I tried to pick Frances up and carry her, but it was no use. My futile attempts to save her put Katie at risk. There was nothing we could do."
Not a day went by that I didn't think about Frances. A year later, in 1999, Katie and I decided to try again to reach the top. We succeeded, but on the way back we were horrified to notice Frances' body, lying exactly as we had left her, perfectly preserved by the cold temperatures.
No one deserves such an end. Kathy and I promised each other that we would return to Everest again to bury Frances. It took 8 years to prepare the new expedition. I wrapped Frances in an American flag and included a note from my son. We pushed her body into the cliff, away from the eyes of other climbers. Now she rests in peace. Finally, I was able to do something for her." Ian Woodhall.
A year later, the body of Sergei Arsenyev was found: “I apologize for the delay with photographs of Sergei. We definitely saw it - I remember the purple puffer suit. He was in a kind of bowing position, lying immediately behind the Jochen Hemmleb (expedition historian - S.K.) “implicit edge” in the Mallory area at approximately 27,150 feet (8,254 m). I think it's him." Jake Norton, member of the 1999 expedition.
But in the same year there was a case when people remained people. On the Ukrainian expedition, the guy spent a cold night almost in the same place as the American woman. His team brought him down to the base camp, and then more than 40 people from other expeditions helped. Got off easy - four fingers were removed.
“In such extreme situations, everyone has the right to decide: to save or not to save a partner... Above 8000 meters you are completely occupied with yourself and it is quite natural that you do not help another, since you have no extra strength.” Miko Imai.
“It is impossible to afford the luxury of morality at an altitude of more than 8,000 meters”
In 1996, a group of climbers from the Japanese University of Fukuoka climbed Everest. Very close to their route were three climbers from India in distress - exhausted, sick people caught in a high-altitude storm. The Japanese passed by. A few hours later, all three died.
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There can be only mountains higher than mountains, not for the faint of heart.
Do you remember we discussed a BEAUTIFUL POST ABOUT THE TOP OF THE WORLD?
You probably noticed the information that Everest is, in in every sense words, mountain of death. Storming this height, the climber knows that he has a chance not to return. Death can be caused by lack of oxygen, heart failure, frostbite or injury. Fatal accidents, such as a frozen oxygen cylinder valve, also lead to death. Moreover: the path to the top is so difficult that, as one of the participants in the Russian Himalayan expedition, Alexander Abramov, said, “at an altitude of more than 8,000 meters you cannot afford the luxury of morality. Above 8,000 meters you are completely occupied with yourself, and in such extreme conditions you do not have extra strength to help your comrade.” There will be a video on this topic at the end of the post.
The tragedy that happened on Everest in May 2006 shocked the whole world: 42 climbers passed by the slowly freezing Englishman David Sharp indifferently, but no one helped him. One of them were television crews from the Discovery Channel, who tried to interview the dying man and, after photographing him, left him alone...
And now readers WITH STRONG NERVES can see what a cemetery looks like at the top of the world.
On Everest, groups of climbers pass by unburied corpses scattered here and there; these are the same climbers, only they were unlucky. Some of them fell and broke their bones, others froze or were simply weak and still froze.
What morality can exist at an altitude of 8000 meters above sea level? Here it’s every man for himself, just to survive.
If you really want to prove to yourself that you are mortal, then you should try to visit Everest.
Most likely, all these people who remained lying there thought that this was not about them. And now they are like a reminder that not everything is in the hands of man.
No one keeps statistics on defectors there, because they climb mainly as savages and in small groups of three to five people. And the price of such an ascent ranges from $25t to $60t. Sometimes they pay extra with their lives if they save on small things. So, about 150 people, and maybe 200, remained there on eternal guard. And many who visited there say that they feel the gaze of a black climber resting on their back, because right on the northern route there are eight openly lying bodies. Among them are two Russians. From the south there are about ten. But climbers are already afraid to deviate from the paved path; they may not get out of there, and no one will try to save them.
