Everest 2006 "To Help or Not to Help

[Puglover]

http://www.everestnews.com/2006expeditions/tosummit05312006.htm




There has been a lot of press, and debate as of late, about recent deaths on Mount Everest. The debate centers upon the nature of some of these deaths. We all know that high altitude mountaineering is ripe with dangers, which we accept, but what is not acceptable is how many climbers are ignoring other climbers in obvious need of assistance, in order to continue towards their own goal of reaching the summit. Perhaps no death this season exemplifies the issue more than that of David Sharp, the 34 year old British climber who lost his life high up on the mountain. The issue at hand is why did so many climbers who climbed by him (approximately 40), and reportedly in some cases over him, at various stages of his distress not help him? Sir Edmund Hillary himself has sharply voiced his opinion on this recent loss, making it clear that he believes more could have, and should have, been done to assist David Sharp. Hillary’s main argument is that many Everest climbers have reached the point of doing nearly anything to summit, even ignoring fellow climbers in need, or just offering token gestures of assistance so that they can move on with their own egomaniacal objective of saying that they have stood on top of the world (but at any expense).

I wanted to post this very good article about the deaths on Everest. After all the discussion last week on the subject I think this man has some very good insights.

Pug

[aikoaiko]

1. the genovese analogy is weak.

There was a big difference in that Everest climbers are in pursuit of a difficult goal and are themselves usually close exuastion and danger themselves while the onlookers of the Genovese killing were doing nothing and only had to make a phone call.

[Hoping4Change]

4. Your argument is just as weak. All these climbers were on their

way to the summit. They still had lots of oxygen and weren't totally exhausted. They chose to complete their climb rather than forgo it to save a human being. It is this decision that makes them reprehensible.

[aikoaiko]

5. Right, they chose the summit goal over the helping.

and in the Genovese case the choice was between virtually nothing and helping.

In otherwords, to carry him down immediately would have been at great cost to the other climbers where as the apartment dwellers who listened to Kitty Genovese get killed could have called the police with little cost to themselves.

I don't blame the other climbers. At 1000 feet from the summit, its tough to stop.

[Hoping4Change]

6. As I stated in another post the people who did not respond to

Genovese were strangers and could shrug off her distress. Throughout history people have shunned strangers which is one reason why Jesus praised the Samaritian who paused to help a stranger. So not helping strangers is par for the course. But the climbers failed to help someone who essentially was a comrade which is almost unheard of.

As for your comment that it is tough to stop, well that is why these climbers are snivelling wussies - when they were faced with a tough decision, they opted not to do the right thing, the tough choice.

[Jim__]

2. "pluralistic ignorance" and Iraq.

I've never heard of "pluralistic ignorance" before. It's an interesting idea. How many of us think "someone" should do "something" to stop the slaughter in Iraq; yet most of us do next to nothing. Look at Cindy Sheehan. Suppose we all worked as hard as she does to stop the war.

We all just accept that somebody else will do something.

[Hoping4Change]

3. It is a well written article except that neither the "bystander effect"

Pluralistic ignorance” really apply here IMO. Each of those excuses seem to apply to strangers being in trouble but isn't there a sense of camaraderie amongst climbers? Isn't this lack of concern for a comrade partly why the story is so shocking? That people lack concern for strangers is no surprise but lack of concern for someone who essentially belongs to the same club is beyond belief.

[Swamp Rat]

7. Maybe all climbers should be armed with pistols

so they can just shoot those who are in distress, thus eliminating the problem immediately. :eyes: