Everest climber urged by sherpas to turn back because of fatigue

[tokugawa]

His body's not that bad........ Obviously he's no Matthew Mcconaughey. Anyway, his lady friend doesn't seem to mind it too much

You, tell us. You raised the point. Of course, if you don't think he climbed Everest, I'm sure will provide us with some probative evidence beyond what he looks like in the photo. Until then, you sound like nothing but a one-trick pony broken record.

I did not post his photo. That was not the main issue. My main point was, if you donated $ to a cause because you thought an individual truly climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest on their own merits, how would you feel if you knew the ultimate goal was assisted but made to sound like it wasn’t? I personally would not like that. Others died that day. If there was support out there, then maybe some of that funding and support he had could have gone to saving their lives. If it were me, I would have a hard time living with that and continuing on with my shameless self-promotion...

Godel, I am unwilling to provide you with “probative evidence”. I could look into it further but would have to charge you a fee.

Shelby....my sincere apologies for ever posting that pic and responding. I had no intentions of causing this nonsense that's taking place right now. Some might consider what I was doing as 'Trolling' but that was not the case. I was just trying to be funny and was not giving you a hard time as indicated with the or I clearly understood that you were just sharing an opinion. Apologies for posting the picture and adding fuel to the fire.

 

[tokugawa]

The stories of death on Everest are just brutal!

Here's a snippet:

“PLEASE don’t leave me,” the dying woman cried. Two climbers heard the screams of Francys Arsentiev, an American woman who had fallen after succumbing to snow blindness and found herself separated from her husband. They were in the “death zone,” low on oxygen, and the woman was on the side of a steep cliff; carrying her was not an option. The trip just to get down to her would be a risk for their own lives. The two climbers, Ian Woodall and Cathy O’Dowd, climbed down to her and did what they could to keep her company, but it was too late. They administered oxygen and tried to tend to Fran, but there was nothing they could do. Ian and Cathy returned down to base camp to ask for help and report their findings.

Read more: Over 200 Dead Bodies on Mount Everest

 

[lenny]

Yeah, but it will be pretty traumatic for your mom to find you in floor of her basement bathroom, with a rope around the light fixture and a pair of her panties in your mouth. That's pretty selfish, Lenny...

LOL...what if my mom has no basement bathroom, or is not even alive?

this comment makes me hypocrite already. but i would go up to mount everest in a minute. even if i knew i was going to die. truth is, getting on a plane and making it to base camp would be an accomplishment in a lot of people's minds. let's be honest, how many can truly say they could be on their deathbed tomorrow and not say "i wish i had..."

WTF...I'd far rather have BBFS with low track IDU smoking hot SYT for $100 than do that. What a waste!

 

[plumbcrawl]

this thread is starting to bother me. All the folks that are convinced that a person should be super skinny to climb at altitude could not be more wrong. Your body burns an amazing amount of calories even at base camp. (where you will often spend at least a week) Your body is eating itself from the day you step foot near the mountain. Once going up the mountain you can't possibly eat enough calories (most climbers meals at attitude are calorie bomb Twinkies and brownies) Some climbers lose 25 pounds in the 4 or 5 days of climbing high and sleeping low. Altitude sickness is the most confusing thing in the world (it isn't like being drunk or high it is a feeling like the moment right after you wake up where you just lay there to regain your bearings except the feeling doesn't go away (and you are breathing air that is trying to kill you on side of a hill where one misstep will probably kill you (Everest is littered with bodies of folks that broke their leg in one of the few places in the world where that is a death sentence) Mountain climbing will never make sense to someone who hasn't stood on top of a mountain that you looked at pictures of for months/years/ got out of bed early for a year to prepare for. A mountain that you sacrificed your money, time, relationships and literally bled for. You do all of that for the moment where you look up and realize you can't go any higher you are at the top. I have climbed and have been pretty high (climbed Kilimanjaro, failed to summit Aconcagua). I will admit that Everest seems like a silly dream and that is why I pray that it never becomes my dream or someone that I care deeply about. Because the only thing worse than dying doing something that seems silly/trivial to the rest of the world is dying having ignored or rationalized why your dream is ok to ignore.) I will never say someone else is silly for chasing dreams, but I will say that there comes a point in chasing a dream that it is time to turn around and live to try again

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

 

[blackcad]

this thread is starting to bother me. All the folks that are convinced that a person should be super skinny to climb at altitude could not be more wrong. Your body burns an amazing amount of calories even at base camp. (where you will often spend at least a week) Your body is eating itself from the day you step foot near the mountain. Once going up the mountain you can't possibly eat enough calories (most climbers meals at attitude are calorie bomb Twinkies and brownies)

Well, I have to disagree. No one said that you have to be "super skinny"...that is not in good shape....strong musculature is, with limited body fat. The picture of Steve above clearly shows a male who is not very muscular, a smaller frame, but with a disproportionate amount of belly fat...the VERY MOST DANGEROUS KIND IN MALES. I have a very large frame, large musculature AND excess body fat. I would probably be more suited to survive Everest even in my current state because most of my weight is muscle...and hypoxia (a condition caused in the body by oxygen depletion such as that on Everest) is known to cause muscle to burn for calories, and not fat. In fact, a study is currently underway on Everest to show how the altitudes and conditions mimic heart disease symptomology in even the fittest people,,,,imagine how someone who already had a weak cardiovasculature will fare...worse...much worse.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120322131353.htm

Add to that the increased weight of carrying the extra belly fat at those heights, up ridiculous elevations when the heart is already starved for oxygen because of the hypoxia and the fact that it is servicing the extra fat cells in the belly....and you've got a bad mix. With enough money however, people can hire enough Sherpas to pack enough gear, oxygen tanks etc to get even 50 year old 50 lb overweight guys to the summit....definitely not on their own merits.

 

[vancity_cowboy]

dang it pardners, what a pile of bullshit most of the posts in this thread are...

too big, too small, too much fat, too much muscle... sheesh :crazy:

here's a few pictures of the ideal body type. without these dudes and brothers like them, there would be no ascents of everest - ever

Pemba Dorjie Sherpa - fastest ascent: 8hrs 10mins from base camp to peak

Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa - 21 trips to the top

 

[vancity_cowboy]

Thank you blackcad!!!! Finally someone sees my point. Terry Fox didn’t drive across Canada, he ran.

beggin' yer pardon ma'am, but terry fox only made it from St. John's, Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ontario - that's where he got sick again when the cancer spread to his lungs

that ain't no small feat as it's over 5,000km and he had to run the equivalent of a full marathon almost every day for 143 days, but the fact remains, he didn't make it across Canada... just sayin'

 

[Sucre]

I agree with Vancity cowboy. But a little fly in the ointment.
The heading to this tread reads "Everest climber urged by sherpas to turn back because of fatigue"


Now that seems a clear violation of the hearsay rule. I would not be admissible in a court of law. What if the climber said she was out of gas and the guide urged her on to her death. Probably a financial bonus to the guide who gets his charges to the top. Just saying.

Post 2 –emmanuelle
“My experience was the opposite; the sherpas (who seem somehow completely immune to fatigue and altitude sickness) were pretty forceful about getting us to push on, despite us feeling tired or ill.”

Oh oh lawsuit time. I would expect the quide who did that to say "she refused my advise to turn around". That is why such statements are not admissible as they are self serving for the guide. (after all he came back and without the client who was left dead on the mountain). Is there video evidence of her saying this and if so when? at base camp?