A couple of things:
First off, Mt Everests North Col route is not Mountaineering anymore. You might call it “Everesteering”, because nothing like it exists anywhere else in the world. You have a combination of:
-Tourist industry. Fixed ropes, guide services, fees and permits, high traffic, and inexperienced climbers convinced by salesmen that they can write a check and get a positive result.
-Excessively violent and deadly environment, in which you are lucky to leave unscathed. That is not an exaggeration, literally no one goes up there with coming back with some sort of injury or health condition. Every moment over 8000m kills brain cells.
It’s an F1 race, in which the pace car has the expert driver, and the F1 cars are driven by people with only carting experience WHO DON’T KNOW EACHOTHER. It’s utterly ridiculous, and what you see on Everest is not something you see on other mountains.
In the world of experienced mountaineering, you don’t climb in a tour group full of strangers, you do it with trusted individuals who are your friends. You monitor each other’s health, and you give help when help is needed. No one with a pulse is simply left to die, unless assistance puts the entire group at risk. No one forsakes a comrade for a summit push.
Bodies are left. You problems are over, no sense risking your mates to get your corpse back. I personally don’t care if they eat me. Most recovered bodies aren’t identifiable anyways.
In the story you just read, the man that died was passed by 40 people who carried with them his salvation; food bottled oxygen. All the guy needed was some oxygen to get his brain working and his body moving. No one carried extra oxygen, giving him some meant that they would have to give up their summit push.
-“He’s just resting and he’ll be fine”
-“He’s dead, his problems are over”
-“I need this stuff to do what I came here to do, I’m just a tourist, I don’t know how to help, I do only what my guide tells me, someone else will get him” (guides will never have a group help anyone, too risky, they’ll be sued).
-“I’ll help him on my way back down, if he’s still there.” And when they do come down, they have no energy, no food, and no oxygen. They are totally inept and barely alive themselves.
On any other mountain it goes like this; “Hey Bill, you OK? Any O2 left? Have a puff and a drink, let’s get back down to camp. I don’t want to have to explain this to your wife/kids.” Climbing in a group, he never would have gotten into a position to die alone, his group would/should turn him around and get him to safety while he could still walk. He was a soloist, however, so he took on a much higher level of risk in his attempt. But still, some one would have stopped, asked him what was wrong, and determined what help was needed. When everything is tourists and guides, no help is given because it puts your group, your bread’n’butter, at risk.
If you’re a guide and you lose a tourist to altitude sickness, a fall, to frostbite, you’re fine. That was in the brochure and in the waiver, you won’t be sued. If you have your group stop to help someone, and someone dies or is injured, it’s your ass. Even if no one is hurt, you just spent your clients only attempt at the summit (what they paid for) to save a stranger. That’s bad for business.
That is what’s wrong with Everest; it’s a business, not mounaiteering. If you want to be treated like a human being, climb with freinds and climb elsewhere.
