Getting to the Top
June 8, 2006 3:44 PM Subscribe
I imagine you are surprised to see me here. Three men abandon their quest for Everest's peak to save a stranger who had been left for dead. Other climbers had different priorities.
This post was deleted for the following reason: mostly posted previously
Now all we need is a story about someone giving birth half way up Everest.
posted by public at 3:50 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by public at 3:50 PM on June 8, 2006
While Mazur's team was busy assisting Hall, two Italian climbers walked past them toward the summit. When asked to help, they claimed they did not understand English. On his return to base camp, Mazur discovered they did.
posted by jperkins at 3:58 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by jperkins at 3:58 PM on June 8, 2006
Hall's rescue was discussed at length in the earlier Everest thread, back when this was news.
posted by jack_mo at 4:04 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by jack_mo at 4:04 PM on June 8, 2006
(In fact, it's pretty weird that the AP were running this story yesterday with no new info when it happened on the 26th of last month.)
posted by jack_mo at 4:07 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by jack_mo at 4:07 PM on June 8, 2006
HOW THE HELL ARE YOU EVER GOING TO BE A WINNER IF YOU STOP TO HELP THE WEAK?!?!?!? THEY DON'T GIVE OUT MEDALS FOR NICE IN THIS LIFE, SON!
posted by slatternus at 4:24 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by slatternus at 4:24 PM on June 8, 2006
WTF? Were they gay or something?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:24 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:24 PM on June 8, 2006
Fuck Everest. I climb out of bed every afternoon and you don't see me looking for praise.
posted by JPowers at 4:48 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by JPowers at 4:48 PM on June 8, 2006
Dan Mazur is a very good guy. I have never met him personally but I know folks who have been on his expeditions. His company, SummitClimb gives to the nonprofit that I work for, The Mountain Fund. From what I understand he is of the old-school mountaineers and will show up without the latest and greatest gear but instead has the knowledge and skills to be very competent in the mountains.
posted by fieldtrip at 4:49 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by fieldtrip at 4:49 PM on June 8, 2006
Oooh, deja vu...
posted by Hildegarde at 4:53 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by Hildegarde at 4:53 PM on June 8, 2006
I don't get it; this guy was cracking jokes a day after his guides left him for dead at 8000+m? What is he, a heavy sleeper?
ah, from the other thread:
They have verified the fact of death of Lincoln Hall, on the basis of that from 17:00 till 19:20 he did not submit any attributes of life.
What happened to his gloves and stuff, and his team support? Something still doesn't add up here.
As for the guy who died w/o (much) help, apparently he was on the "same mountain/same week" sort of team; wonder if Hall was on a similar package.
Upshot of this is that I netflixed "Touching the Void". Pretty good feature.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 5:17 PM on June 8, 2006
ah, from the other thread:
They have verified the fact of death of Lincoln Hall, on the basis of that from 17:00 till 19:20 he did not submit any attributes of life.
What happened to his gloves and stuff, and his team support? Something still doesn't add up here.
As for the guy who died w/o (much) help, apparently he was on the "same mountain/same week" sort of team; wonder if Hall was on a similar package.
Upshot of this is that I netflixed "Touching the Void". Pretty good feature.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 5:17 PM on June 8, 2006
Daniel Mazur sounds like he is made up of the same stuff as Ernest Shackleton. It gladdens the heart to hear that such men still walk the earth.
"For swift and efficient travel, give me Amundsen; for scientific investigation, give me Scott; but when you are at your wits' end and all else fails, go down on your knees and pray for Shackleton."
—Raymond Priestley
posted by nlindstrom at 5:33 PM on June 8, 2006
"For swift and efficient travel, give me Amundsen; for scientific investigation, give me Scott; but when you are at your wits' end and all else fails, go down on your knees and pray for Shackleton."
—Raymond Priestley
posted by nlindstrom at 5:33 PM on June 8, 2006
Mazur: If we had left the man to die, that would have always been on my mind ... How could you live with yourself?"
