The Dead

As soon as we got off the mountain, we saw the newspaper articles sensationalizing the deaths that occured on the mountain this season.

We had discussed this up on the mountain. We knew things were being exagerated and the such. Newspapers exist to sell themselves, after all.

There have been 6 deaths this season, about double the normal. For a number of 9000 climbers, it is not that high. Certainly lower than the average death crossing the street in a big city.

The first was an Italian, part of a group of 4 with a guide. This is the worst, I think. They kept climbing in a storm, something I have heard criticized by many other guides, as it goes against common sense. They arrived at the summit and then, in zero visibility, started coming back down the wrong side of the mountain, into a glaciar. One died. Help, called too late, arrived when the other three and the guide had already spent two nights in the elements and the storm. He did not survive. The other three were given medicine to be able to climb back up to the summit and down the other side to a place where they could be airlifted out.

The third was someone who was climbing the glaciar. It is not an easy climb, and he died.

The fourth was someone who died of a heart attack shortly after reaching the summit. His body was taken down only a couple of days ago, along with the unfortunate guide's, when the weather was good enough for them to be retrieved.

The fifth was that poor man I have already spoken of, who was hit by a small boulder.

And the sixth is presumed dead, a French man who simply disappeared nearly two weeks ago. It is unlikely he will be found alive now, it has been too long.

Each was mourned by the people who know the mountain best. Everyone grieves these disappearances. And no one likes their deaths to be taken lightly, to be transformed into stories to sell a medium.