Dr. Robert Milne
Dr. Robert Milne (2005, Phd worked on software)
A veteran climber who died while trying to ascend Mount Everest is to be buried on the peak, his wife said.
Dr Rob Milne, 49, was 1,200ft short of the summit of the world's highest mountain when he collapsed and died. The ascent on Everest was to have been the crowning achievement for the father-of-two, Rob Milne was a key figure in pioneering artificial intelligence applications. His goal was to reach all seven summits of the highest peaks and had already completed six of them. The expedition leader for Dr. Milne phoned his wife to break the sad news and told her that he had suffered a massive heart attack and that (HACE) (HAPE) could well of been the cause. Dr Milne was carrying a flag for Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University, which had given him an honorary degree. He had planned to photograph the flag on the summit and have it returned for Monday's official opening ceremony of the university's sports centre by Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell. Deteriorating weather conditions hampered the summit attempt and delayed the schedule by two weeks.
Image Above - Robert Gordon University Aberdeen.
Image Above- Donald Trump shakes hands with Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell
Dr. Milne had a distinguished career as a scientist, he has also worked for the Pentagon's chief (AI) scientist on artificial intelligence (AI). He was awarded a PhD in (AI) from Edinburgh University in 1983, Returning to Scotland in 1986, he founded Intelligent Applications Ltd in Livingston, West Lothian, one of the first UK companies to market expert systems technology. Under his astute direction, the company became an industry leader in developing intelligent software solutions; a fact recognised by many awards, including the Queen's Award for Technology. In recognition of his research work and leadership, Milne was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2003. As Munroist number 1860, he "bagged" his final Munro in 1997; he went on to become a senior figure in the Scottish Mountaineering Club and the author of a book on the Scottish Corbett hills (The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hills, 2002).
(A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 feet (914.4 m), the best known being Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles. Munros are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet (1856–1919), who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munro's Tables, in 1891. The publication of the original list is usually considered to be the epoch event (Instance in time) of modern peak bagging. (List of mountains that climbers attempt to summit) The list has been the subject of subsequent variation. The 2012 revision, published by the Scottish Mountaineering Club, has 282 Munros and 227 subsidiary tops. "Munro bagging" is the activity of climbing all the listed Munros. They present challenging conditions to walkers, particularly in winter. As of 2017, more than 6,000 people had reported completing a round. The first continuous round was completed by Hamish Brown in 1974, whilst the record for the fastest continuous round is currently held by Stephen Pyke, who completed a round in just under 40 days in 2010.
Ben Nevis (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Nibheis, is the highest mountain in the British Isles standing at 1,345 metres (4,411 ft) above sea level, it is at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William, The mountain is a popular destination, attracting an estimated 100,000 ascents a year, around three-quarters of which use the Pony Track from Glen Nevis. The 700-metre (2,300 ft) cliffs of the north face are among the highest in Scotland, providing classic scrambles and rock climbs of all difficulties for climbers and mountaineers, They are also the principal locations in Scotland for ice climbing. The summit, which is the collapsed dome of an ancient volcano features the ruins of an observatory which was continously staffed between 1883 and 1904, The meteorological data collected during this period is still important for understanding Scottish mountain weather. C. T. R. Wilson was inspired to invent the cloud chamber after a period spent working at the observatory. Ben Nevis is all that remains of a Devonian volcano that met a cataclysmic end in the Carboniferous period around 350 million years ago. The two lying side-by-side is evidence the huge volcano collapsed in on itself creating an explosion comparable to Thera (2nd millenium BC) or Krakatoa (1883). The mountain is now all that remains of the imploded inner dome of the volcano. Its form has been extensively shaped by glaciation.
Image Above Ben Nevis - Ben Nevis. Photo: Scott Muir - The first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis was made on 17 August 1771 by James Robertson, an Edinburgh botanist who was in the region to collect botanical specimums. Another early ascent was in 1774 by John Williams, who provided the first account of the mountain's geological structure. John Keats climbed the mountain in 1818, comparing the ascent to "mounting ten St. Pauls without the convenience of a staircase". The following year William MacGillivray, who was later to become a distinguished naturalist, reached the summit only to find "fragments of earthen and glass ware, chicken bones, corks, and bits of paper". It was not until 1847 that Ben Nevis was confirmed by the Ordnance Survey as the highest mountain in Britain and Ireland, ahead of its rival Ben Macdhui. The first path to the summit was built at the same time as the observatory and was designed to allow ponies to carry up supplies, with a maximum gradient of one in five. After the arrival of the West Highland Railway in Fort William in 1894. Around this time the first of several proposals was made for a rack railway to the summit, none of which came to fruition.
Ben Nevis summit - a bonnie view !
Image Above - The Observatory Hotel (also known as The Temperance Hotel) Ben Nevis - The Ben Nevis Observatory Hotel operated from 1885-1916.
Image Above - Dr. Eberhard Schaaf
May of 2012 was a very bad season for climber fatalaties, Dr. Eberhard Schaaf was German and 61 years of age when he died on top of the highest mountain above sea level on 19th May 2012. Like many climbers that reach the death zone he succumbed to high altitude sickness (HAPE) (HACE) complications while making his descent down the South side of the mountain, He was part of a climbing group organised by Asian Trekking adventure agency, Schaff was an ethusiastic and passionate mountaineer from Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, He was taking part in the "Eco Everest Expedition", a clean-up operation that since 2008 has cleared over 13 tonnes of rubbish from the mountain. Medical staff at the Himalayan Rescue Association believe the cause of death to be High Altitude Cerebral Edema," a press release from Asain Trekking said. (HACE) is one of the very worst symptoms to aquire high up on the mountain and can bring on death in a very short space of time.
