Why the Mountaineer Was Left Dying

June 26, 2006 by Gautam.

This week I was shocked to hear this news: climbers passed man dying on everest. I thought mountain climbers are of different nature and this kind behaviour was not expected from them. Sure enough, there was a hue and cry on this as described in this article. Then came this news : Australian climber left for dead on Everest reaches base camp and is in good condition. As I read few more articles, reports I came to know that some people did try to help him but it was difficult because he refused help as he was suffereing from hallucination which is pretty normal in that condition. It was still unbelievable that they would not notify the authorities who has more resources to help people like him. But as the news spread, authorities made impressive efforts and surprisingly found him alive and brought him down to safety. However, I am going to assume here that no one helped him and he was found dead as reported in the first article. As a writer/blogger I am allowed some licenses and I am going to use it. After researching extensively in psychology and interviewing numerous mountain climbers and thrill seekers, I came up with this list why the mountaineer was left dying on top on Mt. Everest. Hope you like it.

• On the way to the top, no one is your friend.
• If no one is helping him, there must be a reason.
• Someone going up : Let me go to the top first, I will help him on the way down.
• Someone going down : All my energy is gone, so f** tired. Let someone going up help him.
• He is on top of Mt Everest, the highest point in this earth, so close to heaven, why would anyone want to back to noisy, polluted, filthy hell we call earth. Where else can one find a better place to die?
• I am in a hurry to check out Everest, having paid so much money for the whole trip.
• If I help someone like this guy and don’t return back in time I will miss the next episode of Apprentice or Desparate Housewives.
• Helping an unknown person is always dangerous.
• I have no minutes left on my cell phone to call for help.
• Mountaineering is not for wimps. Who does’nt know it is such a macho thing. I am sure he knows it fully well and is not expecting any help. Trying to help him will only add insult to his injuries.

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