EVEREST CLIMBERS DIED BECAUSE SKY FELL BELOW THEM

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EVEREST CLIMBERS DIED BECAUSE SKY FELL BELOW THEM

#1 Postby tropicana » Wed May 26, 2004 11:08 pm

NOW THIS IS INTERESTING READING..


Everest climbers died because sky fell below them says scientist

May 27th 2004

1.00pm - By CHARLES ARTHUR
Eight climbers died near the summit of Mount Everest eight years ago because the sky fell below them, a scientist has claimed.

The calamity that befell two groups of climbers around the mountaintop in May 1996 was later immortalised by the writer Jon Krakauer, who was among them, in the book "Into Thin Air".

Now Kent Moore, a physicist at the University of Toronto in Canada, has dramatically discovered that the title is more accurate than anyone realised.

And he has suggested that in future, climbers attempting the highest peaks should avoid days with high winds, which will strip vital oxygen from the air.

Professor Moore told New Scientist magazine that he thinks the weather patterns that day led to the atmospheric pressure falling so dramatically that in effect the stratosphere dropped onto the summit of the 8,848-metre mountain. Normally the peak sits just below the atmospheric layer.

That would be the equivalent of raising the summit by 500m on a normal day - and would cut the available oxygen in the air, which on the summit is just one-third that at sea level, by 14 per cent.

Although most climbers at the summit use supplementary oxygen, they still rely on that in the air to help them breathe. But above 8,000m there is too little oxygen to sustain life, making it essential that people spend as little time as possible at such heights.

The events of the tragic day have been pieced together from survivors' accounts.

Led by New Zealander Scott Fischer, some of the group climbed through the night of 9 May and reached the summit in clear weather early in the afternoon of 10 May. Looking down they noticed storm clouds below them on the mountain, and decided to descend as fast as possible.

But as the team made their way down, Mr Fischer - who had previously climbed the mountain a number of times - began to "struggle", according to Neal Beidleman, one of two other highly experienced guides with the group.

By late afternoon, amidst 75mph winds, some of the group had to be abandoned, disoriented, on the upper reaches of the mountain. Mr Fischer and seven others eventually died.

Professor Moore's hypothesis also sheds new light on the heroism that day of one of the professional climbers on Mr Fischer's team, the Russian Anatoli Boukreev.

He was key in rescuing a number of the group who had become stranded on the mountain below the summit, climbing repeatedly up to the group and leading or even dragging them down to the safety of their camp below the 8,000m mark.

Most remarkably, he carried out his rescues for more than 12 hours with no bottled oxygen, in the teeth of the storm and at a time when the air would have been severely depleted.

Professor Moore explained that the "jet streak" winds travelling at more than 100mph up the sides of the mountain would have dragged a huge volume of air upwards, causing the air pressure to drop and leaving less oxygen available to the desperate climbers.

"At these altitudes climbers are already at the limits of endurance," he said. "The sudden drop in pressure could have driven some of these climbers into severe physiological distress."

The suggestion has been strengthened by results recorded by a temporary weather station that was placed on the summit in 1998 when a similar "jet streak" occurred.

That recorded a fall in pressure of 16 millibars, which would raise the summit by 500m. The height of Everest has always struck climbers as a convenient accident.

If it were 500 metres higher, some experts reckon it would be impossible to climb without oxygen: the distance from the start of the "death zone" to its summit and back would be too great for anyone to survive.

-justin-
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Everest

#2 Postby Corona » Thu May 27, 2004 1:41 am

Great post Tropicana (is that like in the orange juice or the Vegas hotel?)
Anyway I read that book and if you want your hands to sweat while reading the accounts of what happened up there in '96, pick up the paperback. It was just a clusterf--- with all of the personallities and groups who were up there, paying Sherpas to drag them to the top since they couldn't make it by themselves. Some of them, not all. One guy went semi-blind at altititude since he had RK to correct his eyesight, which will basically 'reverse' itself at very low pressures and altitude. Some of the tour guides, the paid guides, were just azzholes and didn't help out the people who paid them. Other climbers were forced to 'donate' their oxygen canisters to those who would probably make the summit. It was just a bloody mess. I'm surprised anyone got off that mountain alive that summer.
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#3 Postby Aquawind » Sat May 29, 2004 9:01 am

That is a tragic story alrighty.. I read the book and a number of articles related to that deadly day. Definate lack of comunication and simply bad timing in a deadly place..That group had issues because it was a paid tour basically to get much lesser capable people to the top..business definately got in the way..but that is the way it is now on Everest. On that day one of the best Sherpas basically tied to a paid customer and pulled them along..The lack of oxygen to the brain for prolonged periods of time undoubtely impairs judgement..