Horrible stories circulate among climbers who have been to that peak, because it does not forgive mistakes and human indifference. In 1996, a group of climbers from the Japanese University of Fukuoka climbed Everest. Very close to their route were three climbers from India in distress - exhausted, frozen people asked for help, they survived a high-altitude storm. The Japanese passed by. When the Japanese group descended, there was no one to save; the Indians were frozen.
This is the supposed corpse of the very first climber to conquer Everest, who died on the descent.
It is believed that Mallory was the first to reach the summit and died on the descent. In 1924, Mallory and his partner Irving began the climb. They were last seen through binoculars in a break in the clouds just 150 meters from the summit. Then the clouds moved in and the climbers disappeared.
They did not return back, only in 1999, at an altitude of 8290 m, the next conquerors of the peak came across many bodies that had died over the past 5-10 years. Mallory was found among them. He lay on his stomach, as if trying to hug the mountain, his head and arms frozen into the slope.
Irving's partner was never found, although the bandage on Mallory's body suggests that the pair were with each other until the very end. The rope was cut with a knife and, perhaps, Irving could move and, leaving his comrade, died somewhere lower down the slope.
Wind and snow do their job; those places on the body that are not covered by clothing are gnawed down to the bones by the snowy wind, and the older the corpse, the less flesh remains on it. No one is going to evacuate dead climbers, a helicopter cannot rise to such a height, and there are no altruists to carry a carcass of 50 to 100 kilograms. So unburied climbers lie on the slopes.
Well, not all climbers are such egoists, but they still save and do not abandon their own in trouble. Only many who died are to blame themselves.
In order to set a personal record for oxygen-free ascent, American Frances Arsentieva, already on the descent, lay exhausted for two days on the southern slope of Everest. Climbers from different countries. Some offered her oxygen (which she refused at first, not wanting to spoil her record), others poured a few sips of hot tea, there was even a married couple who tried to gather people to drag her to the camp, but they soon left because put their own lives at risk.
The American woman’s husband, Russian climber Sergei Arsentiev, with whom she got lost on the descent, did not wait for her at the camp, and went in search of her, during which he also died.
In the spring of 2006, eleven people died on Everest - nothing new, it would seem, if one of them, Briton David Sharp, was not left in a state of agony by a passing group of about 40 climbers. Sharpe was not a rich man and made the ascent without guides or Sherpas. The drama is that if he had enough money, his salvation would be possible. He would still be alive today.
Every spring, on the slopes of Everest, on both the Nepalese and Tibetan sides, countless tents grow up, in which the same dream is cherished - to climb to the roof of the world. Perhaps due to the colorful variety of tents resembling giant tents, or due to the fact that anomalous phenomena have been occurring on this mountain for some time, the scene has been dubbed the “Circus on Everest.”
Society with wise calm looked at this house of clowns, as a place of entertainment, a little magical, a little absurd, but harmless. Everest became the arena for circus performances, absurd and funny things happen here: children come hunting for early records, old people make ascents without outside help, eccentric millionaires appear who have not even seen a cat in a photograph, helicopters land on the top... The list is endless and has nothing to do with mountaineering, but it has a lot in common with money, which, if it doesn’t move mountains, then makes them lower. However, in the spring of 2006, the “circus” turned into a theater of horrors, forever erasing the image of innocence that was usually associated with the pilgrimage to the roof of the world.
On Everest in the spring of 2006, about forty climbers left Englishman David Sharpe alone to die in the middle of the northern slope; Faced with the choice of providing assistance or continuing to climb to the top, they chose the second, since reaching the highest peak in the world for them meant accomplishing a feat.
On the very day that David Sharp died, surrounded by this pretty company and in utter disdain, media around the world sang the praises of Mark Inglis, the New Zealand guide who, without legs amputated after a professional injury, climbed to the top of Everest using hydrocarbon prosthetics. artificial fiber with cats attached to them.
