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Hiking Everest, Sans Legs
All I can say is wow, double wow.You'd think that climbing Everest is hard enough with all your limbs, but the guy in this story, a Mr. Mark Inglis climbed the mountain with no legs at all. The New Zealand-born double amputee lost both legs years ago in another climbing accident, one where he got frostbite and had to have the limbs removed. But rather than have that be some kind of deterrent, some kind of message that climbing is dangerous, very dangerous and perhaps you might find another vocation, this ballsy dude went ahead and reached the top of the tallest mountain in the world, no legs be damned. Amazing.
Filed under: Activism, Climbing, Hiking, Asia, Nepal, New Zealand
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Terry Wray May 17th 2006 1:03PM
I just heard aussie climber Warren MacDonald speak. He also lost his legs several years ago (due to being crushed by a boulder). He used similar leg attachments to climb ice falls and mountains, including Kilimanjaro.
I bought his book, "A Test of Will", at the conference. I haven't started reading it yet, but his story is amazing.
Does Mark Inglis have a book/speaking tour/website/blog?
Caitlin Garth May 24th 2006 3:47PM
While Mark was not the only climber to leave a man (David Sharp) alone and dying while he went on to claim "fame and glory" and the summit of Everest, I wonder how he justifies holding himself out as an inspiration to others. How does he leave a man alone to die in an ice cave when he is alive only because others rescued him from an ice cave 25 years ago? Unbelievable.
Robyn Orchard May 24th 2006 8:55PM
Anyone who knows Mark would know he would not walk past a dying man and do nothing. Wait for the full story, all the facts before putting the boot in. The team Mark was climbing with did stop, did render assistance but it was too late.
Mark is a remarkable man and an inspiration to us all. He shows true kiwi can do spirit and dtermination. He has written three books - No Mean Feat, To the Max & Best Foot Forward - great reads.
Caitlin Garth May 25th 2006 2:24AM
Here are the facts:
1. Whether David Sharp could have lived (and there are many who believe he could have--he was coherent, sitting up and talking, working on his oxygen tanks when first found)is not the point. The point is that Mark Inglis walked past a dying man. Not a dead man, a dying man. All alone. That is a fact stated by Mark Inglis himself.
2. Inglis claims he left Sharp because there was nothing else he or his team could do for Sharp. At that point Inglis had three choices, one of which DOES include something he could have done for Sharp:
-Continue on to the summit
-Show some compassion and humanity for Sharp and stay with him for a few more minutes until death occurred and then descend.*
-simply descend
(*In case you don't know the facts, Sharp was about 300 metres below the summit. When Inglis and team returned on their descent, Sharp was dead. It would have taken the team less time, energy and oxygen to have stayed with Sharp instead of summitting. But that was not their priority or choice)
3. Inglis has stated he continued on for reasons of safety. Actually, if he or his team was worried in the least about their safety, they would have abandoned their attempt and descended. Continuing on to the summit shows that their priority was fame, glory and being the first double amputee to reach the top. It had nothing to do with safety. And humanity and compassion were patently absent from any decisions they made at that time.
Everyone who passed Sharp bears some culpability in his death. Mark Inglis is only one of approximately 40 persons. He is also the only one of those people with three websites devoted to his heroic personal nature, his code of personal responsibility, and his 'inspirational' message to the world.
He can remain your inspiration if you want, but there are many far more suitable persons for you to objectify. I find him to be a hypocrite. He failed to live up to his own hyperbole and he has been less than truthful about his reasons for his actions. IF he is half the man you believe him to be, he will apologize for his choices on the mountain. He owes David Sharp at least that.
Geo. Spearing May 26th 2006 12:07AM
I think you are being unduly harsh on Inglis.
The recent 'facts' as reported are that Sharp was not coherant and 'working on his oxygen tanks' as you say. (He had attempted the ascent alone and without oxygen and inappropriate gloves)
When found he was in a rigid state, near death, with only eyelids flickering.
The Sherpas with the Inglis party attempted to administer oxygen to him.
I think it may be easy for us to sit at ground level passing criticism - it would be a different story at those altitudes and conditions.
To wait around with a man who was near death could quite possibly bring about your own.
The mother (or widow, I can't recall) of David Sharp was reported to have commented that David was well aware of the dangers he took when making the attempt, and would not have wanted others to risk their lives/attempts in an attempt to save his.
Hauling a body from those altitudes is no easy matter, I assume that the fact that Everest is 'littered' with bodies bears testament to that. The rock under which David Sharp was found already contained another body.
Climbers of Everest have an 'all consuming' passion to accomplish the feat, and just maybe David Sharp, who knew the risks, would have chosen that if he were to die, then to become a part of the mountain was not a bad thing.
The physical condition and accessibility of Inglis and his partner during their rescue from Mount Cook was not comparable at all to the physical condition and accessibility of David Sharp on Everest.
It took grit and determination to accomplish what Inglis did, regardless of anything else, and it's just a great shame that his effort has been clouded by this controversy.
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Jenda Kay Jul 1st 2006 2:53AM
Everest always has been and always will be a personal amibition for every individual climbing her. Cimbers don't risk life and limb to save someone else. They do it to salve some inner need to glorify themselves - to prove that they are a "breed apart". Once that may have been valid. Now all it proves is that you are rich enough to buy your way up or creative enough to convince some sponsor that you have a new edge. So why are we so surprised that people are left to die that may be salvageable? Because human ambition always trumps human compassion.