MovieChat Forums > Everest: Beyond the Limit (2006) Discussion > 'The most shameful act in the history of...

'The most shameful act in the history of mountaineering:'

posted 17 years ago by dnlgerber
78 replies | jump to latest

The man who led this expedition is ruthless despite how he appears on TV. Commercializing Everest is one thing, letting fellow climbers die because his clients wanted to summit is shameful. Mountaineering is not all about summits; human life is a precious thing, and to resort to cutting ropes, stealing from high camps, letting his clients climb wiht faulty equipment, and spitting on the lives of dying men is another. This man advised people to pass Daniel Sharp last spring as he was dying - very visibly - near the summit of Everest. If you are an avid mountaineer, then you will know one of the #1 principle is this: always help a climber in need. A rescue team would have sufficed. Everest over the years has become a commercial venture where people pay 50k and expect a summit because of their investment. It's no surprise that Everest climbers on the North side are so cold towards others.

How uncompassionate was his decision? His Sherpas talked to Daniel just 1 hour before he died, as he was saying that he was dying. Guess what they were doing? You guessed it. Filming the Discovery Channel documentary! They have it on tape but did not release it at Daniel Sharp's familys request. Be aware, this is not a fault of the sherpas, who could have brought Daniel back to Base Camp quickly enough to save him, according to many mountaineers and doctors (see explorersweb for more information). 40 people passed this man as he lay cropped against a rock to die, mostly from the Himex team that Brice led!

Boycott this show!!

___________________
Explorersweb article about the show and Discovery Channel's insistance that they publicize it.

http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?news=15279

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Russell Brice cover-up

http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=10064

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Dr. Morandeira: “Could David Sharp have been saved? Definitely”

http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=10071

[–] dnlgerber 17 years ago

bump

[–] Dom316 17 years ago

almost as shameful as needlessly bumping your own post

[–] hvatum 17 years ago

The original poster is a shame and embarrassment to all of mankind.

First of all you take quotes out of context to the point of absurdity. Did Brice tell Mark Ingils to continue and leave David Sharp, perhaps. Was he right in doing so if he did? Yes. Mark Ingils was not a Sherpa and did not have the capability of rescuing David Sharp. You honestly need to develop some critical thinking skills, instead of assuming that because Brice told mark to continue, "he must be a calleous bastard who has no concern for human life and was happy to let David die there." Above all Brice has a responsiblity to make sure his climbers come down alive, and he accomplished that. Secondly the ability of Sharp to make a one sentence statement does not in any way prove his physical capability to get down the mountain, even with the help of five or six people.

This fact alone shows that the vast majority of people on this board who are "shocked" and "appaled" really have no clue what they are talking about and are just jumping on the bandwagon. It's very easy to sit down in your parent's basement and pretend to be appalled about the behaviour of someone in a situation you have no reference to or understanding of.

Furthermore I recommend you actually READ the specifics of Lincoln Hall's rescue, because it took far more then a single sherpa and a double-amputee. Indeed, it involved over 20 people, and Brice did not have 20 people within range to get to David Sharp and have any capacity to help him.

Lastly, the family of David Sharp has seen the video, and agrees with Brice's assessement, saying that "David was responsible for his own survival, and she does not blame other climbers." The video was NOT released and NOT put on the "Everest Beyond the Limit" series because the sharp family did not wish it to be, NOT because of some Conspiracy by the Discovery channel to keep mud-slinging on the IMDB message boards from "knowing the truth." I think this is the strongest argument of all, if there had been impropriety here then I'm sure the Sharp family would want to publicize it, not only to seek justice for their son's death but also to prevent future deaths. Sorry, but I'm going to trust the opinion of David Sharp's mother over the opinion of some random troll on the IMDB message boards...

[–] LadyBug913 17 years ago

Amen hvatum!!!

[–] RubADubDuckie-1 16 years ago

Thank you for your informed reply. I enjoy this show and have seen the first two episodes of the new season. I have also read everything I could find about this issue and while it is terribly sad, it's also a sad fact that quite a few climbers don't make it back every year. You don't climb Everest on a whim. You have to make an informed decision to do so. I agree with the statement that David's Mom made.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] HeatherMac320 17 years ago

Wow, that is very disturbing. I certainly wont be able to enjoy this show as I had anticipated knowing this.

