Icy Relations

[Wade]

A fight at 23,000 feet? Climbers accuse Sherpas of Everest attack - CNN.com

 

[RenaissanceLady]

At 23,000 feet, I kind of wonder how intense the fight could be. Even assuming they're wearing oxygen masks (some won't wear these until about 26K feet but most put them on much sooner), it's going to be cumbersome.

I could be wrong but I suspect most or all of those involved allowed their pride to get in the way of logic. I'd think pissing off those who are the most trained to save your life would be a bad idea - but we don't know who said and did what. This part also leaves me skeptical:

​

The fight started after three professional climbers from Italy, the United Kingdom and Switzerland told the Sherpas they wanted to climb on their own, according to Nima Nuru Sherpa of Cho-Oyu Trekking, the agency that is managing their climb.​

"Our clients said the Sherpas manhandled them," he said.​

A statement posted Sunday on the website of Italian climber Simone Moro gave a harrowing account, claiming that 100 Sherpas attacked him, Swiss climber Ueli Steck and British climber Jonathan Griffith.​

​

Am I missing something or is this saying 3 climbers successfully infuriated 100 Sherpas?
There may be more to this story than is being reported by the Europeans. I wonder what the Sherpas would have to say?

 

[Goggs Mackay]

It was 7000' I heard?

 

[RenaissanceLady]

It was 7000' I heard?

According to the CNN article, it was at 7,000 meters (22,965.8 feet).

 

[Wade]

"... At 23,000 feet, I kind of wonder how intense the fight could be. Even assuming they're wearing oxygen masks (some won't wear these until about 26K feet but most put them on much sooner), it's going to be cumbersome..."

That's kind of funny actually, I never thought of that. I wonder if they were really upset if they would drop their gloves and their poles and their goggles and their O2 and their....

 

[Goggs Mackay]

According to the CNN article, it was at 7,000 meters (22,965.8 feet).

My bad!

 

[Wade]

From what I heard, the climbers, in setting up their next pitch (?) may have jepordized the safety of the sherpas tents. something about rope fixing.

 

[Goggs Mackay]

I heard an interview with one of the climbers who basically said they intended to kill him but a female climber physically intervened and because the sherpas would not hit a woman, it allowed the man to escape. He said that the incident up the mountain is unlikely to have caused all those men to go apeshit, and also he said it had been talked through and both sides had agreed no-one had acted wrongly. He thinks the incident basically was a spark that ignited long-held feelings from the sherpas - he said it was 'cultural' but I imagine, like often or always, it was about money.
Perhaps the sherpas are unhappy with the going rate or something, and no doubt they have good reason. I bet they get paid very little considering the bloody hard work they are doing, and let's not overlook the fact that simply, us from the 'west' or lower altitude dwelling peoples, we cannot do what those sherpas do. I don't care how fit you think you are, they are physically different than us, their lungs are far, far more efficient at those altitudes. These climbs on these huge peaks just could not go ahead without the amazing strength and fitness of these sherpas. They really are super-human, compared to us sloths from the cities....

 

[RenaissanceLady]

OK, this story still isn't adding up. I have a mighty hard time believing that "100 Sherpas" would attack 3 European climbers - at 23,000 feet - even if they were very ticked off. At 23,000 feet, I'm not sure the "100 Sherpas" would have attacked much of anyone, or that the 3 Europeans would not only have fought back but been able to stay alive if those "100 Sherpas" truly wanted to do them harm. Even if a (sole) female climber physically intervened, how many of those 100 Sherpas would have been prevented from going around her and attacking these 3 men?

A quick check on a site that sells oxygen masks claims that the Sherpas put on their masks at 26,000 feet, which is 3,000 feet higher than where this alleged incident took place. Another site refers to the 23K-26K elevation as "The Death Zone."

So.... We have 100 out-of-breath Sherpas attacking 3 Europeans but can't do any real damage before one lone woman is able to intervene so successfully that all 100 Sherpas quit fighting.

I think it's more likely that 3 pissed-off European climbers decided to win an Internet battle after their pride was hurt, especially as it would appear the 3 climbers didn't initially make their entire ascent. Then consider that they weren't taking the advice of the Sherpas. If 100 Sherpas attacked 3 people and no one was hurt, was it really a fight? It might have simply been a heated argument where little if any physical contact was made.

 

[Wade]

"...I think it's more likely that 3 pissed-off European climbers decided to win an Internet battle after their pride was hurt, especially as it would appear the 3 climbers didn't initially make their entire ascent. Then consider that they weren't taking the advice of the Sherpas...."

I was thinking along these lines myself especially as I initially thought the climbers were the ordinary Joe type that thought they knew better than their guides but apparently at least two of the climbers are old pros at this and thus ( I would have thought) more "subservient" to the guides knowledge.

 

[RenaissanceLady]

MSN is reporting this:

Beni Hyoju, an official of the Cho-Oyu Trekking agency that organized the expedition, said the three European climbers had failed to comply with a request from their sherpa guides to stay at a location while the guides fixed the route.
Hyoju said this made the Sherpas unhappy and they attacked the climbers. No one was critically wounded.
"(Steck) has now agreed to continue the climb after local administration assured proper security," Hyoju said. "Sherpas who were responsible for the fight will offer (an) apology."

So much for being "subservient" to the Sherpa guides.

I'm still thinking parts of this story don't add up. I don't think "100 Sherpas" (according to your news source) attacked anyone. If there even was truly an attack, would an apology be sufficient? Would one lone woman be able to prevent 100 Sherpas from attacking anyone - at 23,000 feet - with low oxygen and Sherpas probably not even wearing oxygen masks (according to my earlier source) - or lots of cumbersome equipment if they were fully equipped?

As the Sherpas aren't posting their stories on the news, we'll probably never know what truly happened. I do think it's safe to say that the Italian Climber is full of s*** and probably wasn't "attacked" by "100 Sherpas" at 23,000 feet, especially as he's uninjured enough to try and finish the ascent at some later time.

 

[RenaissanceLady]

The Guardian UK is also giving some different insight into the events. One particular thing I noticed:

Griffith said that allegations he and his companions had injured a Sherpa by kicking ice on to them from above were false. "We were climbing 50 metres off to one side," he said.
But he acknowledged that Moro had called one of the Sherpas a "motherfucker" during the argument. "Saying that to a Nepalese is just about an act of war, but we apologised for that."
The three climbers, who were planning to climb a new route on Everest, have faced criticism from western guides. The American expedition leader Adrian Ballinger, currently leading clients on the mountain, said that "even if no rock or ice actually was knocked off by the professional climbers, and even if no rope-fixing Sherpa was injured, there was still a perception of disrespect for the effort".

So, now there's allegations that the climbers had injured a Sherpa and that one of the climbers had even insulted a Sherpa before the "fight" took place. There's now also allegations that one of the one of the Sherpas pulled a knife on one of the three climbers. Funny how that wasn't reported until this interview. In the meantime, no one seems to care what the Sherpas or even the Nepalese authorities have to say on this matter. The only other Westerner who seems to have commented seems to be blaming the Europeans for what happened.

 

[Grifynne]

Something doesn't add up here. 100 vs. 3 and the trio escapes because of a female meat shield? Good thing no one thought to walk around her seeing as there were so many more Sherpas. I don't think I would be a jerk to a group of people who outnumbered me in such an isolated, precarious setting.