The news, presented by the media as a super-deed, as proof that dreams can change reality, hid tons of garbage and dirt, so Inglis himself began to say: no one helped the British David Sharp in his suffering. The American web page mounteverest.net picked up the news and started pulling the string. At the end of it is a story of human degradation that is difficult to understand, a horror that would have been hidden if not for the media that undertook to investigate what happened.
David Sharp, who was climbing the mountain on his own as part of a climb organized by Asia Trekking, died when his oxygen tank failed at an altitude of 8,500 metres. This happened on May 16th. Sharpe was no stranger to the mountains. At the age of 34, he had already climbed the eight-thousander Cho Oyu, passing the most difficult sections without the use of fixed ropes, which may not be a heroic act, but at least shows his character. Suddenly left without oxygen, Sharpe immediately felt ill and immediately collapsed on the rocks at an altitude of 8500 meters in the middle of the northern ridge. Some of those who preceded him claim that they thought he was resting. Several Sherpas inquired about his condition, asking who he was and who he was traveling with. He replied: “My name is David Sharp, I’m here with Asia Trekking and I just want to sleep.”
North ridge of Everest.
New Zealander Mark Inglis, a double-leg amputee, stepped with his hydrocarbon prosthetics over the body of David Sharp to reach the top; he was one of the few to admit that Sharpe had indeed been left for dead. “At least our expedition was the only one that did something for him: our Sherpas gave him oxygen. About 40 climbers passed by him that day and no one did anything,” he said.
Climbing Everest.
The first person to be alarmed by Sharpe's death was the Brazilian Vitor Negrete, who, in addition, stated that he had been robbed in a high-altitude camp. Vitor was unable to provide any further details, because he died two days later. Negrete reached the summit from the north ridge without the aid of artificial oxygen, but during the descent he began to feel ill and radioed for help from his Sherpa, who helped him reach Camp No. 3. He died in his tent, possibly due to swelling caused by staying at altitude.
Contrary to popular belief, most people die on Everest during good weather, not when the mountain is covered in clouds. A cloudless sky inspires anyone, regardless of their technical equipment and physical abilities, but this is where swelling and typical collapses caused by altitude lie in wait. This spring, the roof of the world experienced a period of good weather, lasting for two weeks without wind or clouds, enough to break the record for ascents at this very time of year: 500.
Camp after the storm.
Under worse conditions, many would not have risen and would not have died...
David Sharp was still alive after spending a terrible night at 8,500 meters. During this time he had the phantasmagoric company of "Mr. Yellow Boots", the corpse of an Indian climber, dressed in old yellow plastic Koflach boots, there for years, lying on a ridge in the middle of the road and still in the fetal position.
The grotto where David Sharp died. For ethical reasons, the body is painted white.
David Sharp shouldn't have died. It would be enough if the commercial and non-commercial expeditions that went to the summit agreed to save the Englishman. If this did not happen, it was only because there was no money, no equipment, no one at base camp who could offer the Sherpas doing this kind of work a good amount of dollars in exchange for their lives. And, since there was no economic incentive, they resorted to a false elementary expression: “at the height you need to be independent.” If this principle were true, the elders, the blind, people with various amputees, the completely ignorant, the sick and other representatives of the fauna who meet at the foot of the “icon” of the Himalayas would not have set foot on the top of Everest, knowing full well that what cannot Their competence and experience will allow their thick checkbook to do so.
Three days after the death of David Sharp, Peace Project director Jamie Mac Guinness and ten of his Sherpas rescued one of his clients who had gone into a tailspin shortly after reaching the summit. It took 36 hours, but he was evacuated from the top on a makeshift stretcher and carried to the base camp. Is it possible or impossible to save a dying person? He, of course, paid a lot, and it saved his life. David Sharp paid only to have a cook and a tent at base camp.
Rescue work on Everest.
A few days later, two members of one expedition from Castile-La Mancha were enough to evacuate one half-dead Canadian named Vince from the North Col (at an altitude of 7,000 meters) under the indifferent gaze of many of those who passed there.
Transportation.
