Abandoned on Everest

[Pants]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Your long rambling attempt to explain what you meant does not change the fact that your opinion was really dumb.

You apparently have this presumption that climbing everest is this foolishly reckless form of russian roulette, as if you are saying "well what the hell you fool, you already threw your own life away by climbing the mountain, so you might as well try to rescue that person and figure out a way to save both your own life and the other person"

Your presumption is wrong. Yes, unprepared people are suicidal for trying, but climbers who have a lot of experience, training, and preparation in good weather can climb this mountain relatively safely. The only problem is they can not make a single mistake. If they do everything correctly, careful every step of the way, they have an extremely good chance of making it just fine. On other mountains, making a mistake with equipment, movements, etc could result in death or could result in injury, or could result in a frightening close call. On everest near the top, a mistake basically means you die, 99%+.

Trying to get someone, close to the very top, who is severely hurt and cant do much climbing anymore, qualifies as a fatal mistake. Climbing everest is not a foolish suicide mission if done correctly, and no one should be ashamed or haunted for not needlessly throwing their own life away in a doomed attempt to save someone else who cant be saved.

Jomolungma is for pussies. Hardcore dudes go up K2.