[–] morgoths 17 years ago

Same with me! I already was not expecting anything special after seeing the trailer, which seemed rather like a reality show in high altitude, but I was anticipating it a little, mainly for the beauty of the landscape alone. Having such a big crew and equipment would turn it, at least I was expecting that, a feast for the eyes of someone, that like me, just loves mountains. Have to say that after 8 minutes of the first episode, knowing the disturbing facts related here, I felt nothing but disgust for all of it: the climbers, the narrator, the guide, the images, etc.
Well...have to go back to BBC's Planet Earth for jawdropping images

[–] kugar13 17 years ago

Wow! I didn't realize this. I would love to see more info on this. When I saw the trailer I was moved by the humanity behind the "I don't want for you to die." comments/moments. Is it true they only have those moments for the people in the documentary, and had total disregard for the opposition? That is sad. I want(ed) to watch this to see the humanity between people helping one another, challenging death and nature, etc. I'm hopeful those elements are there.... I'll do some more research on the subject. Do you have any links to sites or sources I can check out? I was hoping to see the beauty of the human spirit and determination in this doc, I hope it isn't all about who gets to the top no matter what it takes... even at the cost of lives....

[–] drtbgracer 17 years ago

Thanks for posting those links. 90% of the little time I spend watching tv is Discovery related programming. I think between this show and Man vs. Wild, The Discovery Channel has lost some credibility in my eyes. It has become obvious to me that they are willing to put dangerous ego-maniacs on the air just for ratings.

[–] susanstamp34 17 years ago

I agree, they are going toward reckless flash. From watching Everest, I realized how shelfish those climbers are. The sherpes end up carrying many of them up and down the mountain. Too many people who should not even be attempting that climb seem to be there. Not watching Discovery as much as I used to.

[–] sorichsopretty 17 years ago

As terrible as this incident is it seems like everyone was out of it. So many people were suffering from oxygen deprivation it appears that some don't even know what they are doing anymore. It really is scary but I guess this is the risk that many of them take when they decide to take on these types of missions. It’s terrible that it ended this way but man after watching the show it looks like they all were just out of it...so scary.

[–] the_peloton 17 years ago

You definitely have never done any high altitude mountaineering. Especially if you think this "shameful act" is an isolated incident. It happens every season. Yes, Everest has become way too commercialized and most "adventure consultants" who drag mediocre climbers up Everest are egomaniacs. But Everest is a place where highly trained climbers struggle just to place one foot in front of the other. Rescuing a completely debilitated climber is usually just not possible (although there have been a few stunning exceptions over the years). A helpless climber would need at least three strong climbers to drag them anywhere, and that's a terribly dangerous endeavor. Many people have argued that the rescue of Lincoln Hall (who spent a night in the open at 8600m, near where Sharp died) proves that David Sharp could have been saved. Perhaps, but an important distinction is that Hall, though suffering from HACE and terribly frostbitten, was lucid when he was found and was able to participate in his rescue. Everest is not the most technically challenging 8000m mountain, but trying to descend it with a completely helpless climber in tow is almost suicidal, and some noble attempts to do so have led to four or more climbers being killed in the attempt. Even Reinhold Messner, arguably the best mountaineer who ever lived, nearly met his demise during the descent from his solo expedition on Everest. Everyone who climbs above camp four on Everest is risking their lives. Period. That's why they call it the Death Zone. To think that the same moral obligations apply in a place where everyone is basically slowly dying, that's really quite insane. That being said, the reports of theft and sabotage are very disturbing and there certainly is no excuse for that. If Russell Brice's team participated in those kinds of actions, Discovery Channel should certainly be ashamed of that.

[–] puddy79 17 years ago

i watched the premiere last week and found it to be incredible. in the premiere episode alone, we saw the team help rescue an climber -- they weren't nearly to the summit and it took like 6 men, hours to carry this climber down to the nearest base camp. you could see how dangerous this was as they slowly descended downhill with all his weight. i'm no climbing expert, but just from that episode i can totally see what you're saying about how everybody's life is at risk on everest.

check out a good article by the team leader where he gives his take on what happened: http://www.himex.com/c_pub/en/news/2006/reflections_on_everest.php

