Everest

20-05-2019 05:59PM

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

Having read through the thread and even read around on a few things it really is hard to know what to think. First off I obviously feel a lot of empathy for the man’s wife who is now a widow with a child to care for with another on the way. Insurance won’t pay out, mortgage protection etc, ‘adventure sports’ are usually excluded from policies. My condolences to his family.

The next part though and I apologise in advance for this, his actions were that of a selfish man, to go ahead on this trip with a decent probability of never returning was insane. His sponsor page, the original one was to pay for the trip – only leftovers would be given to Barretstown. So it was really – pay for me to do this.

Now people are being asked to donate again to mount a ‘rescue/recovery’ mission. At this point the decent thing needs to be done and those who have donated through gofundme should be refunded. If there is a gofundme started to ease the financial burden on his family then grand, donators can choose to donate with eyes wide open.

To hear this ‘hero’ crap, our soldiers killed on peacekeeping missions are heroes, Garda Ciaran Jones who jumped into a swollen river to rescue others and gave his life in the process is a hero, the firefighters who walk into burning buildings day in day out are heros.

This was a man chasing a thrill and lets be honest, there was no real charity element. He raised 8k, Barretstown wouldn’t have seen a cent of that based on what the page says.

Good post

But who exactly is referring to him as a 'hero' ?

I certainly have not seen or heard of him referred to as a 'hero'

20-05-2019 06:01PM

Still waters wrote: »

how much was it ?

The chopper trip would have been about €1000, or something four figure under 2K as far as I recall. Helicopters are extrairdinary costly to operate. The airplane trip was just under €200 if I recall.

yosser hughes · 20-05-2019 06:05PM

gman2k wrote: »

The Sherpas are the reason though why any climber makes it to the top as they lay the ropes, setup camps, setup the O2 caches etc.

The porters who supply all the goods to the teahouses along the trek in work very hard, carrying loads we could never dream of. But for them, it's their livelihood, and without this job they would be destined to work the building sites of Dubai like tens of thousands of their compatriots.
There are laws in place limiting the loads each can carry, but they often break the limits themselves of their own choice.
The most extreme load I saw was on the back of one porter up near Lobuche at 4900m - he was carrying a stove on his back, reckon it was 150kg.

The people who live in the Khumbu are some of the wealthiest in Nepal, due to the tourism.

Now to talk about the climbers again, I think a lot of comments on this thread are disgusting describing them as thrill seekers etc. For mountaineers, being in the mountains is what sustains them in life.
I know that the mortality rate amongst motorbikers is higher over their lifetime, yet we don't hear them described here in the same way as some of the disgusting comments about Shay.
Also, Shay had climbed Denali in Alaska, which is a serious achievement in itself on a very dangerous mountain. He was no thrill seeking tourist.

Your post screams that you do not get a lot of things people are critical of.

The 'choice' you describe Sherpas make is made under financial pressure you have no comprehension of.
Most of the comments critical of the choice this man made, are based on the fact that he had a pregnant wife and a 4 year old child at home. He had a good career, a young family and his life couldn't be further apart from the lives Sherpas lead. He had real choices in life , do you understand that difference?
Spare me the 'being a mountaineer is what sustains them' claptrap.
His wife and family are what should have sustained him.
Call it what it is.

tuxy · 20-05-2019 06:07PM

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Good post

But who exactly is referring to him as a 'hero' ?

I certainly have not seen or heard of him referred to as a 'hero'

Many comments on the gofundmepage do mainly because that page claims he was doing the climb to "raise vital funds on behalf of Barretstown"

Lackey · 20-05-2019 06:07PM

In comparison to the average salary it seems great...but in comparison to what people pay to be helped up the mountain It doesn’t read too well:

Here:

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/04/-sp-sherpa-families-everest-disaster-guides-avalanche-compensation

Or here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27907058

Never mind the fact that the Sherpas didn’t know how much westerners paid to climb until after the avalanche when they refused to go up the mountain and were abused by one climber who shouted at them ‘I’ve paid 50k to climb and you are going to bring me’

Not all were like this of course but it makes grim reading and saying ‘sure aren’t they earning more than the poorest ‘ doesn’t make it ok.

wrestlemaniac · 20-05-2019 06:16PM

Just an update from source:
1. They believe they have a location of Seamus.
2. A drone is being flown over to confirm this.
3. His GPS is believed to still be attached.
4. Garmin support not available over the weekend to confirm co-ordinates.