Dr Schaff was not the only climber to die that day but several others also perished including Shriya Shah-Klorfine (11 January 1979 - May 19, 2012) was a Nepal-born Canadian woman who died while descending from the summit of Mt Everest in 2012. Shah-Klorfine had booked a climb with Utmost Adventure Trekking, which was a new guiding company. Neither she nor the guide firm had much climbing experience. The leader of the guide firm said he had asked her not to try to summit on that day, and previously warned her she was a below-average climber. However, another guide firm said she was not given enough bottled oxygen. One issue noted by the guide firm and other climbers that day was long waiting times on the mountain, caused by slow passage through certain bottlenecks on the climbing route. The 2012 season was noted as the worst since 1996, with about 11 deaths for the season.
The Himalayan Database records that she died on May 19, 2012, on the south side of Mount Everest at 8400 meters altitude. Further fatalities that season include two on the north and eight on the south side including Shriya Shah-Klorfine, with four other deaths on the same day as Shah-Klorfine. She is said to have died 250 meters (~820 feet) from Camp 4 (Nepal side). The day after she died, climber Leanne Shuttleworth came across her body. Shuttleworth and her father with whom she was climbing had to go around Shah-Klorfine's body, as she was still clipped to the climbing line. Her body was on the mountain for about ten days before it was carried back down.
Image Above - Shriya Shah-Klorfine
Image Above Bruce Klorfine, the husband of Shriya Shah-Klorfine, paid his respects to her mortal remains on Tuesday by laying a wreath over her body.
The body was retrieved from over 8000 meters altitude and then taken off the mountain by helicopter. On July 8, 2012, a memorial service was ministered for her at a church in Toronto, Canada. She was married to Bruce Klorfine, who was from Toronto, Canada. She met her husband while working on a cruise ship, and they settled in Canada. Her husband was a jazz and event piano player. They were together for about a decade before she died on Everest. Shah-Klorfine was also a businesswoman and a candidate in a general election in Mississauga East-Cooksville. The business she started was "SOS Splash of Style Inc."She was 33 years old when she died on Everest"
"On that day, there were too many people to go climb the Everest, there were too many traffic jams," her outfitter, Ganesh Thakuri, managing director of Utmost Adventure Trekking Pvt. Ltd., said by telephone Tuesday after he returned from base camp. She was weak but insisted on continuing the climb which took 22 hours for her to reach the summit, As she descended the problems began which is consistent with most other climbers who dont allow enough energy stamina oxygen and many more mental and physical functions. More bad luck added to Ms Klorfine's dillema as the weather suddenly changed producing strong winds, she then became disconnected from her oxygen supply. The guides tried to help her by supporting her the best they could but she was too weak and collapsed to the ground. As she lay there she cried out "Save Me" in desperation and fear. The guides frantically tried to revive her but it was too late and she died where she fell.
(Jonathan James Kedrowski (born May 12, 1979) is an author, ski-mountaineer, and geographer from Colorado, He is best known for summiting and camping overnight on the summit of all of Colorado's Fourteeners (mountains over 14,000 feet) in 2011. Between 1996 and 1999, Kedrowski summited all 55 of Colorado's Fourteeners. In 2011, Kedrowski summitted, camped, and spent the night on top of all 55 peaks over the course of 95 days. According to The Denver Post, Kedrowski was the first person to accomplish this feat. In 2012, Image Above - Kedrowski, successfully climbed Mount Everest, reaching the summit on May 26, 2012. In 2014, Kedrowski skied 20 Cascade Volcanoes in 30 days, camping on the summits of 7 of the more notable volcanoes such as Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount Baker, and Mount Rainier. His adventure was chronicled in his second book "Skiing and Sleeping on the Summits: Cascade Volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest" which was officially released in April 2016. Kedrowski's summit was followed closely and featured on the DatelineNBC Documentary "Into the Death Zone" which won the 2014 Edward R Morrow Award for best Sound and Video.)
Jon Kedrowski settles in for the night on the summit of El Diente Peak, elev. 14,159 feet, in 2011. Kedrowski became the first man to sleep on the summit of every Fourteener in Colorado and produced a picture book about his adventure. (Provided by Jon Kedrowski) - An american climber, Jon Kedrowski who was close to Ms Klorfine remarked that there was a chokepoint that delayed climbers from moving forward for up to two full hours, they had to wait in the death zone with gusts of 130 kilometres an hour that shifted continuously and blasted the climbers who were exhausted at this time. He desperately tried to help disoriented frostbitten and delusional climbers while watching four others freeze to death in front of him a most terrible sight and situation. Another victim was laying face down in the bitterly cold snow and ice with there headlamp still on,
Another man was hallucinating extremely bad, he took off his hat and threw his gloves away, He then reached out with arms held high while looking at me with glazed and dead eyes, he was frozen and his actions were almost zombie like in movement as he begged for help, More victims perished including 61, South Korean Song Won-bin, 24, and Ha Wenyi, 55, from China. Ms. Shah-Klorfine had been training for two years, walking and running 19 kilometres a day with 20 kilograms on her back, but she had limited climbing experience. Ms. Ahuja believes there should be tighter controls on the number of people climbing Everest at the same time to alleviate traffic jams. (The mountain provides enough risk and endurance without bottlenecks caused by guiding groups and other climbers) (Most climbers die in the death zone and each climber should be as quick as they can before descending) The agreement Ms. Shah-Klorfine signed with Utmost Adventure Trekking gave the expedition team the authority to call off the climb if she wasn't well, Dr. Lamba said.
An amateur Korean mountaineer has gone missing while descending Mount Everest.
The Korean Embassy in Nepal said Sunday that 24-year old Song Won-bin went missing after he fell off a cliff late Saturday night while returning to his base camp.
Song was reportedly suffering from altitude sickness when the accident happened.
The embassy says it is investigating the accident and preparing a search and rescue mission.
Song was among a team of 10 amateur mountaineers that arrived for an expedition of Mount Everest in late March.
The group was planning to return to Korea before the end of the month.