[–] capgun-slim 17 years ago

Pbischoff, it's obvious you've never done anything for the sake of humanity. Dan Mazur, the man as well as 2 others he was guiding, were the people who stopped and saved/stayed for over 4 hours until Lincoln's team arrived for the rest of the rescue, IS A REAL HIGH ALTITUDE MOUNTAINEER. Once again, this seems to be a person who tries to validate their own goal of summit by saying "I'd like to help, but it's just too hard". The real reason is your selfish, and you know you could help, but just don't care about other people enough to do it. If you read more than just the links posted above on that site, you'll see that there are a lot of great climbers who have made summit not only there, but on all the other 8000'ers, who've said, "I'll never go to Everest again, just for that simple fact. People put the money and personal goal of making summit before saving a life. 10-15 years ago, this thing would have been unheard of. Everyone on the mountain would've jumped at the rescue the moment they heard about it over radio or otherwise. I now hate Everest, because everthing it stands for now. Money." Here is a more in-depth interview of Lincoln's rescue. BTW, vote me in for boycotting the special on Discovery.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060608/060608_everestSummit_hmed_4p.standard.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13543799/page/3/&h=200&w=298&sz=13&hl=en&start=41&tbnid=zeIIeLGRQ1Y0XM:&tbnh=78&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfrom%2Bmount%2Beverest%2Bsummit%26start%3D40%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

[–] dnlgerber 17 years ago

I have had climbing experience. In one of the articles on the same website, it was mentioned that he was a 15 minute descent from camp and a 1 hour ascent from camp. Not sending sherpas up to help him is inexcusable.

David Sharp was naive, yes. Did he have to die because of his mistake? I think that's something that doesn't even need to be answered.

[–] rthorne75 7 years ago

It would be inexcusable if he knew and didn't send them. Evidence contradicts the claim three fromn Ingles crew made. In stating they radioed Brice about the Sharpe situation and were told to continue their ascent. Brice meticulously logs all radio traffic made to base camp and makes notes in the log. His logs show he wasn't made aware of Sharpes predicament until he was spotted by a Lebenese climber on descent. Ingles crew didn't even mention it when they radioed upon summitting. Brice insists he would've done whatever he could had he knew about Sharpe at the 1am rendezvous. It was unlikely to be a fruitful endeavour no matter what. The strongest sherpas on the mountain that day tried to carry Sharpe down but could only get a scant distance before it ptoved an impossible and perilous task.

[–] oxisdoc 17 years ago

Best post I have read on the subject.

[–] mawsis 17 years ago

You are too harsh. There wasn't anything they could do for that guy; not that high up.

[–] larrymadill 17 years ago

Sounds like a really bad choice to have to make. Sometimes the different between being a villain and a hero is just choosing to save your own skin first.

It also sounds like their are larger issues at work. Mainly the on-going fight between the tour companies "corporatizing" Everest and real climbers climbing the mountain.

The more disturbing parts of the story are HIMEX's association with the guy selling fake / re-filled PIOSK O2 bottles and sabotaging indie climbers gear and camps.

Not going to stop watching however.

Larry

http://www.larrymadill.com/
Yahoo Messenger: crazyscreenwriter

[–] persianninja 17 years ago

gotta plug this movie/documentary on this summit climb between 2 best friends and the decisions that affect life of your fellow climber when *beep* hits the fan, and then when *beep* really hits the fan.

it was called Touching the Void, u can find on DVD, blockbuster/netflix.
really freaking amazing.

[–] staind63 17 years ago

Shameful, your post is shameful, you don't know one word that you coming out of your fingers, this man who led expeditions up everest is one of the most seasoned climbers in the world. People who go to Everest are well aware of the risk involved, to place blame on anyone except for thier own ego is shameful. Thanks for letting all of us know that human life is precious, cause we had no idea. Sometimes the human spirit wants to accomplish death defying stunts, and we don't always succeed, without it, thier would be no show..

[–] dnlgerber 17 years ago

Your point being...? No one is blaming him for causing anyone's death. What is outrageous is that they video taped this man dying and did not even send a radio call for help despite they being so close to camp 3.

Supplementary oxygen, Acetazolamide, and immediate descent would have saved him. As the article states, descent would take less than 1 hour. Experienced or not, the climber's responsibility is always towards the well-being of his peers rather than his ambition to get to the top.

