Two racing for record missing/dead in separate avalanches on Shishapangma

[Bronco]

Anyone else see this?  This could be one of the worst American climbing tragedies in recent times.  Sad for them and their Tibetan guides, it seems like the situation was unnecessarily worsened by the competition.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/08/two-die-in-avalanches-on-shishapangma-mountain-in-tibet

More here from other climbers who were on the mountain: https://explorersweb.com/what-happened-shishapangma-climbers-speak/

 

 

[JasonG]

This is made for TV, unfortunately.

[bedellympian]

Real bummer people died. Is it bad I don't care? Think of all the people who died in Ukraine or Gaza today. All the homeless people and drug addicts. Who has time to give a crap for wealthy tourists?

Also this got me good...

"Gina Rzucidlo set off before the Elite/Imagine team reached the mountain, but stopped at Camp 2, because there was no open trail and no ropes, Naila Kiani said." Still kind of odd to me that these tourists get press for their accomplishments.

If this were running terms it would be like if Kipchoge or another elite marathoner from Kenya ran the Berlin Marathon at record pace twice to "set" the course and then jogged it with some trustfunder who paid him, but then the headline is "_____ (trustfunder) finished Berlin Marathon, might be first white woman (or other category) from _____ (country) to finish all marathon majors in the world!" Obviously not an exact metaphor but you get the idea. So odd, so unfortunate. Really appreciate Metcalf's attitude in the explorers web article.

Edited October 12, 2023 by bedellympian

[Phil K]

I feel sorry for the Sherpas who get caught up in this nonsense.