Monday, April 29, 2013

MT. EVEREST NOT EXACTLY THE BEST PLACE FOR A FISTFIGHT

This fight occurred on the Nepalese side of Everest. I’ve been to the Everest base camp in Tibet. In 2001, even after training hard for three months to withstand the high Tibetan altitudes, just hiking the short distance from the Rongbuk Monastery (elevation 16,498 feet) to the Mt. Everest mountaineer base camp (elevation 17,056 feet) left me exhausted and gasping for air. It is hard for me to fathom how those European climbers could have had a ‘fierce fight’ at the altitude where the fistfight occurred.

The last people any Everest climbers should ever get in a fight with are their Sherpas. Their lives depend on these highly skilled Himalayan mountaineering guides.

FISTICUFFS AT 7,000 METERS: SWISS AND ITALIAN EVEREST CLIMBERS GET INTO A FIGHT WITH THEIR SHERPAS AS THEY GET CLOSE TO SUMMIT
Fierce fight with their Sherpas happened at 7,000m, close to Camp 3 and the 8,848m summit

By Richard Shears

Mail Online
April 28, 2013

It was a crime scene that police admitted they were not even going to attempt to reach - because it was near the peak of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

Two European climbers were reported today to have been involved in a fierce fight with their Sherpas at 7,000m, close to Camp 3 and not far from the 8,848m summit.

According to unconfirmed reports, fists flew in the snow as Simboli Moro, an Italian climber, and Wool Stick, from Switzerland got into a punch-up with the guides.

Following the fierce fight, the European climbers were warned by radio from the climb organizers that they should return to base camp, which they reached late on Saturday afternoon.

But there they were told to remain because, said reports, they would cause further friction if they attempted to continue on their way back to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

‘We’ve warned them not to try to leave at this time because we fear further trouble,’ said Mr Ngima Nuru Sherpa, director of Choyu Treks, which helped organize the climb.

‘They cannot leave base camp until the Government of Nepal can ensure their security.’

The cause of the fight has still to be revealed, but the fact that the two Europeans have been warned to stay where they are for their own safety suggests that the animosity between them and their guides has not been calmed.

‘If the climbers are thrashed during the rest of their journey it will not give a positive message about this country,’ said Mr Sherpa.

‘It would bring disrepute to our country’s security and managerial system.’

Mr Sitaram Karki, Chief District Officer of the Solukhumbu region of Mt Everest, said today that he and his officers were deeply disturbed at hearing of the fight - and he suggested that it was the guides who had started it.

‘We’re committed to arresting those guilty of this incident and we will provide all necessary security to the foreigners,’ he said.

‘Unfortunately the area is out of our reach due to the distance.

‘But I can say that we have received the news that the foreigners were thrashed and as a result we are going to deploy our team immediately and hopefully we will be able to reach an area where we can talk to everybody.’

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