Kyrgyzstan Epic

[Yossarian]

John Bouchard wrote an amazing article for Climbing based on American climbers being taken hostage in Kyrgyzstan.

http://www.climbing.com/Pages/feature_stories/feature206.html

 

[Cpt.Caveman]

What is so amazing about it? They were dumb enough to go there after being warned....... Just a bunch of military jargon and hype inserted for those who did not get this months issue of Soldier of Fortune.

Just goes to prove bring your BFG into the mountains.

[Mr._Blister]

Is a BFG a Big Flatulent Gorilla? If so, I agree with Ray.

[Cpt.Caveman]

Just meant as a joke Big Fuckin' Gun

[Dru]

The funny thing about that article is if you look at the photo of the three terrorists in the video still, except for the cartridge belts they look like a bunch of dirtbag climbers.

[Cpt.Caveman]

I resent the way they portray the climbers as almost war veterans when they are not. Perhaps the book will have some good pictures instead of the boring writing that is detailed in this article.

[mikeadam]

Blaring example of media hype. TNF mega-hype team goes to work overtime on this one.

Let's see how would I say it?

4 naive climbers meet face to face with the reality of the real world and their idylic fortunes change as they are forced to confront it. Better stay in the valley next time.

Big deal.

[Dru]

Thats what I like about Bouchards article he exposes the TNF team for being a bunch of wankers and overhyping their rescue into some sort of Yankee-kids-fight-ex-Commie-muslim-scum-terrorist epic. Oh no! The truth might jeopardize that 7 figure true story movie!!

This one is gonna generate WAY more internet spew than the Krakauer-Boukriev Everest cat fight.

[Dan_Petersen]

I'm with the Captain. This is a silly attempt to make the results of someone's poor judgement into an adventure tale. I thought it was funny that these naive children thought they would appear somehow different to the natives because they were "climbers". Ugly Americans don't all have pot-bellies and loud shirts.

[Guest]

Excellent article! Thanks, Bouchard.

It's a shame and a pity the climbers weren't completely truthful. But who knows, perhaps they didn't say a word, just lawyers and "representatives" ($Nx10(7))...

Caveman, you crack me up!

[Alpine_Tom]

This sordid tale reminds me of the Ambrose Bierce story about the deaf child who slept through the Battle of Shilo, and couldn’t understand why all these dead and dying solders laying around wouldn’t play with him. Ignorant, self-absorbed spoiled brats.

It is, however, a useful reminder that for a lot of the world, there are lots more important issues than whether straight or bent ice tools are best for alpine use. Like, feeding your family, and avoiding the guns.

 

[Bronco]

If you liked this article, the climbers are made to sound like heros in Greg Child's article from Outside's Nov. 2000 issue.

http://www.outsidemag.com/magazine/200011/200011hostages1.html

Made for an entertaining read for me although the Ruskies probably don't think so.

[Yossarian]

The unique aspect of this article, I thought, was how is didn't take the same approach as Outside and other magazines did- glorifying the escape of the Americans. Instead, it highlights the stupidity of climbing in a hostile area and the impact this stupidity had on the local population. The violence this particular area is going through is alot more important then a group of kids trying to climb a wall. Bouchard brought this fact out.