"FISTICUFFS ON EVEREST" - The Daily Fail at it again

World-class alpinists Ueli Steck (Swiss) and Simone Moro (Italian) are on Mt. Everest to attempt a new route without oxygen. In this episode, the team quickly travels from Base Camp to Camp 2 in four hours, with a two-hour descent to BC. Here's what they have to say about acclimatization and working together.

AFP--Fight on Everest sparks police probe

An aerial view of Mount Everest (centre) taken earlier this month. Police near Mount Everest are investigating reports of a fight on the upper reaches of the world's highest mountain between two foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides, officials said Sunday.
AFP - Police near Mount Everest are investigating reports of a fight on the upper reaches of the world's highest mountain between two foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides, officials said Sunday.

"We were told our clients and the guides fought on their way to camp three. We don't have all the details yet, but our clients have come down off the peak," said Anish Gupta of Cho-Oyu Trekking, the Kathmandu-based company that organised the expedition.

He said that one of the clients, a Swiss national, had descended the mountain and was currently waiting for a flight back to Kathmandu.

The other client, an Italian, remained at Everest Base Camp and may still try to summit the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak.

Sitaram Karki, the chief district officer in Solukhumbu, the region where Everest stands, told AFP the police were conducting an investigation, but the details were still unclear.

"There are communication issues high on the mountain, but we have received the reports of a fight and deployed our team to investigate the incident," Karki said.

The last week of April revealed a few surprises on Everest with uncertain weather and difficulty in establishing a route up the Lhotse Face.

The week started with heavy snow in the Western CWM including a meter, three feet, near Camp 1. This stopped most teams from moving up or down but proved to be a temporary halt as strong Sherpas and ambitious climbers broke trail on Tuesday thus allowing movement to resume.

The team leaders on the South gathered and agreed on a plan to fix the route above Camp 2. Over 15 Sherpas took on the task from nine different teams. The Sherpas made excellent progress to fix two lines, and up and a down rope, to the lower of the two Camp 3′s mid way up the Lhotse Face before running into a deep crevasse. It was reported that one Sherpa was hit by falling ice but his injury was not reported as serious. They took today, Sunday, off to rest.

Update: Report issued by Moro of a fight Friday between Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and the Sherpa fixing rope on the Lhotse Face. Translation . It appears both sides became upset as they felt there was interference with one another during the rope fixing work. While it is serious if in fact blows were exchanged, I would not get too upset by this as it is easy for egos and tempers to get out of control in these compressed environments.

A Sherpa was reported to have been hurt by “falling ice” on Friday but it is not clear this was related to this incident. However, it is now pretty clear that the Sherpas taking a “rest day” day is related to the incident. Hopefully everyone has calmed down and can get back to climbing.

Moro, Steck and Griffith assaulted and threatened with death by the Sherpas. The account of the facts
April 28, 2013 - 17:32 | Author: Valentina d'Angella
The summit of Everest

The summit of Everest

Everest Base Camp, Nepal - "Things of this world," he told us the first thing Simone Moro when we spoke to him on the serious events that have just transpired at high camps of Everest, and he could not comment so that the inexplicable aggression which has been the subject of the Italian mountaineer, along with Ueli Steck and Jon Griffith. The following is the official press release issued by the expedition: the story of a violent assault, with a lot of death threats. For whatever reason, an ugly chapter in the history of Everest which falls precisely in the year of the sixtieth anniversary of the first ascent of the roof of the world.

"At around 8 am on April 27, 2013 Simone Moro, Ueli Steck and Jonathan Griffith have left the tent to reach camp 2 at about 7200 meters (field 3, bottom) on the west face of Lhotse. A team of high altitude Sherpas was gearing up the fixed ropes the wall and asked to mountaineers not to touch the strings as long as they worked. Therefore, the trio climbed about 50 feet away to avoid disturbing Sherpa in their work.

It should be noted that all three of the climbers have a long experience climbing mountains around the world and are well aware of the work they do the Sherpa who deeply respect.

When the three climbers reached the height at which they had pitched the tent, have made the traverse in the snow and were forced to cross the ropes of the Sherpas to reach their tent, located about 20 meters on each side. The climbers chose to cross at a point where others were standing 4 Sherpa parked while their leader continued to stare at the strings above.

Overcoming the strings did not interfere in any way with their work. The mountaineers climbed disconnected and without using the ropes, so no rope is tangled in another. Also, being passed over their heads, they could not hit him knocking him any snow or ice.

Jonathan Griffith went before and after passing the ropes course and another 15 meters behind him Ueli Steck. At that point, when Ueli Steck has exceeded the ropes and the leader of the Sherpa climbers noted below began to shout and hit the ice with the ax.

Continuing to yell climbers hooked the rope and came down to rest. Since Ueli was loose and not attached to ropes, it was natural that it should hold your hands up to protect from the head of the Sherpas who fell right where he was. This has led the leader of the Sherpas to accuse him of "touching him."

As he hit the ice with all his strength and shouted at him Ueli Steck "because you touch me", said the climbers had hit the ice one of the Sherpas. Since the trio was climbing in a fully independent and moved upon the snow, this is highly unlikely.

Ueli Steck has tried to calm him by offering him help in fixing the ropes up to Camp 3, but this has only made things worse. Simone Moro then, he joined the group and the leader of the Sherpas if it is taken with him wielding the ax against him. Simone has cursed him, as is natural when it is attacked.

No further discussion was able to calm the leader of the Sherpas and as a final act of defiance gave orders to his entire team of 17 Sherpa on the west face of Lhotse to return to camp 2. There was no reason to come down from the mountain because of the 3 climbers. They had not touched nor had interfered with their work. To defuse the situation Ueli Steck has set more than 260 meters of rope up to Camp 3.

When then the climbers fell to Field 2, about 100 gathered Sherpa attacked them. Have suddenly become aggressive, not just kicking and punching but also throwing stones at them.

A small group of Western acted as a buffer between the crowd out of control and climbers, and they owe their lives to these brave and selfless people. However, the three climbers were attacked as well as many of the Westerners who were trying to calm the situation. It has been said that the climbers during the night one of them would be dead, and that the other two would be decided later.

After about 50 minutes the crowd calmed down and the mountaineers, who had been driven away, and who had been told to hide, he was told that if they were gone within an hour would kill them all.

The climbers have taken the essential and followed a circuitous route to go down to the base camp of Everest, a new way in the midst of crevasses, seracs and without strings, knowing that given the situation that was the safest place to stay ( ed. since it did not allow them to follow the normal route).

The Sherpas have said that the reason why they attacked the climbers was that they had brought upon the ice to those of them who were under. No one, however, appears Sherpa wounded. On the other hand on a wall of ice, being hit by pieces of ice is a possibility that can happen. The climbers believe that the head of the Sherpas was tired, she was cold and he felt wounded pride from their three who moved without a rope and much faster than him, salendogli the side. In any case, there is no reason to keep trying to kill 3 foreign mountaineers.

Nepalese authorities have taken the matter very seriously since there are commercial expeditions on the mountain. There are 3 leaders were taken away from the mountain and the police, the Ministry of Tourism and the leaders of the Association of Sherpa are investigating.

The three climbers would like to thank all those who have saved their lives in Field 2, and those who now are carrying out the investigation. "

Jan: Thanks for your realistic analysis and prediction of outcomes. Anthropologsts should replace journalists as news sources when cultural divides must be crossed.