So far this season, the north side of Mount Everest has officially claimed 7 climbers, and the south side 3, plus one on the Lhotse face (shared route with Everest). However, climbers on the mountain mention 4 more fatalities on the north side this season, still unaccounted for as of now. In terms of fatalities, the 2006 Everest season is now second only to the 1996 spring season which claimed 12 lives.

Here are two stories from today's press, one about a miraculous recovery, and the other a dramatic tragedy on nearby Mount Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world.

Mount Everest Survivor in 'Amazing Shape'
Associated Press
Tue May 30, 8:30 AM

KATMANDU, Nepal - An Australian climber who was left for dead on the slopes of Mount Everest but later survived has been rescued from the mountain and is in "amazing shape," his spokesman said Tuesday.

Lincoln Hall, 50, was driven to the Nepalese capital of Katmandu on Tuesday from the base camp in Tibet, China, and is being treated at a clinic, his spokesman Simon Balderstone said.

Hall had been left by members of his team near the summit who thought he had died but was later found alive by another team of climbers and helped down the mountain.

"Doctors say for what he has been through he is in amazing shape," said Balderstone, who flew to Katmandu with Hall's wife, Barbara.

Hall was being treated at a travel medicine clinic in Katmandu for frostbite to his fingers, thumb and toes, slight pulmonary edema and chest infection.

Balderstone said it could be a few days before Hall can fly back home to Australia.

Balderstone said Hall expressed no resentment about being left on the mountain and said the climber was in good spirits.

"We shared a joke or two, which is always a good sign," he said.

Hall fell ill at around the 28,543-foot mark on the mountain, just below the summit where oxygen levels are so low they cannot sustain life for long.

His two Sherpa guides tried to help him down, but were eventually forced to leave him in order to save themselves, and Hall was then declared dead.

Hall, who had been on a Russian-led expedition, made it to the summit of Everest but grew gravely ill from oxygen deprivation during his descent.

The morning after his guides were forced to abandon him, other climbers found him alive, prompting a rescue team to help bring Hall to safety.

Australian Sue Fear Lost in Crevasse on Mount Manaslu
09:49 am EST May 30, 2006

Outfitting company World Expeditions has issued an official press release on Australian Sue Fear who dissapeared May 28 on Manaslu. Here is the statement:

Sue Fear and Bishnu Gurung went for the summit on May 28 from their high camp on the edge of Manaslu's great plateau in reasonable conditions. They reached the summit at 10.30 am then proceeded down, Sue taking the lead when they reached the large plateau at around 7600 metres. Shortly after, while travelling over a relatively level snow neve, Sue's feet broke through the snow crust and she plunged into a crevasse.

They were roped together and Bishnu was able to arrest her fall, but the crevasse opened up further, letting Sue fall even further and leaving Bishnu with the fear that the crevasse may extend under the snow towards him.

For an hour and a half he tried all he could to pull Sue out but there was no success in pulling the rope upwards and there was no response from Sue at all, no sound, no movement, leaving Bishnu to conclude that she must have been rendered unconscious by the fall.

As he was trying to arrange a better pulley system, in which he had detached himself from the rope, the crevasse edge collapsed further. Bishnu jumped clear but the anchor was taken and with it the rope and Sue on the end of it. Looking down all he could see was darkness and there was no response from Sue.

Exhausted, traumatised and terrified by the spectre of more unseen crevasses, Bishnu made it back to the high camp from where he was able to radio Base Camp with a very short message.

On May 29 a team of six Sherpas from the Japanese clean up expedition was dispatched up the mountain by the expedition organizers. They were able to locate Bishnu on his descent and helped him down to Advance Base Camp. On May 30, shortly before a helicopter was to be mobilized with rescue supplies to Base Camp, a call came through to Sue Fear's agent in Kathmandu, to Ringi Norbu Sherpa, from Bishnu who had arrived at Base Camp.

On consultation with experienced mountaineers, it was concluded that there was no hope of Sue surviving such an incident and that re-finding the site of the accident was impossible given the wind and snowfall prevailing in the area. Furthermore, among the only people capable of getting to the site within reasonable time, there was a lack of specialised technical capacity necessary to safely orchestrate the recovery of a body from the depths of such a crevasse.

Sue's wish was that if she died in the mountains that her body be buried on the mountain.

Sue Fear was a passionate advocate for the outdoor experience and inspired people from all walks of life to explore the wonders and challenges offered by the natural world. She was a shining example of how one can successfully and joyfully take on even the extremes of high altitude with aptitude and humility. The loss of her vibrant character must be an immeasurable one for her family and she will be deeply missed by the large trekking community and her friends and colleagues at World Expeditions whom all adored her.