A little later there was one episode that would finally resolve the debate about whether or not it is possible to provide assistance to a dying person on Everest. Guide Harry Kikstra was assigned to lead one group, in which among his clients was Thomas Weber, who had vision problems due to the removal of a brain tumor in the past. On the day of the ascent to the summit of Kikstra, Weber, five Sherpas and a second client, Lincoln Hall, left Camp Three together at night under good climatic conditions.
Gulping heavily on oxygen, a little more than two hours later they came across the body of David Sharp, walked around him with disgust and continued to the top. Despite his vision problems, which the altitude would have exacerbated, Weber climbed on his own using a handrail. Everything happened as planned. Lincoln Hall advanced with his two Sherpas, but at this time Weber's eyesight became seriously impaired. 50 meters from the summit, Kikstra decided to finish the climb and headed back with his Sherpa and Weber. Little by little, the group began to descend from the third stage, then from the second... until suddenly Weber, who seemed exhausted and lost coordination, cast a panicked glance at Kikstra and stunned him: “I’m dying.” And he died, falling into his arms in the middle of the ridge. Nobody could revive him.
Moreover, Lincoln Hall, returning from the top, began to feel ill. Warned by radio, Kikstra, still in a state of shock from Weber's death, sent one of his Sherpas to meet Hall, but the latter collapsed at 8,700 meters and, despite the help of the Sherpas who tried to revive him for nine hours, was unable to rise. At seven o'clock they reported that he was dead. The expedition leaders advised the Sherpas, worried about the onset of darkness, to leave Lincoln Hall and save their lives, which they did.
The slopes of Everest.
That same morning, seven hours later, guide Dan Mazur, who was walking with clients along the road to the top, came across Hall, who, surprisingly, was alive. After he was given tea, oxygen and medication, Hall was able to talk on the radio himself to his team at the base. Immediately, all the expeditions located on the northern side agreed among themselves and sent a detachment of ten Sherpas to help him. Together they removed him from the ridge and brought him back to life.
Frostbite.
He got frostbite on his hands - a minimal loss in this situation. The same should have been done with David Sharp, but unlike Hall (one of the most famous Himalayans from Australia, a member of the expedition that opened one of the paths on the northern side of Everest in 1984), the Englishman did not have a famous name and a support group .
The Sharp case is not news, no matter how scandalous it may seem. The Dutch expedition left one Indian climber to die on the South Col, leaving him only five meters from his tent, leaving him while he was still whispering something and waving his hand.
A well-known tragedy that shocked many occurred in May 1998. Then a married couple, Sergei Arsentiev and Francis Distefano, died.
Sergey Arsentiev and Francis Distefano-Arsentiev, having spent three nights at 8,200 m (!), set out to climb and reached the summit on 05/22/1998 at 18:15. The ascent was made without the use of oxygen. Thus, Frances became the first American woman and only the second woman in history to climb without oxygen.
During the descent, the couple lost each other. He went down to the camp. She doesn't.
The next day, five Uzbek climbers walked to the top past Frances - she was still alive. The Uzbeks could help, but to do this they would have to give up the climb. Although one of their comrades has already ascended, and in this case the expedition is already considered successful.
On the descent we met Sergei. They said they saw Frances. He took the oxygen cylinders and left. But he disappeared. Probably blown by a strong wind into a two-kilometer abyss.
The next day there are three other Uzbeks, three Sherpas and two from South Africa - 8 people! They approach her - she has already spent the second cold night, but is still alive! Again everyone passes by - to the top.
“My heart sank when I realized that this man in the red and black suit was alive, but completely alone at an altitude of 8.5 km, just 350 meters from the summit,” recalls the British climber. “Katie and I, without thinking, turned off the route and tried to do everything possible to save the dying woman. Thus ended our expedition, which we had been preparing for years, begging money from sponsors... We did not immediately manage to get to it, although it was close. Moving at such a height is the same as running under water...
When we discovered her, we tried to dress the woman, but her muscles atrophied, she looked like a rag doll and kept muttering: “I’m an American.” Please don't leave me."...
