Ueli Steck and Simone Moro attacked by sherpas on Everest

I'm fairly certain that this event is related to the boots being stolen from Neptune..

Haha, "Did you happen to see what kind of boot he was stomping your ass with?"

csproul wrote:I don't know what happened, but I do know that we'll almost certainly have a bunch of internet armchair climbers who have never left their country, met a Sherpa, or climbed above 6000m (let alone 8000m)tell us all about what happened and/or let us know lame it is to "walk up" Everest anyway!

It sounds like getting your ass kicked is a more salient qualifier.

I wonder how many of you trash talkers know that Ueli Steck once ascended from base camp to Camp 4 of Annapurna in dangerous conditions to attempt a rescue.

alpinist.com/doc/web08s/new…

Ben Brotelho wrote:https://www.thebmc.co.uk/into-the-death-threat-zone Written by Ed Douglas I don't buy the whole "they risked everyone's lives" argument. Most of the people going up Everest are in the congo-line anyway, above, below, in between groups of hundreds. I doubt 3 of the best climbers in the world were recklessly knocking ice down on the guided groups and sherpas...I feel that they are probably pretty respectful

In this case, there was no "congo line." The fixed ropes were not there yet, but the R&I article does state that the crew fixing the lines was made up of 17 sherpas, which is quite a lot I'd think.

I think it wouldn't be uncommon for unkind words and punches to be thrown over something like this, but a mob of 100 sherpas? (R&I article)

From what information we have so far, it seems like Steck and Moro were considerate, but kept their own goals in mind. They shouldn't be held back on account of commercial expeditions.

In what I read the white guys went out of their way to not really trash-talk the Sherpas much, even though they were (allegedly) threatening a mob beat down.

You know what that tells me? These guys knew they were at least partially in the wrong, or they are ego-less saints (the latter seems rather unlikely for world-class climbers).

If you think you did right, you don't apologize for the guy who tried to beat you up.

But we weren't there, and we will most likely NEVER hear both sides of this story, so we'll never know,

CSPROUL wrote: I don't know what happened, but I do know that we'll almost certainly have a bunch of internet armchair climbers who have never left their country, met a Sherpa, or climbed above 6000m (let alone 8000m)tell us all about what happened and/or let us know lame it is to "walk up" Everest anyway!

Did it ever occur that there is more than 1 point of view in the world? More than 1 way to approach something? I'm interested in the social/cultural/psychological aspect. The climbing is irrelevant here.

Plus because a human climbs above 6000m he is an expert on all sherpa? Climbing above 6000m makes you an expert/experienced/open to other cultures? Psychology? Sociology? Even if he only climbed in patagonia and never met a sherpa?

There is more than ONE point of view in the world.

As if being in an environment that is not hospitable isn't scary/hard enough now you have 100+ violent humans attacking you. Wow! Its not like a flat parking lot up there where you could easily run away in most likely any direction. I find this story to be very interesting.

this is a pretty sad incident to think about, great climbers like Steck and Moro getting into altercations with the Sherpas. From many of the articles and sources it sounds like Steck, Griffith, Moro did the right thing in the situation, and the altercation came from not that direct instance but from a long troubled relationship between the Sherpa people and western climbers. To bad the expedition had to end so abruptly when the potential for a new route was in their grasps

Summary of the information available online:

News Organizations:
BBC: bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-2…
Sky News: news.sky.com/story/1084165/…
BMC (Ed Douglas): thebmc.co.uk/into-the-death…
Guardian (Ed Douglas): guardian.co.uk/world/2013/a…
Planet Mountain: planetmountain.com/english/…

People on Everest:
Simone Moro 1st-hand account: simonemoro.com/en/content/e…
Simone Moro Interview: planetmountain.com/english/…
Adrian Ballanger's blog: alpenglowexpeditions.com/bl…

Others:
Andrew Bisharat: eveningsends.com/2013/04/ev…
(includes an excerpted email from Jonathan Griffith, one of the climbers attacked)

Key words from Simone Moro :

"
How did you defend yourselves ... in your account you mention that climbers in Camp 2 tried to save you...
We owe our lives mainly to 4 people. The first and most important is American climber Melissa Arnot. Then a Sherpa named Pan Nuru. Then an American guide named Greg who belongs to the IMG expedition.

