Sherpas, Death, and Anger on Everest : The New Yorker

/everest-sherpas-death-and-anger.html

  • Sherpas, Death, and Anger on #Everest : The New Yorker
    http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/04/everest-sherpas-death-and-anger.html?mobify=0

    Adding to Brice’s concern, some of his most experienced #Sherpas, ordinarily exceedingly stoical men, approached him to say that the conditions on the mountain made them fear for their lives. One of them actually broke down in tears as he confessed this. So on May 7, 2012, Brice made an announcement that shocked most of the thousand people camped at the base of Everest: he was pulling all his guides, members, and Sherpas off the mountain, packing up their tents and equipment, and heading home. He was widely criticized for this decision in 2012, and not just by clients who were forced to abandon their dreams of climbing the world’s highest mountain without receiving a refund for the forty-three thousand euros they had paid him in advance. Many of the other expedition leaders also thought Brice was wildly overreacting. The reputation of Himex took a major hit.

    After what happened last Friday, though, it’s hard to argue with Brice’s call.