criticism online
Climber was rescued by Sherpa on Mount Everest – and is ungrateful
Watch the video: Sherpa straps mountaineer on his back and saves him from “death zone”.
A special kind of high-altitude rescue: A Malaysian mountaineer on Mount Everest only survived because a Nepalese Sherpa brought him out of the so-called “death zone” on his own back. It is considered almost impossible to rescue climbers from this height. “I was with a Chinese client on the way to the summit, between half past twelve and one in the morning. We were on the so-called ‘balcony’. “He was sitting there holding on to a rope.” “It was important for us to save him, even from the top. If we had left him there, he could have died. We saved his life by turning back before the summit.” “We couldn’t pull him in places where it was rocky; we had to carry him on our backs with difficulty.” “We carried him on our backs from camp four onwards because it was impossible to pull him.” “It took me five to six hours to go from 8500 meters to 7900 meters come. It was very difficult.” The rescuer had previously persuaded his Chinese client to give up his attempt at the summit and save the other one instead. At least 12 climbers have already died this year. Another five will be on the slopes of the highest mountain on earth missing.
At 8,500 meters on Mount Everest, a Sherpa found a climber in distress and laboriously dragged him down. But the rescued could not bring himself to public thanks for a long time.
At least 12 climbers have died on Mount Everest this year. They died trying to climb the highest mountain on earth. Several other people are believed to be missing. Ravichandran Tharumalingam almost met the same fate. The Malaysian got no further in the so-called “death zone”.
He owes his life to the Sherpa Gelje. The mountain guide convinced his Chinese client to give up his own summit attempt and save Tharumalingam instead. On his back, he carried the exhausted climber down from a height of 8,000 meters for hours. A real feat that brought Gelje worldwide attention and admiration. Only the rescued couldn’t quite bring himself to give the Sherpa the honor it deserved once he was safe.
Mountaineer would rather thank sponsors than his rescuer
After his failed ascent of Mount Everest, he made a whole series of posts on his Instagram account, but for a long time said not a word about the heroic efforts of the Sherpas, without which he would probably have died on the mountain. Instead, Tharumalingam posted a post thanking his sponsors, promoting motivational t-shirts he sells, and posting pictures of himself from TV studios talking about his experience. There was a lot of criticism in the comments for this ungrateful attitude, users repeatedly pointed out that he owed his life to a Sherpa – and not to his sponsors.
Tharumalingam, actually an experienced mountaineer, finally gave in after a few days. First, he published a post by thanking the organization Gelje works for for his rescue. He then thanked the Sherpa again by name in a later post, along with others involved in the rescue. Gelje’s response was short and sweet: “Thank you. I hope you’re recovering well.”
Ravichandran Tharumalingam has conquered the 8849 meter high Mount Everest three times. However, he ran into dire straits during his attempt at the summit in May. Sherpa Gelje found him at 8500 meters. “He was sitting there holding on to a rope,” he said. Gelje tied the climber to his back with a sleeping bag and carried him to Camp 4 for several hours. A rescue helicopter then came to help.
Sources: Gelje Sherpa on Instagram / Ravichandran Tharumalingam on Instagram
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