Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season

published	April 29th 2008 by Henry Holt and Co.
binding	Hardcover
isbn	0805083103 (isbn13: 9780805083101)
pages	288
description	The inside story of the deadly 2006 climbing season on Everest On May 15, 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the to...more [close] The inside story of the deadly 2006 climbing season on Everest On May 15, 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall’s death was reported around the world, but the next day he was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain with no food and no shelter. If David Sharp’s death was shocking, it was hardly singular: despite unusually good weather, ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inquiry into what went wrong, Nick Heil tells the full story of the deadliest year on Everest since the infamous season of 1996. He introduces Russell Brice, the commercial operator who has done more than anyone to provide access to the summit via the mountain’s north side—and who some believe was partly accountable for Sharp’s death. As more climbers attempt the summit each year, Heil shows how increasingly risky expeditions and unscrupulous outfitters threaten to turn Everest into a deadly circus. Written by an experienced climber and outdoor writer, Dark Summit is both a riveting account of a notorious climbing season and a troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiraled out of control. [close]
date added	02-17-08 edit book

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Mazola1 rated it:

06/20/08

Mount Everest is a cold and inhospitable place. After what happened on the mountain in 2006, a lot of people were saying the same thing about the hearts of many of those who climb Mount Everest. Ten people died on Mount Everest that year, but no death provoked more controversy and outrage than that of David Sharp. Sharp is remembered in the public consciousness as the young British climber who "lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way t...more Mount Everest is a cold and inhospitable place. After what happened on the mountain in 2006, a lot of people were saying the same thing about the hearts of many of those who climb Mount Everest. Ten people died on Mount Everest that year, but no death provoked more controversy and outrage than that of David Sharp. Sharp is remembered in the public consciousness as the young British climber who "lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit." Cold, inhuman and selfish, right?

Dark Summit tries to answer that question. It turns out that like a lot of difficult questions and issues that have grabbed the public's attention, it isn't simple as the first reports made it seem to be. Sir Edmund Hillary framed the choice confronting the other climbers as the decision between deciding to try for the summit, or to save a man's life. This book explains why the choices weren't that simple or easy.

Dark Summit tells the story of the deadly 2006 season on Everest, putting it in historical context and examining some of the thorny problems caused by the increasingly large number of inexperienced climbers being guided, tugged, dragged and pushed to the summit by commercial outfitters. It also paints a vivid portrait of the pain and sacrifice it takes to climb Mount Everest, as well as the hazards, dangers and brutal conditions involved in a summit attempt. At the same time, it provides insight into the psyches of those who willingly risk their lives, limbs and health to get to the top.

But the heart of the book is the story of Sharp's death and the questions it raised. The truth is not as simple as most people were led to belive by the many sensational accounts which appeared in the media. The book presents a thoughtful examination of the issue of morality on the mountain. And it shows why you can't and shouldn't always believe everything you read in the papers or see on TV.

The widely held public perception is that dozens of climbers callously stepped over Sharp's body, deciding that it was more important to achieve their dream of summitting than to save a life. Sharp's story was contrasted with that of Lincoln Hall, also stranded on the upper reaches of Everest, and left for dead, but who was ultimately rescued.

To say that those who did not (or could not) save Sharp were callous and selfish, and that those who helped Hall were unselfish and heroic is ignore the complexity of high altitute death and rescue. It ignores the fact that some climbers did try to help Sharp, dragging him into the sun and giving him oxygen. But by the time Sharp was found, he had already spent the night on the mountain at over 8,000 meters, and was comatose and catatonic, unable to walk, and indeed hardly able to move. It also ignores the fact that Lincoln Hall, like Beck Weathers in 1996, was able through an incredible effort of will or a physiological quirk, to rouse himself and become active. Many climbers who have collapsed in the snow and been unable to muster that last resolve not to die have indeed been abandoned on Everest, and left to their fate.

No climber who was not ambulatory had ever been rescued from that height, and to carry a climber down from that height would have been extremely dangerous and probably impossible. As Heil put it, fifty years of Everest history warned against a rescue attempt under these circumstances.

David Sharp was an experienced climber. He tried to climb Mount Everest with minimal supplies, little oxygen, no radio
and no support system in place to help him in case he got into trouble. That was his choice, and he made it with full awareness of the dangers it involved. David's parents said they held no one accountable for his death, and spoke of his lifelong love of adventure. No doubt David himself was aware of the risk, and of the realities of climbing at extremely high altitude, in the so-called "Death Zone."

The Death Zone is indeed unforgiving, putting those who go there under unbelieveable stress. This book shows just how unforgiving Everest is. As well, it is a revealing look at how people perform under pressure, the simplistic nature of much of what passes for news these days, and the ambiguity of difficult moral choices, made not from the comfort of the living room, but in harsh circumstances. ...less

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Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season

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