Everest mountaineer already doomed, say Kiwi climbers

Two New Zealand climbers who accompanied double amputee Mark Inglis on his ascent of Mt Everest say the bitter cold doomed British climber David Sharp before their expedition came across him.

Several climbers, including Sir Edmund Hillary, have criticised the Inglis expedition for not helping Sharp after finding him dying on the world's highest mountain.

Guide Mark Woodward, who was reaching the summit of Everest for the third time, told the Herald he and his colleagues would have helped Sharp if they could, and that the Inglis expedition had already helped rescue one climber during its ascent.

"Earlier in the expedition we stretchered an Indian guy down the mountain, but it's a hell of a difference between 7000m and 8500m - conditions are much more difficult."

Woodward said it was bitterly cold when he, Inglis, fellow New Zealanders Mark Whetu and Wayne Alexander and their sherpas came across Sharp. The Englishman was "tucked out of the way" and climbers at the front of the expedition had walked past without spotting him.

Sharp was out of oxygen, "frozen solid" and his nose totally blackened by frostbite, said Woodward. Sharp was not wearing the best protective equipment and had very thin gloves.

"He was totally unresponsive and I don't think he recognised us," said Woodward.

He said he radioed expedition base camp, but did not think expedition manager Russell Grice - also a New Zealander - had received the message. Most of the expedition's radio equipment and the camera used by Whetu to film the climb was knocked out of action by the cold.

Woodward said Tigress Productions, filming on Everest for the Discovery Channel, had several staff on Everest, but Whetu was the only member of the film crew near Sharp. The decision to press on to the summit came down to a question of whether Sharp could survive.

"The decision not to help was because he appeared too far gone," Woodward said. "He was too far gone to really be able to do anything."

Later that morning a second Himalayan Expeditions (Himex) crew descending the mountain came across Sharp and gave him oxygen. A sherpa with a helmet camera filmed the encounter, in which Sharp said "my name is David Sharp and I am with Asian Trekking".

Asian Trekking was a group of independent climbers with no leader, reported ExplorersWeb.

Woodward said the head sherpa with that team had climbed Everest 11 times and would have had the expertise to know whether Sharp could have been saved.

The same morning a Turkish team on the mountain, themselves helping a stricken colleague, also came across Sharp.

They also tried to revive him, but reported "David had spent hours on high altitude and was in a not reversible phase because of experiencing a problem all alone for a long time."

A Himex team was turned back from attempting to reach the summit later that day due to safety concerns, Woodward said.

"What Sir Ed says is not wrong, but when he was on the mountain everyone was an experienced mountaineer and knew what they were doing," he said.

"Now, because of the commercial reality of the mountain, you come across so many people whose ability level is certainly low.

"That's fine if you're with a large, well-managed expedition, but if you try to do it with little or no help then generally you don't succeed."

Alexander told the Herald of his distress at finding Sharp then having to abandon him.

"Finding him sitting alone out there like that was the most sobering moment of my life so far," Alexander said. "I've taken it in my stride. It would have been better for everyone if it hadn't have happened, but if we had tried to offer help then we probably wouldn't be here talking about it."

Temperatures were near -30C and Sharp was not wearing clothing that could protect him from such fierce weather, Alexander said. He hoped the tragedy might lead to an overhaul of how Everest expeditions were managed, so climbers were less likely to become stranded and more likely to have people nearby who could help them.

Inglis underwent surgery yesterday to amputate the tips of three fingers severely frostbitten during the climb. The stumps of his legs, amputated after he was stranded on Mt Cook in 1982, were also opened up and checked by doctors.

On his website his week Inglis said he hoped that once the facts became clear "the so-called controversy will disappear".

He said the amputation of his fingertips was "just one of the inevitable results of such a cold day on Everest" but the operation on his stumps was an unpleasant surprise.

"They are slightly frostbitten but extensively damaged from the impact of climbing down off Everest ... my focus now, apart from spending time with my fantastic family, is to get these fixed and get upright again."

SHARP'S CLIMB

* May 14 - midday: A Himex party comes across solo British mountaineer David Sharp as he is ascending and reports that he is suffering from oxygen depletion.

* Afternoon: Mr Sharp climbs Mt Everest but is in difficulty, the last stage of the climb taking hours longer than it should. ExplorersWeb reports 12 Himex clients and an unspecified number of Indian climbers saw Mr Sharp.

* May 15 - 1am: Himex party including New Zealanders Mark Inglis, Wayne Alexander, Mark Whetu and Mark Woodward, head for the summit. They find Mr Sharp, stop, but find him "frozen solid".

* 7am: Mr Inglis reaches summit.

* 10am: Second Himex party stops and tries to help Mr Sharp, giving him oxygen.

* ExplorersWeb reports at least 30 people pass Mr Sharp on the 15th. One party is a Turkish expedition itself rescuing a stricken colleague.

Sources: ExplorersWeb website; Mark Woodward.