I know it's difficult to answer, but what’s next? What’s going to on now?
We’re abandoning the expedition… Despite having met those who attacked us, having embraced and having forgiven them, I wanted that the meeting with everyone at base camp ended with my words that underlined the esteem I have for the Sherpa and Nepal, but I also stated that this violence killed our climbing dream and that we are leaving. I will probably stay on, but only to fly the helicopter and carry out rescue operations, but Ueli and Jon will return home. I want to add that that fact that I wish to stay and help with rescues (free for the Sherpa people) shows my desire to help these people. Everyone here is shocked and aware of the violence that was committed, they realised that a simple handshake isn’t enough to change a relationship that has mutated too much since that one in 1953. "

Fixed ropes are the cause. Ban them. Get rid of that stupid ladder too and while you are at it, pick up your trash.

Timothy.Klein wrote:In what I read the white guys went out of their way to not really trash-talk the Sherpas much, even though they were (allegedly) threatening a mob beat down. You know what that tells me? These guys knew they were at least partially in the wrong, or they are ego-less saints (the latter seems rather unlikely for world-class climbers). If you think you did right, you don't apologize for the guy who tried to beat you up. But we weren't there, and we will most likely NEVER hear both sides of this story, so we'll never know,

That might be the way YOU react. But it's entirely possible that someone who felt wronged didn't feel like shitting on a group of people they genuinely respect and who are not likely to be able to defend themselves in the media and on the internet. And maybe they didn't want to inflame things more, especially given that they had apparently buried the hatchet.

I wouldn't read so much into someone being soft-spoken and a bit apologetic.

blah, edited.

builttospill wrote:I wouldn't read so much into someone being soft-spoken and a bit apologetic.

Oh, I could certainly be wrong, just going with a hunch there. Not trying to say Steck et al were bastards or anything. Maybe they indeed did nothing wrong at all, and they just greatly respect the Sherpas: it is their backyard, after all.

But my first reaction when reading how apologetic they were to the Sherpas made me think they were feeling a bit sheepish.

sounds to me like the sherpas got buttsore, over people climbing better than them.

Then again, steck and moro ere only using the lhotse face as an acclimation climb, it wasnt part of their itnended route, so they easily could have been elsewhere and not getting in the way of sherpas fixing lines.

Seems like both parties are prob at fault, though steck and moro continued climbing and left, the sherpas accosted them after they caught up to them.

No matter the reason for the incident theres no reason to turn to violence, on the mountain.

Everyone involved should pretty much be ashamed of themselves.

Ross Henry wrote:Considering we know nothing about the sherpas, and we know a considerably a lot about the Europeans, we know that the Europeans are known well for there etiquette in the mountains.

whaaaaaaaaat planet were you born on brah? NYC climbers are the most courteous climbers in the world, after that its the French, then the gym climbers. Spain takes fourth place.

I'm tossing my prayer flags in the trash now.

Timothy.Klein wrote:In what I read the white guys went out of their way to not really trash-talk the Sherpas much, even though they were (allegedly) threatening a mob beat down. You know what that tells me? These guys knew they were at least partially in the wrong, or they are ego-less saints (the latter seems rather unlikely for world-class climbers). If you think you did right, you don't apologize for the guy who tried to beat you up. But we weren't there, and we will most likely NEVER hear both sides of this story, so we'll never know,

Have you watched or heard much from Uli or Simone? Those dudes are stupid humble and just want to climb. Why would they have reason to "trash-talk" someone? That would only make the situation worse and even if they did %100 nothing wrong it would just exasperate the problem. People with egos trash talk.

Well it made World News Tonight on ABC tonight with Dianne Sawyer, saying a hundred sherpas attacked the three climbers and beat them, even taking out knives against them.

Hate when main stream news gets their hands on climbing stories like this...