Who passed David Sharp on Everest? *New news*

[Wonk]

This is new news, and changes things. This really suggests he could have been rescued. They saw him struggling in the Death Zone on May 14th, so they knew he was up there, and they saw him again on the 15th, still struggling. They talked to him, and got some of it on video, but nothing in here suggests they shared gas with him or tried to help him down, which Mark Inglis' team did when they found him late on May 15th. Inglis took a lot of heat in the international media for talking about Sharp, but his team seems to have tried harder to help Sharp than anyone else up there did, and earlier help would have had a much better chance of success. This Discovery Channel team had the knowledge Sharp was there early on and had the manpower at high camp to do something about it if they so chose, and the way I read this all they did was film him.

"My name is David Sharp and I am with Asian Trekking"

(snip)

Among those climbers attempting the Summit on the 14th and on 15th of May was a film team which was part of the Russell Brice expedition under contract for Discovery.

A press release from the production company before the expedition stated,

"An 18-member crew will follow 11 climbers and their Sherpa guides for the 6x1-hour series, tentatively titled Everest: No Experience Required. It will air on Discovery channels in the U.S. and the U.K. this year"

The reports from the climbers on Everest vary to the state of condition of David on May 15th; with some climbers claiming David was on his feet talking, one claiming he was on "his hands and knees shivering” when they saw him on the way up, to others stating he was frozen. As we said before, "We will never know the whole story of who helped David and who did not. We will never know the whole story of his summit attempt and descent... But we do know where he froze to death on Everest."

(snip)

Various climbers have encouraged us to publish this story and call for the unedited release of the film so the family and the world can judge...

(snip)

We asked Dick Colthurst, producer for Tigress Productions, if David Sharp would be in the TV Series, Dick said, "It is going to be hard to ignore".

[MadMaddie]

1. Yet another sign that personal gain is worth more to some than being

kind and saving a life....there's a special place in hell for people like this....

[glitch]

2. How can they look at themselves in the mirror? That's what I want to know.

Their callous disregard is exposed for everyone to see. They might as well be bushies.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I had a repug boss like that...

was angry with me for sending my rent money to my cousin in TN. Her and her friend, 4 babies in a motel room after evacuating during Katrina. They were out of gas and out of money.

His final comment (after I explained myself in very strong terms) was "Well, I guess you have to be able to look in the mirror". Duh!

[XanaDUer]

5. WTH business was it to him whom you sent

*your* money to?

Wow, these people are really whacked!

[glitch]

8. I wonder if that means he gets it. Oh so close...

But then his greed gene will kick in and that transient flash of maybe empathy will be gone, and not remembered.

[Wonk]

4. Corroboration from another prominent Everest News website, new details

When I first heard of the Sharp incident, I was in the "that'd be nearly impossible to rescue someone from that high in the Death Zone camp". Now I'm in the "It's possible to save someone in the Death Zone, if you already have a good sized team of skilled climbers with plenty of supplies at high camp, but you probably just threw away any hope you had to summit to save them" camp.





http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=7947

(snip)

After learning of David Sharp's conditions and what expedition he belonged to, Russell Brice went over to the team leader of the Asian trekking group; Georghe Dijmarescu, according to the source. He asked George "are you missing someone?"
"Yeah we have one who hasn't made it back yet," replied Georghe, who hade issued no alerts on the mountain for David, according to sources.

Experienced expedition leaders on the mountain have voiced their opinion that the location of David should have made it possible, easy even, for 2 sherpas to put him in a sleeping bag and drag him down.

(snip)

According to available records, it seems that on the 14th, 12 members from HIMEX and a number of people from India climbed with David Sharp to the summit and might have seen him in distress already then. On the 15th, at least 30 people passed by the dying climber, most from the Turkish and Himex team. (Check list below). Himex have in earlier years been involved in numerous rescues of other expeditions' climbers.

[hfojvt]

6. Not to pick on a name

but the team leader's name is
Georghe (or George)
Dijmarescu (or Did you man rescue? - I guess that would be 'no')

Major ironic that rescue is part of his name, and sad he did not live up to it, although the Discover channel's conduct seems even worse.

