Thursday, May 25, 2006

I have to comment on this news story: David Sharp, solo climbing on Mt. Everest (stupid, yes) left to die by at least 40 mountaineers so they could continue their climb. They said he was too far gone. This is unbelievable and it's heartening to hear Sir Edmund Hillary speak out about this. He says a climb is not as important as a human life...and of course he's right. There's a lot to this story, but Diane Sawyer asked the age-old question: what would you do? I know what I would have done, and I know what you who are reading this would have done. We'd have stopped and rendered aid and rescue....even if it meant abandoning the climb. The guy with the prosthetic legs that was climbing past Sharp was, in fact, rescued off Mt. E once, at great risk to his rescuers in a snowstorm. That's how he lost his legs. And yet, he gives Sharp some oxygen and moves on. Unbelievable. And, yeah...I'm am SO judgin'.

3 comments:

kc bob said...

So sad how ambition seems to eclipse the really important things in life. Reading about Ken Lay's guilty verdict this morning reminds me that even religious people can be deceived ... and not just a little bit.

... Paige said...

I am right beside ya, pointin a finger & sayin what the... is wrong with yall?
Did these stupid heads sign a pack before they left that says the first one to the top, or more likely don't fall down cause you stay where ya flay.
And breath

Tracy said...

I remember attempting to watch the movie K2 with David a few years back — I couldn't make it through the whole thing. The words "stupid" and "pointless" kept coming to me.

Such a sad story, such a loss of perspective.

Don't be too hard on yourself for slightly judging. I am frequently reminded of Mark Twain's quote: "I sometimes think our Heavenly Father only made man because he was disappointed in the monkey."