Comments by "christine paris" (@christineparis5607) on "Only One Man Knows Who Climbed Everest First and We Can't Find Him" video.

  1. Ed Viesters, who climbed Everest ten times, several times WITHOUT supplementary oxygen, always had a rule, getting to the top is only half the job, getting down is mandatory! He was famous for knowing when to stop. If it was too dangerous, he refused to try against the odds. He knew survival was the most important factor....
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  2.  @jeffwang6460  It's weird, but you definitely make a good point. Most, not all, but most, people consider survival secondary to "winning", being first, etc. I wonder if that is a universal concept, or just among certain societies. From the videos I've seen on the space race, the Russian space program felt their astronauts were expendable, a little too expendable, in my opinion...those photos where they just airbrushed out all the ones that didn't achieve their objectives is pretty chilling...
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  3.  @rasenshuriken8685  I agree with you!! The great sherpas and their families have my deepest respect. They alone truly understand the relationship between mere humans and the great mountain, Chomolungma, the Goddess Mother of the world. Sagarmatha is the name given by the Nepali, Goddess of the sky, according to several sites I've read. Mingma Sherpa has climbed all 14 of the highest mountains in the world, on the 1ST TRY!!! He also has achieved many speed records along with Pemba Dorje, who climbed Everest in 8 hours and 10 minutes. Sir Edmund Hilary had a true partnership with the Sherpa people, and returned with his family many times to visit friends in the villages and built hospitals and schools. He and his wife wrote several books about their travels, which are worth finding, although most are out of print...
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  4.  @TheBlackAxe1  They are the mountains family. Relatives. It is a deep relationship. They are too often overlooked because they do not do "publicity", but luckily, the climbers usually feel and respect their connection and treat them with the respect they deserve.
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  5. EVERYONE should read, "Into The Silence", by Wade Davis. The best, most fascinating account of the expeditions with Mallory to get to the top. What just floored me was that almost everyone on the first expedition (other than Mallory) was from the old India school of "conquering": out of shape, alcoholic, suffering from fevers, diabetes etc...used to servants doing everything. They were more concerned with how many delicacies and bottles of champagne and brandy they could drag up to the base camps, the amounts are staggering!! Mallory wasn't allowed to make the first ascent on the mountain because the honor was supposed to go to the older men who had more prestige, not who had the best chance of making it to the top. Everything was run like an East India Company vacation retreat, which had the predictable outcome of being a total failure... When Mallory finally got his chance, he was completely committed, no matter what.
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  6.  @laurieannrogan1317  You have a point, but others have a right to their opinions as well. It's every persons right to have their own opinion, and insisting that they don't does not change the fact that no one knows if they made it to the top or not. They probably did, but even Ed Viesturs, who has climbed every 8 thousander peaks in the world, including Everest without supplemental oxygen, 7 times, has said many times that getting to the top is only half the battle, getting down alive is every bit as important. Conrad Kain, an alpine guide in 1911, who climbed Whithorn mountain, buried a matchbox in some rocks at the summit, but, when he returned, he was not believed (There was, at the time, some prejudice about guides summiting, with some people trying to keep the mountain for the rich and tilted, which obviously could not be realistic in any way). He was actually publicly doubted by his boss at the time, but, thankfully, years later, mountaineers summiting that peak found his matchbox with a note in it and proved his claim. It still affected his career negatively. Unfortunately, there are always those who claim summits falsely, even exhibiting doctored photos, so it is more difficult than ever for climbers to prove their ascents. There is also famously, no photo of Sir Edmund Hillary on the summit of Everest, although there is a photo of his Sherpa holding a flag on the top. Hillary was always extremely vocal about his indebtedness to the Sherpas, appreciating their courage and knowledge. He spent a great deal of money visiting the Himalayas with his family for years, establishing schools and hospitals and visiting his great friends there. Because Hillary had a stainless reputation, it was fairly straightforward to believe him. Mallory, however, was not known, rich or titled, and only had a reputation as a genius climber in his home district. Those lacks would not prevent him from reaching top, but would lead to questions and doubts among explorers at that time. Personally, I hope that they achieved their goal, but they did have tremendous problems with their oxygen tanks and timing of getting up in a safe way. We just cannot show, without proof, that they did...
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  7. I've read several books on Mallory, and he was a very fascinating person, so talented, yet completely hopeless at taking care of himself, a man irresistible to women, and married one, but had his most emotional physical experiences in love with men... obviously bisexual, yet so conventional that he took a job as a schoolmaster in a tiny district and took a very conventional woman as his wife.... Mallory was almost hopeless as a climber, honestly, he could not even keep hold of his compass, losing and breaking everything, forgetting everything, never on time, it was a forgone conclusion that, in spite of being the most talented climber of the whole expedition, he was almost criminally stupid about being organized, putting himself and those around him in critical danger...he might make it to the top, but would never make it down...
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