We dressed her for two hours. “My concentration was lost due to the bone-piercing rattling sound that broke the ominous silence,” Woodhall continues his story. “I realized: Katie is about to freeze to death herself.” We had to get out of there as soon as possible. I tried to pick Frances up and carry her, but it was no use. My futile attempts to save her put Katie at risk. There was nothing we could do."
Not a day went by that I didn't think about Frances. A year later, in 1999, Katie and I decided to try again to reach the top. We succeeded, but on the way back we were horrified to notice Frances' body, lying exactly as we had left her, perfectly preserved by the cold temperatures.
No one deserves such an end. Kathy and I promised each other that we would return to Everest again to bury Frances. It took 8 years to prepare the new expedition. I wrapped Frances in an American flag and included a note from my son. We pushed her body into the cliff, away from the eyes of other climbers. Now she rests in peace. Finally, I was able to do something for her." Ian Woodhall.
A year later, the body of Sergei Arsenyev was found: “I apologize for the delay with photographs of Sergei. We definitely saw it - I remember the purple puffer suit. He was in a kind of bowing position, lying immediately behind the Jochen Hemmleb (expedition historian - S.K.) “implicit edge” in the Mallory area at approximately 27,150 feet (8,254 m). I think it's him." Jake Norton, member of the 1999 expedition.
But in the same year there was a case when people remained people. On the Ukrainian expedition, the guy spent a cold night almost in the same place as the American woman. His team brought him down to the base camp, and then more than 40 people from other expeditions helped. He got off easy - four fingers were removed.
“In such extreme situations, everyone has the right to decide: to save or not to save a partner... Above 8000 meters you are completely occupied with yourself and it is quite natural that you do not help another, since you have no extra strength.” Miko Imai.
On Everest, the Sherpas act like fine supporting actors in a film made to glorify unpaid actors who silently perform their roles.
Sherpas at work.
But the Sherpas, who provide their services for money, are the main ones in this matter. Without them, there are no fixed ropes, no many climbs, and, of course, no rescue. And in order for them to provide help, they need to be paid money: the Sherpas have been taught to sell themselves for money, and they use the tariff in any circumstances encountered. Just like a poor climber who cannot pay, the Sherpa himself may find himself in dire straits, so for the same reason he is cannon fodder.
The position of the Sherpas is very difficult, since they take upon themselves, first of all, the risk of organizing a “performance” so that even the least qualified can snatch a piece of what they paid for.
Frostbitten Sherpa.
“The corpses on the route are a good example and a reminder to be more careful on the mountain. But every year there are more and more climbers, and according to statistics, the number of corpses will increase every year. What is unacceptable in normal life is considered normal at high altitudes.” Alexander Abramov, Master of Sports of the USSR in mountaineering.
“You can’t continue to climb, maneuvering between corpses, and pretend that this is in the order of things.” Alexander Abramov.
“Why are you going to Everest?” asked George Mallory.
“Because he is!”
Mallory was the first to reach the summit and died on the descent. In 1924, the Mallory-Irving team launched an assault. They were last seen through binoculars in a break in the clouds just 150 meters from the summit. Then the clouds moved in and the climbers disappeared.
The mystery of their disappearance, the first Europeans remaining on Sagarmatha, worried many. But it took many years to find out what happened to the climber.
In 1975, one of the conquerors claimed that he saw some body off to the side of the main path, but did not approach so as not to lose strength. It took another twenty years until in 1999, while traversing the slope from high-altitude camp 6 (8290 m) to the west, the expedition came across many bodies that had died over the past 5-10 years. Mallory was found among them. He lay on his stomach, spread out, as if hugging a mountain, his head and arms frozen into the slope.
“They turned it over - the eyes were closed. This means that he did not die suddenly: when they break, many of them remain open. They didn’t let me down - they buried me there.”