[–] raquelprov 15 years ago

That's assuming a lot. Again, it is extremely difficult for anyone, including Sherpas to drag/carry someone off the mountain. Descent takes 1 hour when you are in good condition. And a climber's responsibility is to the well-being of himself, not to anyone else.

[–] colonel_Killgore 17 years ago

Look, Russel Brice is a fantastically experienced climber and knows what he is doing. What would you have him do? It is hard enough just to put one foot in front of the other on the side of that mountain, let alone carry anyone else down. The only way it would have been possible is if teamns of sherpas working in rotation carried the man down to ABC, but this would have taken upwards of 8 hours and the shock would most likely have killed him anyway. Brice was not the only person to leave him on the mountainside and it isn't like he willingly left him there to die, if there was anything he could have done he would have done it. Some of you here are clearly disillusioned as to the strains of mountaineering.

[–] sorichsopretty 17 years ago

Yeah I do not know that much about climbing but from watching this show I see how difficult it has been for them. I mean there are so many groups up there and the leader of the Discovery groups was responsible for like all of those people and I am sure he did all he could to help...just my thoughts

[–] colonel_Killgore 17 years ago

not only did/does he help his own team, he is the 'go to' man for any expeditions as he is renowned for his expertise.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] grandvw 17 years ago

"The only way it would have been possible is if teams of sherpas working in rotation carried the man down to ABC..."

Not necessarily. Much depends upon the physical condition of David Sharp when Brice's climbers first encountered him. And that's the crux of this whole story........from when it first surfaced until now.

Mark Inglis (the double amputee in Brice's expedition) immediately reported having encountered Sharp on their ASCENT. Brice told them to bypass Sharp and continue to the summit.

Days later, Brice's statement is that of never knowing about Sharp until his team's DESCENT.......many many hours later. Inglis subsequently recanted his original report and now says he may have been "confused" about his communication and the timing of it.

There are certainly other accounts of climbers seeing Sharp on their ascent. He was working with his oxygen regulator at one time, and resting at other times (by other climber reports). At least two other reports are of seeing Sharp while it is still dark.....that's on an ASCENT. And it rings true of Mark Inglis' initial report.

Lincoln Hall was rescued after an overnight MUCH higher on the mountain than Sharp was. There certainly exists potential differences between how two individuals can survive such extended stays in the death zone, but to categorically state that Sharp was "unsaveable" isn't true at all. Particlarily when much evidence exists that his trouble was evident long before anyone explored the need for his safety or rescue.

And that's not a blanket indictment of Brice not saving Sharp's life. It is an indictment of his very slanted version of the story that is rather self-serving. And likely to be edited as such in this "docummentary".

[–] ucfmethod 17 years ago

I think its safe to say not a single one of us was on the mountain this season, so every single piece of information we have is second hand, thus biased.

Its typical internet troll style to read something, and then pretend they are now an expert and comment like they are king. Regardless what you read, nobody was there, so nobody knows the true story. Every climber knows they could die, so they know the risks, they can deal with it.

[–] penubra 17 years ago

I agree. Everyone who climbs Everest knows death is a very real possibility. A rescue at high altitude should never be expected. It would have been great if someone had saved Sharp, but it is ridiculous to judge the exhausted climbers who passed by him. I trekked to basecamp and even there, the altitude kicked my ass. Can't imagine being able to manage much 11,000 feet higher!

[–] HeatherMac320 17 years ago

I might have agreed too had 40 climbers not stepped over David on their ascent, and had he not been 15 minutes from the next camp. I thought it was completely inexcusable. Well respected mountaineerers will tell you they live to climb, but they're human first!

Naughty Peach

[–] sandravmorris 17 years ago

I just finished reading the article and am saddened by it-I thought this show was fascinating, but now I'm don't know if I can even watch it again..

[–] bosoxdanc 17 years ago

First of all, the climbers name was David Sharp. Get your facts straight before going and posting such an uneducated post. Also, almost everyone up there was suffering from oxygen deprvation.

[–] xxtoxicstar 17 years ago

AMEN. I cannot believe how absolutely ridiculous people are acting about this ordeal. HE COULD NOT DO ANYTHING. And the climbers are WELL AWARE and WELL INFORMED that there is a HUGE risk of fatality when climbing Everest. It makes me sick that people are saying such terrible things about Russel when he DIDN'T DO ANYTHING.

[–] 17 years ago

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