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McCarthy's wife died in 1977 in a climbing accident http://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html http://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion

• SkyMarshal 15y ago
  Very interesting. Off-topic thought, but... "So she joined the group to climb Annapurna, and was part of the second team to attempt the summit. You go up in pairs, so you do pairwise summit attempts - these Himalayan style things where you do base camps. So she was working her way to the upper camp as the first summit team was coming down between the topmost and the second topmost. They passed, and then she was lost - she and her partner were lost. We're quite sure they fell. They were roped together; we think one fell and took the other with them." As I was reading that I was thinking, 'why twos? that's not enough to anchor someone if they fall through an ice crevice or something, need at least three for that.' And then I get to the end, and that's exactly what happened. I wonder if people still attempt Himalayan mountains in twos like that.
  • bhickey 15y ago
    Crevasses are normally encountered during glacier travel. These aren't particularly common on steep slopes. Moreover, climbing as a trio tends to be (much) slower than traveling as a pair. When weather and hypoxia are your biggest threat, speed can literally be the only thing keeping you alive. </climber notes="got sick around 4100m, big wimp">