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Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are the hardest to satisfy in every other respect never desire more of it than they already have.

-Rene Descartes

An Everest Dilemma Gone Bad

Merriam-Webster defines humanity as the quality or state of being humane. So I go to humane and get this definition: marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals. I’m sure all of us have some humane traits in us. Sure, we don’t always give change to beggars. Not all of us volunteer our time to help those in need. But the latest natural disasters, the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, Hurricane Katrina, and now this earthquake in Indonesia (they can’t get a break out there) have shown an outpouring of support (no Katrina jokes) from people from all over the world who donate time, money, and in some cases their own lives to try to help those in need. Then you find those who are the extreme opposite and can think of no one but themselves.

David Sharp, a 34 year-old man from England, died while making his descent from the summit of Mount Everest. It has been reported that more than 40 climbers may have walked past him while he lay there still alive, but were unwilling to offer their assistance as they continued to the top of the peak. Sir Edmund Hillary, Everest’s first victim back in 1953, has shown his outward disgust for those who passed Sharp so that they themselves wouldn’t miss out on their chance to reach the summit.

I understand that we are dealing with extremes here. The cold, the wind, the terrain, all things that makes it extremely difficult to survive on your own let alone if you are trying to help someone else. Stopping to help someone would probably mean the end to your own attempt at the peak. What used to be a close-knit circle of people, high-altitude climbing has become a commercial endeavor for some. People pay thousands of dollars to guides just to get to the top of peaks such as Everest. I guess it would be too costly to help keep someone from dying [/end sarcasm].

I’m not trying to say that I’m the type of person that goes out of their way constantly to help others. Let’s be honest, none of us do. But I would think that a climber who sees a fellow climber in trouble would do all he could to help. Don’t you think that he would want that same respect shown to him in case he should get into trouble? Apparently it used to be that way. The “never leave a man behind” attitude. Personal satisfaction has gotten in the way of that I guess. I don’t think I could live with myself if I was one of those climbers who walked past and let this man die.

Posted by G-Dawg on May 28, 2006 at 02:35 PM

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I haven't yet heard much about this particular event, but...

From what I have read, the climbing of Everest has become too commercialized. It has become something that people do who can pay for it, and many of the people trying to summit have no business being there. It's quite likely that very few or maybe none of the typical climbers that day could afford to stop because they knew that they would die if they stopped for any reason. It could be that this person who died is one of the people who had no business being there, I don't know.

This is something I have to get more information on before I can form a real opinion, but there are always guides who are experienced, and there are always Sherpas, and I can't understand how at least they didn't try to help.

Posted by: AlanDP at May 28, 2006 10:33 PM

Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are the hardest to satisfy in every other respect never desire more of it than they already have.

-Rene Descartes

An Everest Dilemma Gone Bad

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