Correction to what I posted earlier in thread.
He had not reached C4, it was in sight.

Re. The fall
1. He descended with Sherpa due to AS.
2. He unhooked from support line to Sherpa.
3. At the same time, cross wind caused the fall.

Source gave a suggestion as to why he unhooked, however couldn't confirm.

tuxy · 20-05-2019 06:18PM

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Just an update from source:
1. They believe they have a location of Seamus.
2. A drone is being flown over to confirm this.
3. His GPS is believed to still be attached.
4. Garmin support not available over the weekend to confirm co-ordinates.

Correction to what I posted earlier in thread.
He had not reached C4, it was in sight.

Re. The fall
1. He descended with Sherpa due to AS.
2. He unhooked from support line to Sherpa.
3. At the same time, cross wind caused the fall.

Source gave a suggestion as to why he unhooked, however couldn't confirm.

Any info on the Sherpa?

adox · 20-05-2019 06:19PM

NIMAN wrote: »

This is a very interesting programme, about the 33 yr old Canadian woman who climbed Everest but who died on the return from the summit.
She was very inexperienced but managed to do it, against the advice of the sherpas, but it cost her her life.
A lot of her own video footage is in the piece.

I watched this the other day. An amazing feat really that she managed to summit despite having more or less no climbing experience whatsoever and being one of the slowest climbers in the group. Add to that the huge delays getting up the mountain it really was incredible.

Of course her total lack of experience made her make some fatal decisions. Th expedition group also have to take some responsibility.

Funnily enough, and quite on topic here, her body was recovered from the mountain a few weeks later, which I found surprising given the altitude.

20-05-2019 06:21PM

Good article on dangers of Everest:

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/mortality-on-mount-everest/360927/

wrestlemaniac · 20-05-2019 06:25PM

tuxy wrote: »

Any info on the Sherpa?

As far as I know Sherpa is fine, he's the one confirming some of the details as both Sherpa and Seamus went ahead of the group to descend quicker.

That is why Hana only discovered Seamus was missing when the rest of the group reached C4

tuxy · 20-05-2019 06:37PM

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

As far as I know Sherpa is fine, he's the one confirming some of the details as both Sherpa and Seamus went ahead of the group to descend quicker.

That is why Hana only discovered Seamus was missing when the rest of the group reached C4

Some good news at least. What about Ravi Thakar who was also part of the team? I can't find any info on him and if he had a family.

20-05-2019 06:43PM

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Just an update from source:
1. They believe they have a location of Seamus.
2. A drone is being flown over to confirm this.
3. His GPS is believed to still be attached.
4. Garmin support not available over the weekend to confirm co-ordinates.

Correction to what I posted earlier in thread.
He had not reached C4, it was in sight.

Re. The fall
1. He descended with Sherpa due to AS.
2. He unhooked from support line to Sherpa.
3. At the same time, cross wind caused the fall.

Source gave a suggestion as to why he unhooked, however couldn't confirm.

What exactly is the source for this ?

A drone at C4 on Everest ?
Doesn't sound very plausible given the lack of air and the weather conditions.

Garmin support not available over the weekend ?
A multi billion dollar company can't offer support over the weekend ?

Again does not sound very plausible.

Blaizes · 20-05-2019 06:45PM

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Just an update from source:
1. They believe they have a location of Seamus.
2. A drone is being flown over to confirm this.
3. His GPS is believed to still be attached.
4. Garmin support not available over the weekend to confirm co-ordinates.

Correction to what I posted earlier in thread.
He had not reached C4, it was in sight.

Re. The fall
1. He descended with Sherpa due to AS.
2. He unhooked from support line to Sherpa.
3. At the same time, cross wind caused the fall.

