Everest Climber Returns to Everest to Bury the Everpresent Dead

1. GailW
   February 14th, 2009 at 2:39 pm

   Excuse me, but WTF!? People just leave the dead bodies of their fallen companions there? Nice! What a great sport this sounds like.

2. LisaL
   February 14th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

   I'm sure they'd take the bodies with them if they could, but most probably it would be too dangerous and they're not prepared to drag along +100lbs of dead weight.

   Anyways.... story is very depressing Poor woman.

3. Martin
   February 14th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

   LisaL: you are right, that is precisely the reason the bodies are left behind. Reaching the top of the Everest is *really* hard (duh!), and since it is hard already to get there with your planed equipment, adding all that weight to your trip is not the best idea if you want to came back alive (for instance: it took a 12 men crew to move the body of *one* man).

4. marishka
   February 14th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

   Also, sometimes the bodies are in places that are not possible to access without great harm or risk of death to the retriever.

5. darlzwik
   February 14th, 2009 at 4:06 pm

   There is also lots of trash up there. The climbers take oxygen with them and then throw the bottles on the ground.

6. jayceh
   February 14th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

   Wow, way to steal my idea.

7. Steveo
   February 14th, 2009 at 4:23 pm

   Follow a few links, you find that her body's already been taken care of... dude wrapped her in a flag, then let her fall down the glacier where (supposedly) her husband lies. Now he's an inspirational speaker, available for your retreats, parties, meetings etc.

   Don't pity the ones left behind, they knew the risks.

   BTW, it costs $25K for a permit to climb.

8. Kalel
   February 14th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

   For most of the climbers, it's all about THEMSELVES.

   The mountain, the local cultures, the other climbers, the trash, and yes, the bodies, all come second.

9. caitlin13
   February 14th, 2009 at 5:39 pm

   I'm glad you pointed out this had already been done, Steveo. I hadn't seen the date on the article.

   Holy crap $25k?!

10. alar
    February 14th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

    wtf. it is tradition. mountaineers need to be in the mountain that took them. its like the seamen want to go down with theyr ship in the ocean etc...its a shitty thing to do to bing ppl back from there. or any mountain. its where they wanted to go, where they feel best and where they should e...reminded of and honoured by others that clmb

11. mother hubbard
    February 14th, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    "when you get to Fran, turn left"

    ROFLMAO!!!!

12. planettom
    February 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm

    Something to keep in mind is, pretty much bodies don't decay up there. For example, a 1999 expedition found George Mallory's body, missing since 1924. They buried him. Unfortunately, he didn't have his camera on him; there was some speculation that they might still be able to develop the film in it, if it had been on the body.

    The camera may be with Andrew Irvine's body, which has never been conclusively found, although several Chinese climbers reported a body that may or may not be his (it may have been Mallory's).

13. renderanything
    February 15th, 2009 at 1:45 am

    Quite a difficult situation, risking your life to give some dignity to those who already lost theirs. I applaud the efforts though.

14. ted
    February 15th, 2009 at 9:30 am

    Mountain-climbing seems so pointless.

15. NeilB
    February 15th, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    Dead is dead. I would rather be left on a mountain than pumped full of chemicals and trapped in a box. What better way than to decay?

    And for that matter, why risk additional lives to remove the corpses of those often-rich people who invest more money to climb a mountain than most houses cost?

16. Tweeker
    February 15th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    100% of the people who climb Everest get brain and lung damage, 10% die.

17. darlzwik
    February 16th, 2009 at 5:52 am

    100% of people who get near any street get lung damage.

    100% of people who watch T.V. get brain damage.

    100% of people die.

18. neatoman
    February 16th, 2009 at 9:17 am

    The article was right. You can see her purple jacket here:
    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article237731.ece

19. Harry
    February 16th, 2009 at 11:34 am

    There's like 120 bodies up there, depending on the snow falls, winds and that, they often are visible others don't. It's the way it is.

20. Shane
    February 17th, 2009 at 10:57 am

    "when you get to Fran, turn left"

    That made me lol so hard. Poor Fran.

21. mikos
    February 19th, 2009 at 2:16 am

    @ted

    So is living by your definition.

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