Reporter : yjkim@arirang.co.kr
Image Above - Song Won-Bin - The Mount Everest climbing season of 2012 included several hundred summitings and the highest fatality total since 1996. 683 climbers from 34 countries attempted to climb the mountain, and 547 people summited. A record was set in May when 234 climbers summitted on a single day. There were 11 deaths, some of which were attributed to overcrowding near the peak
Dr. Charles MacAdams (2016)
Charles MacAdams was a cardiac anesthesiologist at the University of Calgary who climbed to the North Col of Mount Everest the day before he passed away. The 62-year-old Calgary doctor would combine his Himalayan climbing trips with teaching and practicing medicine. In Kathmandu, he would meet with families and work with local doctors. In Calgary, he had trained over 150 doctors and was recognized internationally for his work. Close to home, he had climbed Mount Temple 13 times, often taking less experienced climbers who needed a helping hand. His son Jeff told the Calgary Herald, “He was ready to retire, but practicing medicine, and more so, teaching medicine in Nepal was re-energizing for him.” MacAdams never wanted to reach the summit and was happy with his climb to the 7,000-metre North Col. He was kind and patient. He loved dogs and sailing. But he really came alive when combining his love of service with his love of adventure.
“He was ready to retire,” Jeff said. “But practicing medicine, and more so, teaching medicine in Nepal was re-energizing for him.” It was his first trip to the Tibetan side of the mountain. Jeff said his father passed away in his sleep and was not injured. The cause of death is unknown. This was his second trip to base camp, but his first time on the Tibetan side of the mountain. His group had planned to climb another peak that day, but when weather made that impossible, they decided to give Everest a try. MacAdams’ loved ones may never know why he passed away so suddenly. Though the family has a history of cardiac arrhythmia, Jeff said his father’s exact cause of death is unknown.
Image Above - Charles MacAdams, right, at the summit of Island Peak in Nepal with his son, Jeff, in 2010. MacAdams died at Everest base camp on May 11. Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak, is a mountain in Sagarmatha National Park of the Himalayas of eastern Nepal, The peak was named Island Peak in 1953 by members of the British Mount Everest expedition because it appears as an island in a sea of ice when viewed from Dingboche. The peak was later renamed in 1983 to Imja Tse but Island Peak remains the popular choice. The peak is actually an extension of the ridge coming down off the south end of Lhotse Shar. The southwest summit of Imja Tse was first climbed in 1953 as part of a training exercise by a British expedition that went on to summit Mount Everest. The team who climbed Imja Tse comprised Tensing Norgay, Charles Evans, Alfred Gregory, Charles Wylie and seven other sherpas. The main summit was first climbed in 1956 by Hans-Rudolf Von Gunten and two unknown Sherpas, members of a Swiss team that went on to make the second ascent of Everest and first ascent of Lhotse. Imja Tse is a popular mountaineering objective for climbers in Nepal, with its standard climbing route having the difficulty rating of Alpine PD+. The peak is typically climbed in a round trip from Kathmandu in 20 days.
Two climbers celebrate reaching the summit of Island Peak. To climb Island Peak, one has the option of starting from a base camp at 5,087 metres (16,690 ft) called Pareshaya Gyab and starting the climb between 2 and 3 am. Another popular option is to ascend to High Camp at around 5,600 metres (18,400 ft) to reduce the amount of effort and time needed for summit day. However, adequate water supply and concerns about sleeping at a higher altitude may dictate starting from base camp. Base camp to high camp is basically a hike but just above high camp, some rocky steps require moderate scrambling and up through a broad open gully. At the top of the gully, glacier travel begins and proceeds up to a steep snow and ice slope. From here, fixed ropes may be set up by the guides for the strenuous ascent of nearly 100 metres (330 ft) to the summit ridge. The climb to the summit is somewhat difficult due to steep climbing. On top, while Mount Everest is a mere ten kilometres away to the north, the view will be blocked by the massive wall of Lhotse, towering 2,300 m (7,500 ft) above the summit.
Climbers ascend Island Peak. A substantial crevasse along most of the headwall leading to the summit ridge has sometimes caused teams to turn back. In April 2009, the Nepal Mountaineering Association tasked the Nepal Mountaineering Instructors' Association with installing stairs (ladders) at the crevasse. As of the 2016 fall climbing season, a 5-meter high fixed aluminum ladder is being used to cross the crevasse.
Image Above - Dr Maria Strydom and her husband Dr Robert Gropel. In May of 2016 a climber died while attempting to summit Mount Everest, She was a Monash University lecturer called Dr Maria Strydom, 34. Expedition leader Arnold Coster Expeditions finally broke it's silence on Monday afternoon with a detailed report of the events. Maria unfortunately developed altitude sickness (HACE) as she ascended the mammoth mountain, Her husband Robert Gropel is a vet for Ivanhoe East Veterinary Hospital. Maria's sister is furious that Arnold Coster Expeditions had not contacted her in good time or even Maria's parents. Her distraught husband does not want to leave the mountain but her body lies 8000 meters above and is in a very hard place to retrieve. Maria did not make the summit and was halfway between the South Summit and the Balcony when she began to develop serious symptons of altitude sickness, She became confused and was hardly able to move the expedition company stated. Maria's husband and several sherpa's struggled all night to bring her down and miraculously she made it back to the South Col at 2am that night, after spending 31 hours above the camp.
The sherpa's and her husband managed to stabilise her that night with medicine and oxygen and Maria was able to walk out of the tent herself the next morning. Helicopter rescue is only possible from Camp 3, so they continued there descent the next morning. "Marisa was able to walk herself, but two hours out of camp she collapsed on the 'Geneva Spur'. Her husband tried to retrieve her, but this was not possible any more. Rob was evacuated by helicopter from Camp 2 the next day and was safely taken to Kathmandu. Rescuers were assembling teams to try to recover Dr Strydom's body, as well as that of a fellow climber. Dr Robert Coster's uncle had warned the couple not to attempt the climb as he had a foreboding and bad feeling about there trip. Dr Robert Gropel was also sick with a build up of fluids on his lungs. Dr Gropel said that he and his wife were extremly fit and trained intensely to prepare themselves but now he is completely devastated at the loss of his beloved wife.