Source gave a suggestion as to why he unhooked, however couldn't confirm.

Thank you for giving this update. Tentatively it could be good news and some measure of comfort to his family but early days I guess.

On a separate note you mentioned AS is this altitude sickness?

Duane Dibbley · 20-05-2019 06:45PM

tuxy wrote: »

Some good news at least. What about Ravi Thakar who was also part of the team? I can't find any info on him and if he had a family.

Ravi Thakar, 28, was found dead inside his tent at Camp IV on Mount Everest early Friday while Narayan Singh died at Camp IV on Thursday night when he was climbing down from the 8,485-meter Mount Makalu summit, world's fifth highest mountain.

Dipankar Ghos, 52, from Kolkata went missing from above Camp IV while returning from the Mount Makalu summit, said Mingma Sherpa, Chairman at Seven Summit Treks.

A search team, which reached the area from where the climber is suspected to have gone missing, however, failed to trace him, Sherpa said.

Ghos climbed Mount Everest in 2011 and has also scaled Mount Kanchenjunga, Mount Lhotse, Mount Manaslu and Mount Dhaulagiri among other peaks.

Thakar died after he suffered from high altitude sickness.

"Fellow climbers found him dead inside the tent," Sherpa was quoted as saying by The Himalayan Times.

Ravi was part of an eight-member expedition led by renowned Irish climber Noel Richard Hanna.

He along with other members made it to the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday morning.

Another member of the same expedition - Seamus Sean Lawless from Ireland - slipped from the balcony area while descending from the summit point.

20-05-2019 06:45PM

From an aircraft...

tuxy · 20-05-2019 06:48PM

Duane Dibbley wrote: »

Ravi Thakar, 28, was found dead inside his tent at Camp IV on Mount Everest early Friday

Yeah that's all I can find, he was on the same team as Seamus, his body was found but less info. Wouldn't finding the body give more info?

fits · 20-05-2019 06:52PM

Thanks for the update wrestlemaniac. Sounds plausible. There are many reasons why you might need to unhook for a bit but with altitude sickness and exhaustion you’re very vulnerable. It’s tragic.

Something similar happened the American chap (who later married Cher) from the Everest series. He was lucky to survive ( but wrecked his hand afaik)

20-05-2019 06:57PM

tuxy wrote: »

We may never know what it's used for and no one in the media would dare ask.

What’s the situation with Revenue re Gofundme earnings, does anybody here know?

tuxy · 20-05-2019 07:03PM

Deleted User wrote: »

What’s the situation with Revenue re Gofundme earnings, does anybody here know?

My understanding(open to correction) is that any money raised like this to a person or organisation that's not a registered charity will be taxed in the same way as any other source of income.

Sunrise_Sunset · 20-05-2019 07:04PM

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Just an update from source:
1. They believe they have a location of Seamus.
2. A drone is being flown over to confirm this.
3. His GPS is believed to still be attached.
4. Garmin support not available over the weekend to confirm co-ordinates.

Correction to what I posted earlier in thread.
He had not reached C4, it was in sight.

Re. The fall
1. He descended with Sherpa due to AS.
2. He unhooked from support line to Sherpa.
3. At the same time, cross wind caused the fall.

Source gave a suggestion as to why he unhooked, however couldn't confirm.

What's the source's suggestion?

ozzy jr · 20-05-2019 07:06PM

gman2k wrote: »

The Sherpas are the reason though why any climber makes it to the top as they lay the ropes, setup camps, setup the O2 caches etc.

Sure where's the sense of achievement in that?

"Oh look, I've climbed Everest (but someone else did all the hard work)".

tuxy · 20-05-2019 07:13PM

ozzy jr wrote: »

Sure where's the sense of achievement in that?

"Oh look, I've climbed Everest (but someone else did all the hard work)".

The excitement comes from the fact that you are still risking your life, even if someone else is doing all the work.

Crusty Jocks · 20-05-2019 07:15PM

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Source gave a suggestion as to why he unhooked, however couldn't confirm.

