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There are regular reminders in the news just how dangerous climbing Mt. Everest can be, but Smithsonian drives that point home with a look at some of the mountain's more tragic stories. More than 200 people have died on its frozen slopes, and many have ended up preserved in the ice where they fell. And, in a somewhat macabre revelation, the magazine notes that some are even used by climbers as landmarks. It specifically references "Green Boots,"
Green Boots was joined by David Sharp a decade later. The English climber stopped at the cave where he actually froze in place, immobile but still alive.
Some 40 climbers passed him, many possibly assuming he was Green Boots. When someone finally heard his faint moans, it was too later to save him. There's a full (and gruesome) gallery of many bodies on Everest at the website Altered Dimensions.
Obviously my knowledge of climbing is confined to ladders and steps up a truck, but maybe someone on here has actually climbed one of the major peaks to know in practical terms?
Originally posted by silo13
reply to post by Wrabbit2000
Obviously my knowledge of climbing is confined to ladders and steps up a truck, but maybe someone on here has actually climbed one of the major peaks to know in practical terms?
I've got my fingers crossed we'll have a 'climber' reply. I (obviously) know nothing and in that I'm facinated and repulsed at once.
Then again that might just be the answer to one of my questions of 'why' but I still want to hear more.
My stock answer is to point out that I’m a climber, and that Everest isn’t a climb, but a walk. This usually gets the person at the other end a bit confused and flustered as they check their notes. “Yes” I usually continue “If you have to step over a dead body half way up then it’s classed as walk. On real climbs the bodies fall to the bottom”.
Green Boots was joined by David Sharp a decade later. The English climber stopped at the cave where he actually froze in place, immobile but still alive.
Some 40 climbers passed him, many possibly assuming he was Green Boots. When someone finally heard his faint moans, it was too later to save him.