By late afternoon, amidst 75mph winds, some of the group had to be abandoned, disoriented, on the upper reaches of the mountain. Mr Fischer and seven others eventually died.



HAPE combined with whiteout conditions and subzero windchill at 27,000 feet and it's a death defying feat. The fact is they start that climb at 1-3am in the morning from like 26,500 ft in the dark to complete it before day the next day..it's a incredibly long trek and you wake up in the death zone already where the body is deteriorating quickly to begin the final push!


Professor Moore's hypothesis also sheds new light on the heroism that day of one of the professional climbers on Mr Fischer's team, the Russian Anatoli Boukreev.



Many experienced climbers blame Anatoli.. He was hired by the team leader Fisher as a expert guide to assist the climb..That day he basicaly ran to the top and ran back. Asking Fisher if he could go ahead of them to get down instead of staying with the group to assist in a quicker decent..which is what he was hired to do..of course he was in better condition to try help..but conditions were to bad for any serious rescue..

There is a small window to make the climb in the spring and it's open now so you can read and see pics here..

http://www.everestnews.com/

Some awesome pics and stories..
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Everest Fiasco

#4 Postby Corona » Sun May 30, 2004 2:35 am

You may well believe the account of Anatoli Boukreev, but I have my doubts. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and read his account, his book about the climb and a few glimpses of others, and he seemed to be knowledgeable, but he had a problem. The guy thought of himself first, and was extremely arrogant. This is not my opinion, this is what so many others have said, and they backed it up with many, many examples. Want to know the end of the story? Well Boukreev was attempting to climb the tallest peaks on earth, and he and another person were on another mountain, it was not K2 or Anapurna, but one similar, and if I recall, he either slipped and fell into a glacier, or he fell off a steep cliff several thousand feet. Something like that. Anyway, that was that. Maybe you or someone has the exact account. I could find it but I am too lazy tonight to go look. It seems the higher a person becomes in esteem, fame, money or whatever, the less he thinks of others in the same terms as himself. People get a brain fart and act like they have become gods. It's an interesting phenomena but tragic if it involves others as in this case.
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#5 Postby Aquawind » Wed Jun 02, 2004 9:21 am

I think he had that brain fart you mentioned and unfortunately it did involve others..but he is not to blame for all those deaths...no way..as usual multiple errors were made..
Here is a clip on his death.


Partner of missing climber joins search in the Himalayas

AP - 7.06 p.m. EDT (006 GMT) December 29, 1997

By Binaya Guruacharya, Associated Press

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - The climbing partner of a missing Russian mountaineer helped search for the man Monday, flying in an army rescue helicopter over the slopes of Mount Annapurna in the Himalayas.

The lost climber, Anatoli Boukreev, 39, was feared dead after an avalanche swept him away on Christmas Day, Nepal's Tourism Ministry said.

Boukreev, a professional mountain guide living in Alma Ata, Kazakstan, was ascending the 26,700-foot peak when the avalanche struck.

Simone Moro, an Italian climber who survived, joined the helicopter search after being treated for injuries in a Katmandu hospital for two days.

Moro was 1,650 feet above his Russian companion when the mountain began to slide at about 19,000 feet. He told officials in Katmandu that he shouted and searched for Boukreev but found no sign of him.
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#6 Postby Corona » Fri Jun 04, 2004 3:50 am

It was Annapurna, ok my mistake. I met Arlene Blum who led the first women's team to climb Annapurna back in 1978 ("A Woman's Place Is On Top) during a conference and had the pleasure of talking with her about climbing and the ascent. Owned one of the original tee-shirts.
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