There's an awful lot of your post which is pure unconfirmed bolloc...speculation but you don't want to divulge this little bit, was it by any chance a very heroic and selfless act by Seamus to save poor old Mr. Sherpa? Keep us posted when you have your next update from deep throat on Twitter, am on the edge of my seat here. Nothing like a bit of attention.

Drones, garmin...for f*ck sake. I seriously hope some Nepalese lads are running the show with this around a laptop having a few pints in some shack pissing themselves laughing and take every cent of that GoFundMe.

janfebmar · 20-05-2019 07:20PM

The youngest to ever climb Everest was only 13, the oldest was a Japanese guy over 80.

The most amount of people to ever reach the summit of Everest in a single day was on May 19, 2012, when over 200 people reached it. Can you imagine that, people almost queing up to get pictures without some stranger in the background.
Fascinating.

wrestlemaniac · 20-05-2019 07:24PM

tuxy wrote: »

Some good news at least. What about Ravi Thakar who was also part of the team? I can't find any info on him and if he had a family.

I've nothing more on Ravi beyond the limited information already posted

wrestlemaniac · 20-05-2019 07:34PM

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

What exactly is the source for this ?

A drone at C4 on Everest ?
Doesn't sound very plausible given the lack of air and the weather conditions.

Garmin support not available over the weekend ?
A multi billion dollar company can't offer support over the weekend ?

Again does not sound very plausible.

Doesn't matter who the source is, I'm providing an update, you can take it at face value or call BS, doesn't bother me one way or the other.

Have a read about the use of a drone and mountaineering

https://www.redbull.com/ie-en/drone-mountaineering-rescue

wrestlemaniac · 20-05-2019 07:35PM

Blaizes wrote: »

Thank you for giving this update. Tentatively it could be good news and some measure of comfort to his family but early days I guess.

On a separate note you mentioned AS is this altitude sickness?

Yes altitude sickness

wrestlemaniac · 20-05-2019 07:39PM

Crusty Jocks wrote: »

There's an awful lot of your post which is pure unconfirmed bolloc...speculation but you don't want to divulge this little bit, was it by any chance a very heroic and selfless act by Seamus to save poor old Mr. Sherpa? Keep us posted when you have your next update from deep throat on Twitter, am on the edge of my seat here. Nothing like a bit of attention.

Drones, garmin...for f*ck sake. I seriously hope some Nepalese lads are running the show with this around a laptop having a few pints in some shack pissing themselves laughing and take every cent of that GoFundMe.

As I said to another poster, take it at face value or call it BS, makes no odds to me.

20-05-2019 07:39PM

wrestlemaniac wrote: »

Doesn't matter who the source is, I'm providing an update, you can take it at face value or call BS, doesn't bother me one way or the other.

Have a read about the use of a drone and mountaineering

https://www.redbull.com/ie-en/drone-mountaineering-rescue

Thanks

I'll call it BS

BarryD2 · 20-05-2019 07:48PM

Some people here seem to be dismayed at the working conditions of the local people. I've never been to the greater ranges but I do know a little of how things work there. The lads carrying the huge loads are not 'Sherpas' per se, they are porters. These mountainous regions often have little or no road infrastructure and since as long as people have been living there, they've portered everything in, that they haven't been able to obtain from local natural materials. Carrying loads is a way of life, so pointless to view that through the prism of comfy Irish society where you only need to lift stuff in and out the boot of your car. These people get paid for carrying loads. Now you can say it's exploitative to have them toting in beer, tents and ropes etc., but do understand that they'd be doing it anyway for their own people. Just a bit of extra cash income when the westerners come. Some porters carry stuff higher, the 'high altitude porters'. The climbing Sherpas are effectively professional mountain guides, paid to guide & assist climbers, fix ropes and bridges, liaise with teams etc. They're much further up the food chain than the porters.

Apart from that, I don't think anyone should really be commenting on the wisdom, commitments, finances of the missing man. Most certainly not those who've never set foot on anything higher than the Sugarloaf if that. Who are we to judge?

Everest

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