3 ms·

There's already more than a few bodies up there now. Some are a little famous, like the green boots guy. The bodies can't be removed. It's such an extreme envi

There's already more than a few bodies up there now. Some are a little famous, like the green boots guy. The bodies can't be removed. It's such an extreme environment. You can't really rescue people who are in trouble. At best, with multiple climbers, you can have someone else tell you that you shouldn't proceed, which might save your life. But if someone is already in trouble, you can't really help out, or you will die too. Sure, if you have an extra energy bar, you can give that to your buddy, but that's about it.

bhickey 9y ago
> There's already more than a few bodies up there now. Some are a little famous, like the green boots guy. The bodies can't be removed. The Times just had an interesting feature on Everest body recovery: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/18/sports/everest-deaths.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/18/sports/everes...
- CaliforniaKarl 9y ago
  This. The linked article's title is "Deliverance From 27,000 Feet". It's been posted on HN four times (see https://hn.algolia.com/?query=https:%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Finteractive%2F2017%2F12%2F18%2Fsports%2Feverest-deaths.html&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=https:%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F... ), but I believe first post is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15951204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15951204 Although the main theme of the article is about the recovery of a body from near the summit, it has background information on when climbs can take place, and how the route to the summit is established every year. IMO, it's a worthwhile read!
qaq 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle I bet you could design helicopter that would be able to repeat this with much less effort
- thinkpls 9y ago
  Yes, I’m sure it really is that simple.
  - qaq 9y ago
    It's not a question of it being simple it's a question of ROI the market would be too small. If you read the article this was done using stock Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel.
    - thinkpls 9y ago
      I don’t doubt you at all. I truly believe nobody has ever thought through all the ways of rescuing people from Everest. This has the power to be game-changing.
    - plsthink 9y ago
      I’m sure they haven’t thought of this yet. Please tell me more.
      - qaq 9y ago
        Who are "they"? I was replying to a person postulating that rescue is impossible. My point it's not impossible it's impractical given the resources that would need to be allocated to solving this problem.
- rascalbrother 9y ago
  That chopper was stripped to the bone so that one dude could fly in it, with a fuel time of 1 hour. It also landed on the summit which is more flat. Don't think it would be easily and safely able to carry an addition (dead) body that's probably perched on an incline, let alone carry rescuers. It takes upwards of 6 hours to chip the dead body off the ice (if it's been frozen there for a while)
  - qaq 9y ago
    I am not advocating building one or using it to remove bodies I am just speculating that it's possible to design and build a model that could accomplish the fit much easier and that theoretically could be used for rescue. It's obviously would require too much $ to be practical.

bhickey 9y ago

> There's already more than a few bodies up there now. Some are a little famous, like the green boots guy. The bodies can't be removed. The Times just had an interesting feature on Everest body recovery: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/18/sports/everest-deaths.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/18/sports/everes...

CaliforniaKarl 9y ago
This. The linked article's title is "Deliverance From 27,000 Feet". It's been posted on HN four times (see https://hn.algolia.com/?query=https:%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Finteractive%2F2017%2F12%2F18%2Fsports%2Feverest-deaths.html&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=https:%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F... ), but I believe first post is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15951204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15951204 Although the main theme of the article is about the recovery of a body from near the summit, it has background information on when climbs can take place, and how the route to the summit is established every year. IMO, it's a worthwhile read!

qaq 9y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle I bet you could design helicopter that would be able to repeat this with much less effort

thinkpls 9y ago
Yes, I’m sure it really is that simple.
- qaq 9y ago
  It's not a question of it being simple it's a question of ROI the market would be too small. If you read the article this was done using stock Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel.
  - thinkpls 9y ago
    I don’t doubt you at all. I truly believe nobody has ever thought through all the ways of rescuing people from Everest. This has the power to be game-changing.
  - plsthink 9y ago
    I’m sure they haven’t thought of this yet. Please tell me more.
    - qaq 9y ago
      Who are "they"? I was replying to a person postulating that rescue is impossible. My point it's not impossible it's impractical given the resources that would need to be allocated to solving this problem.
rascalbrother 9y ago
That chopper was stripped to the bone so that one dude could fly in it, with a fuel time of 1 hour. It also landed on the summit which is more flat. Don't think it would be easily and safely able to carry an addition (dead) body that's probably perched on an incline, let alone carry rescuers. It takes upwards of 6 hours to chip the dead body off the ice (if it's been frozen there for a while)
- qaq 9y ago
  I am not advocating building one or using it to remove bodies I am just speculating that it's possible to design and build a model that could accomplish the fit much easier and that theoretically could be used for rescue. It's obviously would require too much $ to be practical.