Must take the shine off of what will probably be the biggest achievement of your life when you walk past a dying person.
Not a climber, but from an outside perspective the situation sucks.

just scope for the uninformed to show their ignorance.

And the supposedly informed to do their “You weren’t THERE man” dance.

Pointless thread with no answer, just scope for the uninformed to show their ignorance.

😆

I’m sorry but I will have to disagree with that. This has actually been one of the less pointless threads when compared to all the whattyreformycatatethedogfootpathbrakingbumphell that makes up quite a lot of STW.

There are never any clear cut answers in extreme situations, especially when morality is involved. This doesn’t mean someone can’t comment. Otherwise what fun would forums be if only people who where actually at a given event could post? Plus more importantly what would all us office dwellers do with our days?

Lets accept that unless you have been there you cannot comment with any degree of authority.

That’s like saying people without children shouldn’t comment on child threads, and people without dogs shouldn’t comment on dog threads, and people without a helmet shouldn’t comment on a helmet thread, and then what would happen? ( 😉 )

Read this morning about a uni student skirting round someone in trouble whereas a young Israeli stopped for another and sacrificed his chance at ascent. both recent.

Nice one. Guess the karma wagon will be following him through the rest of life and not her.

Nick1962, I agree entirely. If I was fantasizing about what might massage my ego, like something to tell my grandchildren, or a reason for a blue plaque outside my house it would be for being one of the few people that gave up their summit attempt and saved someones life. That is waaaayyyyy more awesome than making the summit of everest. The rescue stories make you well up with emotion, when you think how brilliant those rescuers are. If any mountaineers want a challenge, want to prove themselves, want to make the ultimate achievement, why not just skip up and down everest all climbing season saving lives. Any old fool can summit, a real man brings back his fellow man.

(edit -I’m not knocking anyone who has summitted or walked past a dying climber, I don’t know anything about mountaineering or morals..I’m just commenting that I am more impressed by a rescue than a summit.)

I’m not sure how often the case it is that climbers in trouble are passed by other parties and either helped or not.

Me neither that’s why I was asking for some insight.I first came across this happening years ago when I read what I think was Rebecca Stevens’ story serialised in the Daily Fail.It turned my stomach then as it does now.I had forgotten her name long ago but the description of the dying climber she passed never did.
And mattsccm reread your post…seriously? It falls down at almost every point.I didn’t realise morality stopped at 28,000 feet and the need for the ultimate notch on a mountaineering bedpost mattered more than life itself.

Pertinent picture on page three of today’s Telegraph. Don’t know if it’s on the website.

umm i dunno i maybe single minded, but the sort of people doing these climbs are probably educated at the same school as david cameron etc. ive come to find in life these sort of people are douches and probably will walk past someone so there fakebook status can be changed to, reached top of everest crack open the chardonay.

That’s a sweeping statement and a half. Are you absolutely 100% sure that there are absolutley no ‘douches’ being churned out of state schools, none at all? Rich douche or poor douche would make little odds, just seems you’ve decided that a segment of society is somehow different to you and therefore full of douches.

Joe Simpson knows a thing or two about near death experiences and he has been a vocal critic about what goes on in the Death Zone regarding walking past near death climbers without so much as a humane gesture.

That’s like saying people without children shouldn’t comment on child threads, and people without dogs shouldn’t comment on dog threads, and people without a helmet shouldn’t comment on a helmet thread, and then what would happen?

I see what you did there… 😀

I’m glad someone did!