Thank goodness for guys like him. As for the Italians who walked on by, and Hall's teammates...well damn, Everest really seems to lure a lot of dickweeds these days.
posted by ktoad at 5:59 PM on June 8, 2006
Thank goodness for guys like him. As for the Italians who walked on by, and Hall's teammates...well damn, Everest really seems to lure a lot of dickweeds these days.
posted by ktoad at 5:59 PM on June 8, 2006
Does anyone else think that this sounds like a revenge movie setup?
Anouncer: They left him for dead on Everest. They thought there was nothing to worry about. They were wrong. Steven Seagal IS The Mountaineer!
posted by unreason at 6:20 PM on June 8, 2006
Anouncer: They left him for dead on Everest. They thought there was nothing to worry about. They were wrong. Steven Seagal IS The Mountaineer!
posted by unreason at 6:20 PM on June 8, 2006
"I imagine you are surprised to see me here."
He'd probably been mentally rehearsing that line for hours. Seriously, that ranks right up there with, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:41 PM on June 8, 2006
He'd probably been mentally rehearsing that line for hours. Seriously, that ranks right up there with, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:41 PM on June 8, 2006
Seriously, though, this is a double.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:02 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:02 PM on June 8, 2006
Hall's rescue came just days after David Sharp, 34, died May 15, about 1,000 feet into his descent from the summit. Dozens of people walked right past him, unwilling to risk their own ascents.
Hooray for humans.
posted by glenwood at 7:04 PM on June 8, 2006
Hooray for humans.
posted by glenwood at 7:04 PM on June 8, 2006
Because it's there, and, god damn it, if I have to climb a solid wall of human corpses to get to the top, I will.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:06 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:06 PM on June 8, 2006
Money.
It's all about money.
One guy paid to be on a group expedition.
The other went solo. (dissing the 'group' climbers)
posted by HTuttle at 7:14 PM on June 8, 2006
It's all about money.
One guy paid to be on a group expedition.
The other went solo. (dissing the 'group' climbers)
posted by HTuttle at 7:14 PM on June 8, 2006
Personally I'd rather have saved the solo asshole.
He was probably a LOT more fun to go out and get drunk with.
But then I always hated group-clingy cliquettes.
posted by HTuttle at 7:16 PM on June 8, 2006
He was probably a LOT more fun to go out and get drunk with.
But then I always hated group-clingy cliquettes.
posted by HTuttle at 7:16 PM on June 8, 2006
Seriously, though, this is a double.
Meh.
This is the kind of thing that deserves its own post, even if it was mentioned in the prior post (was it really). It shows the triumph of the human spirit over selfishness and greed and especially in the face of the prior, quite opposite post. In my heart I see the prior climbers as scum, beneath contempt, for leaving a man to die just so they can achieve some useless personal glory. In my head, rather than heart, I understand the difficulty of that decisions, after devoting so many resources of one's life, money, time, potentially your own life, to achieve a goal and then to be presented with the chore of saving the life of an (in your mind) irresponsible, selfish fool who climbed without support...? Well, it is not so simple. Still, Mazur is the hero, the other climbers the chumps. As an old man I would rather tell my grandchildren how I gave up a dream to save a life, than how I gave up a life to achieve a dream.
posted by caddis at 7:18 PM on June 8, 2006
Meh.
This is the kind of thing that deserves its own post, even if it was mentioned in the prior post (was it really). It shows the triumph of the human spirit over selfishness and greed and especially in the face of the prior, quite opposite post. In my heart I see the prior climbers as scum, beneath contempt, for leaving a man to die just so they can achieve some useless personal glory. In my head, rather than heart, I understand the difficulty of that decisions, after devoting so many resources of one's life, money, time, potentially your own life, to achieve a goal and then to be presented with the chore of saving the life of an (in your mind) irresponsible, selfish fool who climbed without support...? Well, it is not so simple. Still, Mazur is the hero, the other climbers the chumps. As an old man I would rather tell my grandchildren how I gave up a dream to save a life, than how I gave up a life to achieve a dream.
posted by caddis at 7:18 PM on June 8, 2006
God, call me cynical but I have to side with the people who left the dead out there to die. I probably would have saved whoever but lets think about this.