Tributes have poured in for South African expat Marisa ‘Maria’ Strydom who tragically passed away on Mount Everest.
Image Above - Dr Maria Strydom enjoys a drink with her mother. The couple's expedition had already lost another climber by the time the elements took hold of Dr Strydom. Dutch man Eric Arnold had told companions "my body has no energy left" before dying in his sleep, according to Dutch news agency ANP. The couple had successfully reached Camp 4, 400 metres below the summit by a Friday, as indicated by the satellite pings posted online from their phones. Furtengi Sherpa, the operational manager of Seven Summit Treks, said Dr Strydom had been battling illness as the final push to the summit began. "She was tired and energy was down," he said. Suffering from altitude sickness and just hundreds of metres from the summit, she was forced to turn back through the "death zone","She could not resist any more her weakness and she stopped breathing right there," said Mr Furtengi. "The Monash University community is deeply saddened by the tragic news of the loss of Dr Strydom on Mount Everest," the university said in a statement.
(Eric Arnold, 36, a professional mountain climber and motivational speaker from Rotterdam died while trying again to reach the summit after previous attempts ended in disaster. Arnold said he dreamed of climbing Everest since he was a little boy - and had a poster of the mountain taped next to one of actress Pamela Anderson above his bed. He survived the avalanche at Base Camp that left 18 dead, and he was there the year before when 16 Sherpa guides were crushed by a falling block of ice. In 2012, bad weather forced him to turn back just metres from the peak.
Image Above - The body of Dutch climber Eric Arnold, who died last week near South Col during a Mount Everest expedition, is carried to Teaching hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, May 26, 2016. After the terrible earthquake he said, he had thought long and hard about whether he should come back again. "I didn't decide immediately to go back. I waited until my emotions were more stable," Arnold said. "But Mount Everest is my big childhood dream." Aside from the three previous official attempts, he was felled in 2013 by a freak ice skating accident after months of training. He scoffed at their concern. "A lot of people say, 'Maybe it's not your turn, maybe it's not your fate, maybe the mountain is telling you not to climb it,' " he said. "But I still have a passion for it. When I realised that, I decided I have to go back." His body was retrieved by helicopter and flown to a hospital in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu on Thursday.
Arnold, 35, was one of three people who died in three days on the “death zone” of the world’s highest peak. He reached the summit on his fifth attempt just hours before his death. The following day Sunday Subhash Paul, an Indian national died while being helped down the mountain by Sherpa guides, and a search continues for two Indian climbers who have been missing since the weekend.
Eric Arnold - Dr Maria Strydom continued: Dr Strydom and Dr Gropel were passionate vegan campaigners and wanted to tackle Everest to challenge the diet's stereotypes. "It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak," Dr Strydom said in March, "By climbing the seven summits we want to prove that vegans can do anything and more." Over a period of eight years, the experienced mountaineers had successfully climbed Denali in Alaska, Aconcagua in Argentina, Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey and Kilimanjaro in Africa. Dr Gropel, a vet, has since said he 'blames himself' for her death after leaving her behind to climb the summit himself. He continued up the mountain while his exhausted wife held back after deciding she was not well enough to reach the top. 'I asked, 'Do you mind if I go on?' and she said 'you go on, I'll wait for you here.''After a failed attempt to encourage her to keep going, he went ahead alone with her permission to complete the climb but said it 'wasn't special' because she had been left behind.
Dr Marisa "Maria" Strydom and her husband Dr Robert Gropel were dedicated in pursuing there dream to conquer the seven summits. Dr Strydom's body was recovered from Mount Everest and taken to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu . 'It was a superhuman effort, she was without oxygen for 20 hours ... because of the length of time it took her, and took us to get her down, and it ran out. Dr Maria Strydom died on May 20 near the summit of Mount Everest after succumbing to altitude sickness - Her remains were returned to Melboune Australia.
Image Above Peter Kinlock - A Scottish mountaineer died on Mount Everest in 2010, Peter Kinloch succumbed to the elements 14 hours after reaching the highest point on Earth,
Peter was only 28 years old when he lost his life and was form Skye, As he descended back down the treacherous peak he lost his sight which is contributable to snow blindness and he could not be saved, His condition worsened despite efforts to save him. Mr Kinlock was taking part in the Seven Summits Challenge where climbers tackle the highest mountain on each continent. He reached the summit on 25th May 2010 but died around 2am the following day. A blog was written by a team comrade who wrote down all the details relating to Mr Kinlocks deteriorating state, The blog states that Mr Kinlock began to lose his coordination on the mountain before losing his sight, This condition however had occured before said Mr Kinlock while he continued to slowly descend,
Three sherpa's administered drugs and oxygen over a 12-hour period and attempted to coax him down from a point called Mushroom Rock but finally had to abandon him, blind and with frostbite on two of his fingers, at an altitude of 8,600 metres, as the weather deteriorated.
The blog continued: "With no choice, Mr Kinloch was left on the mountain while team leader David O'Brien and the Sherpas arrived back at Camp 3 with hypothermia, exhaustion and minor frostbite."
David O`Brien at the Summit of Everest from Tibet. Fellow climbers who accompanied Mr Kinlock to the summit expressed there satisfaction that Mr Kinlock was completely elated to have climbed Mount Everest, Mr Kinloch, who climbed his first Scottish mountain at the age of two and began bagging Munros a year later, always wore a hat and scarf in the colours of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Speaking from his home at Glenhinnisdal, near Uig, on Skye, Mr Kinloch's father, also called Peter, said: "We can take comfort in that he achieved one of his lifetime ambitions. How many people can say they stood on top of the world? "Peter packed so much into 28 years. He did in that time, what many people fail to achieve in a lifetime. He used to go climbing mountains when he was a little boy. Being in the hills has been with him all his life." Before leaving for Tibet to tackle Everest he said: "I am now really looking forward to breaking out the axe and getting the crampons icy again. Let's hope I can add Mount Everest to the list as I work towards completing the holy grail of the Seven Summits Challenge."