Irving was never found, although the bandage on Mallory's body suggests that the couple were with each other until the very end. The rope was cut with a knife and, perhaps, Irving could move and, leaving his comrade, died somewhere lower down the slope.
The question immediately arises, what about this: Didn’t this remind anyone of Varanasi - the city of the dead?
Well, if we return from horror to beauty, then look at the Lonely Peak of Mont Aiguille
More articles about Everest:
- Climbing Everest (30 photos)
- The first climber to conquer Everest without legs (5 photos + videos)
- Hungry Ghosts on Everest
- Nepal: the spirits of climbers who died on Everest haunt residents
- Everest Spirits
There are several reasons why those killed on Everest are not always taken away.
Reason one: technical difficulty
There are several ways to climb any mountain. Everest is the highest mountain in the world, 8848 meters above sea level, located on the border of two countries: Nepal and China. On the Nepal side, the most unpleasant section is located at the bottom - if only the starting altitude of 5300 can be called “bottom”. This is the Khumbu Icefall: a giant “flow” consisting of huge blocks of ice. The path runs through cracks many meters deep along stairs installed instead of bridges. The width of the stairs is just equal to the boot in the “crampon” - a device for walking on ice. If the deceased is on the Nepal side, it is unthinkable to evacuate him through this section by hand. The classic route of ascent passes through the spur of Everest - the eight-thousandth Lhotse ridge. Along the way there are 7 high-altitude camps, many of them are just ledges, on the edge of which tents are molded. There are a lot of dead people here...
In 1997, on Lhotse, a member of the Russian expedition, Vladimir Bashkirov, began to have heart problems due to overload. The group consisted of professional climbers, they correctly assessed the situation and went down. But this did not help: Vladimir Bashkirov died. They put him in a sleeping bag and hung him on a rock. A memorial plaque was erected in his honor at one of the passes.
If desired, the body can be evacuated, but this requires an agreement with the pilots regarding non-stop loading, since there is nowhere for the helicopter to land. Such a case happened in the spring of 2014, when an avalanche hit a group of Sherpas who were laying a route. 16 people died. Those who were found were taken out by helicopter, their bodies placed in sleeping bags. The wounded were also evacuated.
Reason two: the deceased is in an inaccessible place
The Himalayas are a vertical world. Here, if a person breaks down, he flies hundreds of meters, often along with a large number snow or stones. Himalayan avalanches have incredible power and volume. The snow begins to melt due to friction. A person caught in an avalanche should, if possible, make swimming movements, then he has a chance to stay on the surface. If there is at least ten centimeters of snow left above him, he is doomed. An avalanche, stopping, freezes in seconds, forming an incredibly dense ice crust. Also in 1997, on Annapurna, professional climbers Anatoly Boukreev and Simone Moro, together with cameraman Dmitry Sobolev, were caught in an avalanche. Moro was dragged about a kilometer to the base camp, he was injured, but survived. Bukreev and Sobolev were not found. A plaque dedicated to them is located on another pass...
Reason three: death zone
According to the rules of climbers, everything above 6000 above sea level is a death zone. The principle of “every man for himself” applies here. From here, even if someone is injured or dying, most often no one will take it out. Every breath, every movement is too hard. A slight overload or imbalance on a narrow ridge - and the savior himself will find himself in the role of a victim. Although most often, in order to save a person, it is enough to simply help him descend to the height to which he already has acclimatization. In 2013, a tourist from one of the largest and most reputable Moscow travel companies died on Everest at an altitude of 6000 meters. He moaned and suffered all night, and by morning he was gone.
An opposite example, or rather an unprecedented situation, occurred in 2007 in China. A couple of climbers: Russian guide Maxim Bogatyrev and an American tourist named Anthony Piva were going to the seven-thousander Muztag-Ata. Already near the top, they saw a tent covered with snow, from which someone was waving a mountain stick at them. The snow was waist-deep, and digging a trench was hellishly difficult. There were three completely exhausted Koreans in the tent. They ran out of gas, and they could neither melt their snow nor cook food. They even went to the toilet on their own. Bogatyrev tied them directly in the sleeping bag and dragged them down, one by one, to the base camp. Anthony walked ahead and walked the road in the snow. Even climbing from 4,000 meters to 7,000 just once is a huge load, but here I had to do three.