Person A tries to climb the mountain, which is extremely dangerous. They don't need to do it, it's a choice, and no one forced them to do it. In fact it's an extremely stupid thing to do.
Now another group, also risking their lives starts up the mountain. This isn't something can just go and do every week, Someone might get three or four tries their entire lives, you're going up and you see some dude sitting their half dead. So what do you do? Do you give up on your chance to make it to the top of Everest save a person's life when that person got themselves stuck in this very situation all on their own?
If a person gets themselves into an entirely foreseeable fix, I don't see why another person should be required to sacrifice something that means a lot to them just to help that other person out.
If they didn't want to die, they shouldn't have tried to climb mount Everest the first damn place.
posted by delmoi at 7:33 PM on June 8, 2006
Person A tries to climb the mountain, which is extremely dangerous. They don't need to do it, it's a choice, and no one forced them to do it. In fact it's an extremely stupid thing to do.
Now another group, also risking their lives starts up the mountain. This isn't something can just go and do every week, Someone might get three or four tries their entire lives, you're going up and you see some dude sitting their half dead. So what do you do? Do you give up on your chance to make it to the top of Everest save a person's life when that person got themselves stuck in this very situation all on their own?
If a person gets themselves into an entirely foreseeable fix, I don't see why another person should be required to sacrifice something that means a lot to them just to help that other person out.
If they didn't want to die, they shouldn't have tried to climb mount Everest the first damn place.
posted by delmoi at 7:33 PM on June 8, 2006
WWJD?
Not been up there in the first place? I hear walking on water was more his scene.
posted by spazzm at 7:41 PM on June 8, 2006
Not been up there in the first place? I hear walking on water was more his scene.
posted by spazzm at 7:41 PM on June 8, 2006
WWBBD is a bit more appropriate, in the circumstances. I'd like to think the answer is, just what Mazur did.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 7:52 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by aeschenkarnos at 7:52 PM on June 8, 2006
Someone might get three or four tries their entire lives
As opposed to the chance to save someone's life?
posted by forrest at 8:03 PM on June 8, 2006 [1 favorite]
As opposed to the chance to save someone's life?
posted by forrest at 8:03 PM on June 8, 2006 [1 favorite]
While Mazur's team was busy assisting Hall, two Italian climbers walked past them toward the summit. When asked to help, they claimed they did not understand English. On his return to base camp, Mazur discovered they did.
Everest is turning into a jackass superhighway. You can run across fewer people in Central Park. They should pave a passing lane.
posted by ori at 8:25 PM on June 8, 2006
Everest is turning into a jackass superhighway. You can run across fewer people in Central Park. They should pave a passing lane.
posted by ori at 8:25 PM on June 8, 2006
"You can always go back to the summit but you only have one life to live. If we had left the man to die, that would have always been on my mind ... How could you live with yourself?"
I'd buy him some beers.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:31 PM on June 8, 2006
I'd buy him some beers.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:31 PM on June 8, 2006
Now all we need is a story about someone conceiving a child half way up Everest.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:34 PM on June 8, 2006
posted by Smedleyman at 8:34 PM on June 8, 2006
WWBBD?
What does Bob Barker have to do with this?
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 8:45 PM on June 8, 2006
What does Bob Barker have to do with this?
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 8:45 PM on June 8, 2006
What does Bob Barker have to do with this?
Funny but probably more that even that joke suggests, as the same vanity driving Miss America contestants drives the Everest wannabes.
posted by HTuttle at 8:52 PM on June 8, 2006
Funny but probably more that even that joke suggests, as the same vanity driving Miss America contestants drives the Everest wannabes.
posted by HTuttle at 8:52 PM on June 8, 2006
« Older A defeat for "death tax" propagandists. | OOh.. Ahh .. Ouch ... Umaga! Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by 29 at 3:49 PM on June 8, 2006 [1 favorite]