Mr Kinlocks body was still on the mountain months later according to his best friend Rodney Hogg who was 44 at the time of this story, Rodney a BBC Employee from West London was attempting to reach the peak of Mt Everest to raise money for Children in Need when he spotted the body of his friend Peter Kinlock. Rodney explains, "He was just lying there, his body preserved immaculately by the ice," Mr Hogg said. "When I saw him I instantly knew it was Peter. You could see his face. It was just like he was lying on his back taking a rest." Mr Kinlock's family asked Rodney to look out for his body as he may have a digital camera that would contain images of his summit, Mr Hogg continues, From where his body was it was just to risky to get close and had to say goodbye from a distance. It was just to dangerous to climb down and get any closer but I had an emotional moment to pay my respects he adds.
Mr Kinlock (L) and Rodney Hogg (R) - Mr Kinlocks fellow climbers had clipped his body to the mountainside where it is likely to remain for quite some time unabe to decompose because of the minus temperatures. Ian Woodall a 56 year old British veteran of five Everest ascents is raising funds for a rare expedition which will make no attempt to scale the peak. Instead, he and his partner, Phuri Sherpa, will aim to make a series of climbs to 26,000 feet, a few hours' below the summit, to find and bury Peter Kinloch, a 28 year old IT specialist from Skye, who died in 2010. They also hope to bury Tsewang Paljor, an Indian border policeman from Ladakh, who died with seven other climbers in 1996. In May 1998, Mr Woodall found Frankie Arsentiev, the first American woman to reach the summit of the world's highest peak without oxygen, dying 800ft below the summit. Despite trying to save her, he and his climbing partner were forced to abandon her. The following year he was shocked when he found Arsentiev's body and subsequently returned in 2007 to bury her. He had also hoped to bury Paljor on the same ascent but was forced to give up as fatigue set in.
Now he is planning to fulfil his promise to the Indian policeman's family and to bury Kinloch early next year "with dignity".
Image Above - Ian Woodall second (L) On 25 May 1996, two South Africans - Ian Woodall and Cathy O'Dowd, reached the summit of Mount Everest. This was the first official South African team to conquer the highest mountain in the world. Their jubilation was dampened when a member of their team, British photographer Bruce Herrod, went missing. He had reportedly reached the summit hours later, and is thought to have died on his descent. Until the end of apartheid, South Africans had not been able to get a permit for Everest. The expedition was initiated by Ian Woodall, who became the leader. South African president at the time, Nelson Mandela, was patron of the expedition. The climbing team was riddled with conflict for much of the expedition. Cathy O'Dowd went on to reach the summit of Everest again in 1999, this time from the Northern side. This made her the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both the southern (25 May 1996) and northern sides (29 May 1999).
Ian Woodall center at the 1996 Mt Everest expedition (Base Camp)
To bury both men will require Mr Woodall and his partner to make three ascents and descents, one journey to set up three camps between Base Camp and 26,000 feet, and one each for each of the dead. The entire mission will take five and a half weeks and cost more than £100,000.
He has yet to contact Kinloch's family, but said he would closer to the time, to ask them how they wish to say goodbye to their son. The family is believed to be upset about the plans to locate and bury Kinloch and that they have not yet had any contact from Mr Woodall.
The Indian policeman's brother will accompany them to base camp and will then perform a Buddhist last rites ceremony over a radio link when the climbers reach him. "These [two bodies] are visible to every climber who climbs the mountain and that's what we want to change. It's one climber doing it for another. I would hope someone would do it for me," he said yesterday.
Image Left - Dr Roland Yearwood
An Alabama doctor died on Sunday 21st May 2107 morning time while climbing Mount Everest, reports say. Dr Yearwood died not to far from the mountains peak and authorities are still trying to find the cause of death. Yearwood was a physician at Georgiana Medical Center in Butler County. He completed hospital training in London and New York City before moving to south Alabama 20 years ago, He was married to another local physician, Amrita, and was a father of two daughters. The website biography showed Yearwood was attempting to climb the tallest summit on the seven continents. In 2015, Yearwood was also climbing Mount Everest when a massive earthquake shook Nepal, causing an avalanche. Yearwood and his group survived the incident and descended to basecamp, where a helicopter rescued them. Authorities are not sure whether Yearwood was still climbing to the summit or descending when he died. He was somewhere in the mountain's "death zone," above 26,247 feet.
Image Above - Georgiana Medical Center where Dr Roland Yearwood worked. GEORGIANA, AL (WSFA) - One of the two hospitals serving the Butler County community will close its doors in just over a month, the latest hospital to shutter its doors in rural Alabama.
Ivy Creek of Butler, owners of Georgiana Medical Center, confirmed Monday it will close the facility on March 31, 2019.
“The rising costs of healthcare coupled with the cuts in reimbursement have made it impractical to maintain financial viability with two hospitals operating in Butler County,” said Ivy Creek CEO Mike Bruce. “He was extremely prepared for this. He was confident that he was going to reach the top, come back down and come back home,” Yearwood’s daughter said. “He wanted to work even harder to go back up there. That was all he thought about and wanted to do,” his daughter said.“He was really honest, really kind and a generous person. I was really lucky to have him as a dad,” she said. “He gets to be in the place that he wanted to accomplish his goal, and that’s where he’s going to be forever.”
Image Above - Dimitar LLievski-Murato - Many climber professional and amateur has died while descending the mountain, This is sometimes due to lack of energy (HACE) (HAPE) unpredictable weather changes, delays (Broken ropes) lack of oxygen, slips and many more, This list of climbers all died while descending the peak after a successful summit. Dimitar Ilievski - Murato Димитар Илиевски - Мурато) (1953 in (Bitola city in the Southwestern part of the Republic of North Macedonian) May 10, 1989 in Mount Everest was an alpinist from the Republic of Macedonia representing SFR Yogoslavia, the first Macedonian ever to climb the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, He died on the descent of Mt. Everest. Murato, as he was known in his native town Bitola, reached the top of Mount Everest on May 10, 1989 as part of a larger Yugoslavian expedition, of which only few alpinists succeeded to reach the peak. He is noted as the 264th summiter of Mount Everest. After reaching the summit, he put the flags of both former SFR Yogoslavia and SR Macedonia there. In his honour, a traditional memorial march to Pelister named after him is organized every year around the date of his biggest achievement and tragedy.