Reason four: high cost
Helicopter rental costs about $5,000. Plus - complexity: landing will most likely be impossible, so someone, and not just one, must get up, find the body, drag it to the place where the helicopter can safely hover, and organize loading. Moreover, no one can guarantee the success of the enterprise: at the last moment the pilot may discover the risk of the propellers catching a rock, or there will be problems with removing the body, or suddenly the weather will deteriorate and the entire operation will have to be curtailed. Even under favorable circumstances, evacuation will cost around 15-18 thousand dollars - not counting other expenses, such as international flights and air transportation of the body with transfers. Since direct flights to Kathmandu are only within Asia.
Reason five: fiddling with certificates
Let's add: international fuss. Much will depend on the level of dishonesty of the insurance company. It is necessary to prove that the person is dead and remains on the mountain. If he bought a tour from a company, take a certificate of the tourist’s death from this company, but it will not be interested in giving such evidence against itself. Collect documents at home. Coordinate with the Embassy of Nepal or China: depending on which side of Everest we are talking about. Find a translator: Chinese is okay, but Nepali is difficult and rare. If there is any inaccuracy in the translation, you will have to start all over again.
Obtain airline consent. Certificates from one country must be valid in another. All this through translators and notaries.
Theoretically, it is possible to cremate the body on the spot, but in fact in China everything will get stuck trying to prove that this is not the destruction of evidence, and in Kathmandu the crematorium is in the open air, and the ashes are dumped into the Bagmati River.
Reason six: body condition
The high altitude Himalayas have very dry air. The body quickly dries out and becomes mummified. It is unlikely that it will be delivered entirely. And probably few people would want to see what a loved one has turned into. This does not require a European mentality.
Reason seven: he would like to stay there
We are talking about people who climbed on foot to the altitude of long-range aviation, met sunrises on the way to the top, and lost friends in this snowy world. It is difficult to imagine their spirit enclosed between the numerous graves of a quiet cemetery or in a cell of a columbarium.
And against the backdrop of all of the above, this is a very powerful argument.
There are several reasons why those killed on Everest are not always taken away.
Reason one: technical difficulty
There are several ways to climb any mountain. Everest is the highest mountain in the world, 8848 meters above sea level, located on the border of two countries: Nepal and China. On the Nepal side, the most unpleasant section is located at the bottom - if only the starting altitude of 5300 can be called “bottom”. This is the Khumbu Icefall: a giant “flow” consisting of huge blocks of ice. The path runs through cracks many meters deep along stairs installed instead of bridges. The width of the stairs is just equal to the boot in the “crampon” - a device for walking on ice. If the deceased is on the Nepal side, it is unthinkable to evacuate him through this section by hand. The classic route of ascent passes through the spur of Everest - the eight-thousandth Lhotse ridge. Along the way there are 7 high-altitude camps, many of them are just ledges, on the edge of which tents are molded. There are a lot of dead people here...
In 1997, on Lhotse, a member of the Russian expedition, Vladimir Bashkirov, began to have heart problems due to overload. The group consisted of professional climbers, they correctly assessed the situation and went down. But this did not help: Vladimir Bashkirov died. They put him in a sleeping bag and hung him on a rock. A memorial plaque was erected in his honor at one of the passes.
If desired, the body can be evacuated, but this requires an agreement with the pilots regarding non-stop loading, since there is nowhere for the helicopter to land. Such a case happened in the spring of 2014, when an avalanche hit a group of Sherpas who were laying a route. 16 people died. Those who were found were taken out by helicopter, their bodies placed in sleeping bags. The wounded were also evacuated.
