I have never been to Everest, hope to in the future, but a good friend of mine has been there twice. Each time, he has come back and made comments about the different levels of expertise and knowledge of the guides and trip leaders. Often times, it is the lack of experience of those supposedly in charge that gets people killed. In the Discovery series, it was pointed out about the Chinese team that was moving way to slowly heading up the second step. Their inability to move at a pace that is necessary to get to the top and back with the oxygen supply on hand is what jeopardized everyone else on the mountain. Russell knew from experience where the climbers needed to be at specific times in order to have enough O2 to make it back. This comes with experience.
It was pointed out in the Discovery series that a Korean climber had died the year before and a team of climbers went back specifically to recover the body. After 6 hours of work, they had moved the body 100' and had to abandon the recover effort.
Above Advanced Camp 4, there are numerous sections where you simply can't pass another climber. If someone is unable to move themselves, they are going to be out of luck. It's not like you can carry him down. An assessment must be made on that person's ability to recover enough to be able to move on their own. If not, attempting to try to recue them is only placing yourself at extreme risk as well. This is where Russell's knowledge and experience came into play. He knew, based on the location on the route, the stated level of consiousness of the climber, and the remaining oxygen, that there was absolutely nothing that could be done for him. Any attempt would have resulted in more deaths.
Bottom line is that there are too many outfitters bringing clients to the mountain, both of whom are not prepared enough to handle the task. It is a huge business where the success of that business is partially based on the numbers of successful summits. I know from experience the process used by a couple of guiding services I've used in the past. They were very thorough on determining my qualifications. Once this was verified, the head guide called and spent about an hour on the phone with me. He had the final say as to whether he would accept me a part of his team. Any serious mountaineering I do, I am going to go through a reputable guiding service and will be checking out their credentials as closely as they are checking mine.
Double Amputee bashed by Hillary
Dude that's why you can't send, you can't get out of those jeans. 
That says it all right there. 6 hours of work to move the body 100 feet!GWG wrote:
It was pointed out in the Discovery series that a Korean climber had died the year before and a team of climbers went back specifically to recover the body. After 6 hours of work, they had moved the body 100' and had to abandon the recover effort.
Yo Ray jack dynomite! Listen to my beat box! Bew ch ch pff BEW ch ch pfff! Sweet!
-Horatio
-Horatio
While I haven't been on Everest, I'm aware that the terrain is actually pretty damned technical, steep rock bands, etc., and that it might be nearly impossible to evacuate a non-ambulatory climber from anywhere above a significat obstacle.
Last edited by L K Day on Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It sounds like the early news reports may have been wrong. Like I should be surprised. Anyway, It makes a great deal of difference whether potential rescuers were on their way up (relatively fresh, reasonable oxygen supplies, etc.) or on their way down (absolutely spent, physically and emotionally, low on oxygen, running out of time, etc.).