Image Above - Memorial 2011 - Dimitar Ilievski
Dimitar Ilievski Murato Macedonian 1953 in Bitola May 10 1989 in Mount Everest was an alpinist from the Republic of Macedonia
Image Above - Another memorial in Macedonia
Image Above Hristo Prodanov (Bulgarian: Христо Проданов) (February 24, 1943 - April 21, 1984) was a Bulgarian mountaineer. He was the first Bulgarian who climbed Mount Everest, doing it through the most difficult way - the West Ridge- as well as alone and without oxygen. He was the first person to climb Everest in April, when the weather conditions are generally too bad for an expedition. He died in a storm during the descent. Prodanov was still a student when he became involved in mountaineering. He began work as a metallurgical engineer in Kremikovtzi AD in 1976. He had his first 7000 m ascent on August 6, 1967 when he climbed Lenin Peak ((7134m) - August 2, 1975, July 28, 1982, August 6, 1982, July 13, 1983, August 2, 1983) He had previously climbed several peaks in the Alps. His major successes were related to Hindu Kush (1976) and Lhotse on April 30, 1981, going solo and without oxygen. In 1981 he was the first Bulgarian to climb Lhotse without the use of supplementary oxygen. His niece, Mariana Prodanova Maslarova, attempted to climb Mt. Everest (without the use of supplemental oxygen) on the 20-year anniversary of her uncle's death. Maslarova died of exposure at 8,700 meters, exactly 20 years and 30 days after her uncle.
He has also scaled Ismail Samani Peak (7495m) - July 29, 1980, July 24, 1983, Peak Korzhenevskaya (7105m) - July 28, 1979, July 31, 1979, August 8, 1982, July 29, 1983, and Noshaq (7492m) - July 30, 1976.
The West Ridge is furthest right, Alps
North face of Matterhorn (4471m) - September 21–26, 1974, together with Trifon Djambazov, North face of Grand Jorasses on the Walker Spur (4208m) - July 30 August 1, 1967, together with Atanas Kovandzhiev, Petit Dru (3733m), Bonatti route - July 16–18, 1967; "Route of Guides" - September 3–8, 1977, Mont Blanc (4807m), Freney Pillar - July 15–16, 1969.
North face of Grand Jorasses on the Walker Spur (4208m) Kyriakos on the lower part of the spur. ©Mihnea Prundeanu
The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near symmetrical pyramidal peak in the extended Monta Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone/Lion, and Zmutt ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the north-east and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the South, Just East of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, and a trade route since the Roman Era.
Image Above Climbing the Matterhorn is not easy, not even via the Hornli Ridge. The mountain needs to be in good shape (read in good condition, without snow below 4000 ...
The Matterhorn was studied by Horace-Benedict de Saussure in the late eighteenth century, who was followed by other renowned naturalists and artists, such as John Ruskin, in the nineteenth century. It remained unclimbed after most of the other great Alpine peaks had been attained and became the subject of an international competition for the summit. The first ascent of the Matterhorn was finally made in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper which ended disastrously when four of its members fell to their deaths on the descent. That climb and disaster, later portrayed in several films, marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. The north face was not climbed until 1931 and is amongst the three biggest north faces of the Alps, known as "The Trilogy". The west face, which is the highest of the Matterhorn's four faces, was completely climbed only in 1962. It is estimated that over 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn since the first climb in 1865, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world.
Image Above - A story of triumph and death: Edward Whymper Center with his climbing party
Image Above - First ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 - 14 July
The Matterhorn disaster by Gustave Doré. - Image Right Ushba in the Caucasus Mountains, Svaneti,
Hristo Prodanov also scaled Caucasus Mountains achievements, Pillar of Ushba - July 25-28, 1970, Traverse in Shkhelda (4320m) - July 24-August 1, 1973.
Prodanov received several awards, including:
No. 1 Bulgarian Mountaineer for the 20th century.
Hero of People's Republic of Bulgaria (1984-posthumously), George Dimitrov order (1981; 1984 - posthumously), People's Republic of Bulgaria, second class (1977)
On April 20 1984 Prodanov ascended Everest via West ridge. He was the sixth man to climb Everest solo, the 13th without oxygen and the eight to climb west ridge (59 ascent, 159th climber on the top) . He remained on the summit for a half hour and began the descent down the west ridge proper, which had not been done before. At 9:10 P. M. he contacted Base Camp and said he would bivouac because of darkness. The following day, April 21, Prodanov had voice contact with Base Camp although his voice was weak and the words could not be understood. At 7:45 a click of the switch of his walkie-talkie was recorder for the last time. No sign of him was ever heard again.(everesthistory.com)
Jozef Psotka, (12 February 1934, Kosice, Czechoslovakia - October 16, 1984 (aged 50),Mount Everest, Himalayas, Nepal, was a Slovak mountaineer, at that time the oldest person in the world who reached the summit of Mount Everest without oxygen. He attended a high school in Košice, Czechoslovakia and graduated in 1953. He had a lifetime passion for mountaineering, climbing Matterhorn and Kangchenjunga among other peaks. On October 15, 1984, he reached the summit of Mount Everest without oxygen with Zoltan Demjan and Sherpa Ang Rita. Together with Zoltan Demján he was the first Slovak climber who reached the summit of Mount Everest. During the return they separated and Psotka accidentally fell 1,000 meters to his death.