Reason two: the deceased is in an inaccessible place
The Himalayas are a vertical world. Here, if a person falls, he flies hundreds of meters, often along with a large amount of snow or stones. Himalayan avalanches have incredible power and volume. The snow begins to melt due to friction. A person caught in an avalanche should, if possible, make swimming movements, then he has a chance to stay on the surface. If there is at least ten centimeters of snow left above it, it is doomed. An avalanche, stopping, freezes in seconds, forming an incredibly dense ice crust. Also in 1997, on Annapurna, professional climbers Anatoly Boukreev and Simone Moro, together with cameraman Dmitry Sobolev, were caught in an avalanche. Moro was dragged about a kilometer to the base camp, he was injured, but survived. Bukreev and Sobolev were not found. A plaque dedicated to them is located on another pass...
Reason three: death zone
According to the rules of climbers, everything above 6000 above sea level is a death zone. The principle of “every man for himself” applies here. From here, even if someone is injured or dying, most often no one will take it out. Every breath, every movement is too hard. A slight overload or imbalance on a narrow ridge - and the savior himself will find himself in the role of a victim. Although most often, in order to save a person, it is enough to simply help him descend to the height to which he already has acclimatization. In 2013, a tourist from one of the largest and most reputable Moscow travel companies died on Everest at an altitude of 6000 meters. He moaned and suffered all night, and by morning he was gone.
An opposite example, or rather an unprecedented situation, occurred in 2007 in China. A couple of climbers: Russian guide Maxim Bogatyrev and an American tourist named Anthony Piva were going to the seven-thousander Muztag-Ata. Already near the top, they saw a tent covered with snow, from which someone was waving a mountain stick at them. The snow was waist-deep, and digging a trench was hellishly difficult. There were three completely exhausted Koreans in the tent. They ran out of gas, and they could neither melt their snow nor cook food. They even went to the toilet on their own. Bogatyrev tied them directly in the sleeping bag and dragged them down, one by one, to the base camp. Anthony walked ahead and walked the road in the snow. Even once to rise from 4000 meters to 7000 is a huge load, but here I had to do three.
Reason four: high cost
Helicopter rental costs about $5,000. Plus - complexity: landing will most likely be impossible, so someone, and not just one, must get up, find the body, drag it to the place where the helicopter can safely hover, and organize loading. Moreover, no one can guarantee the success of the enterprise: at the last moment the pilot may discover the risk of the propellers catching a rock, or there will be problems with removing the body, or suddenly the weather will deteriorate and the entire operation will have to be curtailed. Even under favorable circumstances, evacuation will cost around 15-18 thousand dollars - not counting other expenses, such as international flights and air transportation of the body with transfers. Since direct flights to Kathmandu are only within Asia.
Reason five: fiddling with certificates
Let's add: international fuss. Much will depend on the level of dishonesty of the insurance company. It is necessary to prove that the person is dead and remains on the mountain. If he bought a tour from a company, take a certificate of the tourist’s death from this company, but it will not be interested in giving such evidence against itself. Collect documents at home. Coordinate with the Embassy of Nepal or China: depending on which side of Everest we are talking about. Find a translator: Chinese is okay, but Nepali is difficult and rare. If there is any inaccuracy in the translation, you will have to start all over again.
Obtain airline consent. Certificates from one country must be valid in another. All this through translators and notaries.
Theoretically, it is possible to cremate the body on the spot, but in fact in China everything will get stuck trying to prove that this is not the destruction of evidence, and in Kathmandu the crematorium is in the open air, and the ashes are dumped into the Bagmati River.
Reason six: body condition
The high altitude Himalayas have very dry air. The body quickly dries out and becomes mummified. It is unlikely that it will be delivered entirely. And probably few people would want to see what a loved one has turned into. This does not require a European mentality.
Reason seven: he would like to stay there
We are talking about people who climbed on foot to the altitude of long-range aviation, met sunrises on the way to the top, and lost friends in this snowy world. It is difficult to imagine their spirit enclosed between the numerous graves of a quiet cemetery or in a cell of a columbarium.
And against the backdrop of all of the above, this is a very powerful argument.
