In the haul of the wind,
my breathing,

In the symphony of thousand lights,
my voice,

In the uproar of avalanches
my unquiet heart,

In the crystal glitter of snow 

my clear mind, 

In the darkness of the underground
my fear, 

In its beauty
my happiness,

In its inhospitableness
the sweat of my perseverance,

In its realm
my modesty,

In its silence
my peace,

In its immeasurable widths 

my liberty, 

In its eternity 

my ecstasy.

The mountain – my life.

(poem by Donatella for Christian Kuntner.

Christian died on Annapurna's North side on 18th May 2005, 

in an ice avalanche after descending from the summit.)


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Mountaineer Mark Inglis shows his frostbitten hands after summoning
Mount Everest in 2006 (Photo: NZPA) ***

Inglis, the first double amputee to reach Everest's peak, was in a group of climbers who came across oxygen-deprived British climber David Sharp about 300 metres below the summit on May 15. Inglis' group and several others decided to push on. Sharp, who was climbing alone after unsuccessful attempts to reach the top in 2003 and 2004, later died.


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Picture and text above taken from http://godheadv.blogspot.com/

«Despite the snow and ice, Everest is as dry as a desert, the sun and wind quickly mummify human remains.» The picture above serves as an example, it shows the corpse of mountaineer George Mallory, lost on Everest in 1924, and the state in which it was found in 1999 after 75 years exposed.














3. A sea of lead, a sky of slate – abandoned on Everest 

In 2006, a lone climber attempting the summit of Mount Everest for the third time was, purely by chance, caught in an amateur photograph taken by another climber of the scenic mountaintop ahead. The climber in the photograph was making his way up what is known as the ‹Final Push of the Northeast ridge›, between Camp VI at 8230 meters altitude and the summit. It was late in the afternoon, a foolishly reckless time to undertake the lengthy and dangerous route.
It would be many hours before the photographer and his climbing team saw the man again. Leaving the camp at the recommended time, shortly before midnight in order to reach the summit at daybreak, they were first in line of a total of roughly 40 climbers attempting the Final Push that day. A long train of men, all tethered to the lengths of rope permanently in place to keep climbers on the right track.
For decades, this rope had taken climbers within a few feet of what became known as Green Boots cave. A small limestone overhang located at 8500m, it was already infamous among climbers for the same reason it earned its nickname. For the past ten years, the body of a climber who died in 1996 has been a grim landmark for every climber of the Northeast route, lying curled up in the fetal position, wearing fluorescent green mountaineering boots.


«Green Boots» died on Mount Everest in 1996.
His body is still there – mummified like on the day of his accident.
(Picture taken from http://godheadv.blogspot.com/ )

This morning, however, Green Boots had company. Sitting no more than two feet to the left of the corpse was a man who at first glance appeared to be dead. His gloved hands were on his knees, his hood and hat cast his face in shadow. The only feature visible was the man's severely frostbitten nose, already a greenish black hue. On closer inspection, the vapor from the man's breath could be seen rising…

(Go on reading the breathtaking article «A sea of lead, a sky of slate – abandoned on Everest» by godhead/v)

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