"It seems that only success and money count in the world today. Those who can't follow leaders are considered losers, and thus despised. . ."

On May 15, 2006, ten years after Jon Krakauer's classic "Into Thin Air" documented the dangers of ambition and greed during commercial expeditions on Mount Everest, David Sharp, an independent British climber under an Asian Trekking permit, died on Everest's north side, apparently after having reached the summit the day before. About 40 people passed Sharp on their way to the summit and back, but only a small few chose to give him any help at all.

At 11 pm the previous evening, a Turkish climbing group on their ascent found Sharp sitting up near a rock cave. They told him to move on, but didn't understand his answer and continued their ascent. They claim that they did not understand that he was experiencing severe problems. At 11.15, a second Turkish group observed Sharp lying down, and believed that he was dead or sleeping.

At 1 am, a guide from Himalayan Experience (Himex), a commercial expedition company, found Sharp alive but shivering, wearing no gloves and displaying signs of severe frostbite on his hands and face. The guide claimed to have radioed Himex expedition leader Russell Brice and was advised to move on up, although Brice later said he had not heard about Sharp until 9.30 am.

A group of Sherpas and climbers from various companies, including double-amputee Mark Inglis, who that day became the first person to summit Everest with two prosthetic legs, found Sharp still alive at 9.30 am, but in very poor condition, gloveless and with severe frostbite. A Sherpa found oxygen nearby and administered it without effect. The climbers radioed Brice and were told that Sharp was, in effect, already all but dead and to move on.

At 11 am, some Sherpas from Himex with helmet-mounted cameras met Sharp and asked, "What is your name?" Sharp answered, "My name is David Sharp, I am with Asian Trekking. I just want to sleep." The Sherpas contacted expedition leader Brice and were advised to move on down.

A month after Sharp's death, Brice has refuted much of the account above. His version of the events can be found here. But whether or not Russell Brice advised the guides and customers to move on and not assist Sharp is not the essential question. The alibi that the climbers have come up with - they were told to let a suffering man die - assumes that obedience and following leaders are more important than human compassion. "It's okay that we left him to die," they claim. "Someone in authority told us to."

Don't tell me what you think you would have done in that situation unless you've been there - up in the Death Zone at 26,000 feet, with a summit within reach and a stranger dying in front of you. Several people who have been there have commented on the case.

American Ed Viesturs, who has scaled all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks without bottled oxygen, said "This isn't the first time this has happened, passing people who are dying is not uncommon. Unfortunately, there are those who say, 'It's not my problem. I've spent all this money and I'm going to the summit.'" Viesturs went on to note, "If you're strong enough to mount a summit attempt, you're strong enough to attempt a rescue, or at least sit there with him and try to provide a little comfort."

Juan Oiarzabal holds the world record in 8000-meter summits (21) and has experienced many rescues at very high altitude. Referring to Everest, he said, "That mountain turned into a circus years ago, and it's getting worse. I don't have the slightest interest in going back there, ever. Moreover, I actually try to avoid reading on what's going on there. I simply don't care anymore."

Dr. Jose Ramon Morandeira has climbed high-altitude peaks in the Alps, the Andes, Africa and the Himalaya. Currently in his sixties and with damaged knees, he has to limit himself to hiking and climbing in the Pyrenees area near his home, but finds time to attend frostbitten climbers coming to him from all over the world. "From my point of view as a Doctor and most of all as a climber" he said, regarding the David Sharp episode, ". . .words seem too soft to describe this kind of behavior."

"It is an aberration! I guess I am too old, I guess these are not my times anymore, and Himalaya is not what it used to be. But not so long ago (let's say 15 years), in a situation like that, all of us present would have jumped to the rescue. And if we saved a climber's life, we returned home utterly proud and satisfied, with or without a summit."

"Back then we were moved by a weird, indefinable value we called 'mountaineering spirit', which basically involved climbing mountains and reaching summits, but not at any cost. Those times are gone, and I feel like an old mountaineer in his sixties defending out-of-date values and longing for a world which is no longer there."

"However, this is not just a climbing issue," he said. "The current environment on commercialized Everest, where only success and money count, is only a reflection of our world today. Those who can't follow the leaders are considered losers, and thus despised."

"Just like David, wounded and lost on Everest. No one cared for him anymore: 'He should have hired a better team, instead of being so cheap; he should have been fitter,' the passing climbers might have figured. I can't help thinking that if David had thought of shouting: 'I'll give you a million dollars if you get me out of here,' he could still be alive."