Image Above Jozef Psotka - Psotka's body was found at 6,700 meters, He had collapsed and fallen into the Western Cauldron and had no chance of surviving, Why did Psotka die? Has he overestimated his strength up the road, and he has not increased his descent in the devastating whirlwind and the frost? Or perhaps his fifty years played his part? “Psotka was known to be one of the most popular climbers. He never hesitated to work hard for others, Psotka climbed with Zoltan Demjan, They climbed to the summit the Polish way through the southern pillar, and all together embraced the sash. It happened on 15 October at 15.15. Above Everest, the destructive storm was suddenly blowing, and the descent turned into a struggle for life. Because their hands and feet quickly began to frighten them, they were only ten minutes away on top and turned down. Despite the poor weather, we descended in a simpler, classical way and we wanted to spend the night in the South Saddle, ”says Zoltán Demján. But in the South Saddle, he found only the ruins of the Dutch expedition instead of the desired saving statutes. Therefore he continued to descend, but in the darkness he lost the tent of the third camp. It was only after midnight that he was more dead than alive in the "two" where the doctor of the expedition took him immediately.
Jozef Psotka (vľavo) a Zoltán Demján.
“I reached for the absolute bottom of both physical and mental strength. At that time I realized that one should never give up hope even in the most desperate situation. This faith saved my life. "
Lopsang Tshering Bhutia Nepali: लोप्साङ भुटिया) (1951/1952–10 May 1993) was a Nepali Sherpa mountaineer who died on Mount Everest and the nephew of Tenzing Norgay, His death made international headlines because he had died on the 40th anniversary expedition of his uncle's summiting. His uncle, Tenzing Norgay had died at home of natural causes in 1986 at the age of 72. Lopsang was an instructor at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and took part in the 1993 Everest expedition led by his nephew, Tashi Tenzing (Tenzing Norgay's grandson), to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his uncle's 1953 ascent of Mount Everest. Lopsang reached the summit but was killed in a fall during the descent on May 10, 1993.
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (Sherpa པ་སངས་ལྷ་མོ་ཤར་པ།, 10 December 1961 – 22 April 1993) was the first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Mount Everest. She was born into a mountaineering family and was involved in climbing from her teens. She had successfully climbed Mont Blanc, Cho Oyu, Mount Yalapic, Pisang Himal, and others. She had attempted to climb Mount Everest three times before, but did not succeed until April 22, 1993, when she reached the summit by the South Col via the Southeast Ridge route. The morning of April 22, 1993 was bright and clear, and remained so until Pasang reached the top of the 8,848 m. peak with five Sherpa's Sonam Tshering Sherpa, Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa, Pemba Dorje Sherpa and Dawa Tashi Sherpa. Meanwhile, a member of the team and five-time Everest sumitter Sherpa Sonam Tshering got seriously sick at south summit and, despite Pasang Lhamu's efforts to help, did not survive his illness. While descending from the summit, the weather, as often happens in the mountains, suddenly turned bad, causing her to lose her own life on the south summit. Vladas Vitkausas helped move her body down the mountain.
For achieving what no other Nepalese woman had achieved before her, Pasang Lhamu was posthumously honored by her country and mountaineers all around the world in various ways. She was the very first woman to be decorated with the "Nepal Tara (Star)" by His Majesty the King, The National Youth Foundation conferred the 1993-94 Youth Excellence Award on her. Similarly, in order to commemorate her feat, a life-size statue of Pasang Lhamu was erected at Bouddha, Chuchepati; a postage stamp was issued in her name; the Government of Nepal renamed Jasamba Himal (7,315 m) in the Mahalangur Range as Pasang Lhamu Peak; the Ministry of Agriculture named a special strain of wheat as Pasang Lhamu wheat; the Pasang Lhamu Memorial Hall was established in Dhulabari of Jhapa district in east Nepal; and the 117- Km Trishuli-Dunche road was named the Pasang Lhamu Highway In the honour of Pasang lhamu Sherpa.
By reaching the top of Mount Everest (Chomolongma) on April 22, 1993, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa became the first Nepali woman to set foot on the world's highest summit. But the 32-year old climber's death while descending to the South Col also marked another tragic first. She
became the first Sherpa whose death while climbing was covered as a news story by the non-climbing media outside Nepal. Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was associated with a trekking firm in Kathmandu and understood well the economics and politics of mountaineering.
A spirited mother of three, she was involved in controversy three year ago when she accused French Soloist Marc Batard of forcibly keeping her from attaining the top of Everest in order to keep his record intact.
She tried a second time with another French team, and her third attempt on Everest was in autumn 1992. Supported by a Nepali beer company, the expedition was billed as the first Nepali all-womens' attempt on Everest. Within striking distance of the summit, the weather deteriorated and Pasang Lhamu was persuaded by a male team member to turn back.
Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev ज्ञानेन्द्र शाह; gyānendra Śāh; born 7 July 1947) reigned as the last King of Nepal from 2001 to 2008 and is also known as Nepal's last Hindu king.
Perhaps this time around, in spring 1993, wise counsel did not prevail. As must have been the case with George Leigh Mallory seven decades ago (during his third and ultimate attempt) on the same mountain, the imperative of making the summit must have pushed Pasang Lhamu beyond the safety margin. There is also a speculation that her decision to push for the top might have been influenced by the fact that another expedition lower down was poised to send a Sherpa woman competitor for the summit. On 22nd April, Pasang Lhamu and five male Sherpas climbed Everest, but by the time they made their way down, the weather had deteriorated and
two members - Pasang Lhamu and her male colleague Sonam Tshering
Sherpa, a five-time Everesteer, seemed to have been terminally weakened. They bivouacked for the night near the south summit. The surviving members who had made it down to the South Col were prevented from organising immediate rescue due to bad weather. Pasang Lhamu's body was located more than two weeks later, about the time that 38 climbers successfully used the south-east ridge to gain the top. Sixteen of the climbers were Sherpas.
(Kanak Dixit is the Editor of Himal, a magazine of the Himalayas based
in Kathmandu).