Nice to see you still alive and kicking Wonk
although I sorta miss the shadow cat and the dude hitting himself on the head with the huge hammer.

[GumboYaYa]

7. I reserved judgment until more facts came out

when I first heard the story. After reading these articles, it seems clear that he could and should have been rescued. There are lots of peopla at fault, but my biggest question is where was the expedition leader and team he was climbing with? Why the hell did the let him die on the mountain and not round up a rescue team.

[Wonk]

10. Sharp's expedition leader was down at base camp at the time

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,19332351-28737,00.html

"He paid $US7500 through a trekking company. They get you to base camp; after that you're on your own. If you get into trouble you're on your own. On the way up you've got to put your own tents in place. It's low-cost, high-risk.

[Minnesota_Lib]

9. ...tentatively titled Everest: No Humanity or Ethics Required

[jbnow]

11. So sad. When I read

about David Sharp I didn't pay a lot of attention to the name or just when it had happened.

So when I recently saw a story about a rescued climber left for dead in the "dead Zone" earlier I thought it was the same guy, a happy ending.

It was Lincoln Hall who was left for dead by his group a few days after Sharp but a Canadian climber saw him the next day. Hall was in bad shape, had no gloves, shirt undone, frostbitten and delirious. (later treated for frostbite and cerebral edema)
They gave him tea and oxygen and called for help, staying with him until help came. By then it was too late to continue climbing so they descended.

Hall was at 28,000 feet, so I'm not sure why he could be helped and not Hall. Nor am I sure why Hall was abandoned by his team with no attempt at rescue. It was the next day that the Canadian team found him but they helped and got help there.

I don't get Everest etiquette. Guess I won't climb.

http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/story/ed-climber-rescue-20060602.html

After rescuing Hall, Brash's group had to abandon their summit attempt because it was too late in the day and they didn't have enough oxygen to continue.

Brash said that while the disappointment in not reaching the top of Everest was "absolutely colossal," he finds it hard to believe that anyone could walk by a dying man. He says he feels better knowing he helped save a life.

[Wonk]

12. You're still getting the two of them confused in this post too.

"Hall was at 28,000 feet, so I'm not sure why he could be helped and not Hall."

David Sharp, the brit, was at about 8600m (or roughly 28,215 feet)on May 14 and 15. Lincoln Hall, the aussie, was at about 8700m (or roughly 28,540 feet) on May 25 and 26. Sharp was climbing solo, no sherpas or guide with him, and his 'expedition leader' from Asian Trekking was down at base camp and made no effort (as far as I know) to organize a rescue, from Asian Trekking or from other teams. Maybe there was some base camp politics involved, I don't know.

Hall was climbing with 2 sherpas, who after trying to help him down for about 7 hours determined he was too far gone with high altitude cerebral edema and left him to save themselves, but also reported to Hall's Project Himalaya expedition leader, Alex Abramov, as to Hall's condition and location. When Dan Mazur radioed down on the 26th that Hall was still alive, Abramov sent up 11 fresh sherpas the team had already in the high camps, who brought Hall down.

Sharp was doing it on a tight budget. He'd paid Asian Trekking $7500 for his climb. Hall had paid Project Himalaya about $22,000 to join their expedition.


I think the SummitClimb team of Dan Mazur, Jangbu Sherpa, Myles Osborne and Andrew Brash deserve a ton of credit in the Hall rescue, for abandoning their own summit dreams when they found Hall to stay with him, giving him air and hot tea, staying until the first group of 3 Project Himalaya sharpas made it up to 8700m to start the rescue. Osborne and Brash had each paid SummitClimb about $20,000 for their shot at the summit.

[jbnow]

13. That sentence was confused

but I didn't have them confused in my mind as I wrote. I meant to say "Hall was at 28,000 feet, so I'm not sure why he could be helped and not Sharp."

But you seem to be saying that if there are rescuers that come it is the expedition leader that is responsible for it and that Asian Trekking took no action? That even if a team had stopped and waited like they did with Hall, no one would have come for Sharp?

I'm not clear on why there was the day delay in sending rescue to Hall...why they didn't just go with the extra oxygen the same day, but I am glad he was rescued.