The King of Nepal (traditionally known as the Mahārājādhirāja i.e. King of Kings; it can also be translated as "Sovereign Emperor" (Nepali: श्री ५ महाराजधिराज)) was Nepal's head of state and monarch from 1768 to 2008. He served as the head of the Nepalese monarchy - Shah Dynasty. The monarchy was abolished on 28 May 2008 by the 1st Constituent Assembly. The subnational monarchies in Mustang, Bajhang, Salyan, and Jajarkot were all abolished in October. On 13 February 1996, the Nepalese Civil War was launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), with the aim of overthrowing the kingdom and establishing a "People's Republic". On 1 February 2005, as the security situation deteriorated in the civil war, King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency, suspended the Constitution and assumed direct control over the country.[3] On 24 April 2006, after the Loktantra Andolan movement, the king agreed to give up absolute power and to reinstate the dissolved House of Representatives. On 21 November 2006, the Civil War ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord, On 15 January 2007, the King was suspended from exercising his duties by the newly formed interim legislature, Finally, on 28 May 2008, the kingdom was officially abolished by the 1st Constituent Assembly and Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal was declared. The subnational monarchies in Mustang, Bajhang, Salyan, and Jajarkot were also abolished in October 2008.
On 1 June 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra went on a shooting spree and murdered his father, King Birenda, his mother Queen Aishwarya and several other members of the royal family. Afterwards, he shot himself. Immediately after the massacre, Dipendra was proclaimed king while in a coma, but he died on 4 June 2001, after a three-day reign. His uncle, Prince Gyanendra was appointed regent for the three days, then ascended the throne himself after Dipendra died.
Image Above - Pasang Lhamu Sherpa on her first Everest attempt in 1990. (Pascal Tournaire)
Ray Genet (July 27, 1931 – October 2, 1979), often referred to by the nickname Pirate, was a Swiss-born American mountaineer, He was the first guide on North America's highest mountain, Alaska's Denali (Mount McKinley). Genet is the grandfather of actress Q'Orianka Kilcher. Genet's association with Denali began in 1967, when, although he had no previous mountaineering experience, he participated in the first successful winter expedition to Denali's summit, led by Gregg Blomberg. The expedition is described in Minus 148 Degrees: The First Winter Ascent of Mount McKinley (1970) by Art Davidson. Genet died on October 2, 1979 while descending Mount Everest, succumbing to hypothermia in the night along with his fellow climber Hannelore Schmatz, Two sherpa guides, Sungdare Sherpa and Ang Jangbo, had stayed with them in a bivouac at 28,000 feet, but Genet did not survive until morning. The group was running low on bottled oxygen, and Schmatz died trying to get down to South Col with Sungdare later that day. He spent over a decade developing an intimate knowledge of the weather, terrain, and skills necessary to successfully climb and guide on the mountain. Having over 30 summits on Denali, he was known to make 3 to 4 trips a season, as well as even bringing dog sleds to 14k ft camp…
He built the log cabin in Talkeetna to serve as the home base for his guiding company, Alaska Mountain Guides Inc. That same log cabin is now a cannabis dispensary that showcases his legacy, along with several strains of high-quality bud. The cabin is 80% mountaineering museum, 10% pot shop, and 10% headquarters to a budding lifestyle brand.
Born on Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Ray always had a thirst for challenges and adventure. He found his second home in the wilderness and pure beauty of Alaska, and quickly became one of the most famous men in Alaska and the world for his outdoor adventure/mountaineering expertise. One of Ray’s first experiences in Alaska was climbing Denali on the first winter ascent in 1967. Ray became the first mountain guide on Denali and climbed it approximately 32 times during his life. Ray also took the first dog sled team to the summit of Denali with Susan Butcher and Joe Reddington (famous Ididorod dog mushers). Ray helped pioneer the most common route up Denali, called the West Buttress, hence the naming of the 14,200 foot camp, "Genet Basin", which is now the main National Park Service medical camp and mid-point of the West Buttress route. He was instrumental in high altitude mountain rescue and worked closely with the military before the National Park Service became responsible for mountain safety.
Ray’s amazing climbing endurance and climbing talent gained him the nickname of “The Pirate”, hence the name of our private lake which borders Denali Earth, Pirate Lake.
When Taras was only 1 1/2 years old, Ray was offered a chance to climb Mount Everest. Ray had led four different trips up Denali that summer and only had one day to prepare for the trip to Nepal. He made a huge effort to catch up to the rest of his team, calling his wife, Kathy, to bring Taras and meet him, knowing he would need the extra support. Kathy was six months pregnant with their second child, and went to meet Ray at base camp of Everest. Taras was carried by sherpas to 17,000 foot Everest base camp – no one had seen a blond-haired little toddler being taken to Everest base camp before. However, the trip ended in tragedy as Ray never made it down to meet Kathy and his family. Ray made it to the top of Everest, but passed away from exhaustion and exposure to the elements just below the summit while making the climb back down the mountain. Sir Edmond Hillary (famous for publicly climbing Everest first, and his work with the people of Everest) assisted with his helicopter by taking Kathy and Taras off the mountain. Their lives changed forever.
Taras, as a kid, featured in the Patagonia catalog standing on top of Denali
Taras and his brother Adrien were brought up by his mom and the many men in the mountain climbing world. Muggs Stump was like a second father to Taras, and inspired Taras to try climbing Denali himself. Taras became the youngest person to climb Denali at the age of 12. He led his own expedition when only 19. Kathy and the boys cared for Denali Earth – it was a second home, as they grew up in the small town of Talkeetna, the jump point for Denali (Mount Mckinley). Now Denali Earth (Pirate Lake), is our main residence, our home. We have three “kiddos” named, Bagira, Mowgli, and Shur'i. Bagira is our amazing wild black cat, and Mowgli and Shur'i are our Alaskan Huskies. Our family is happy to welcome you to our home here at Denali Earth. We hope to share this heaven on earth with you.