Following the mountain’s deadliest disaster, many Sherpas have started descending from Everest Base Camp in a walkout, forcing companies to cancel their planned expeditions.
The walkout is certain to disrupt a climbing season that was already marked by grief following Friday’s disaster. Sherpa guides were hauling climbing gear between camps when a chunk of ice tore loose and triggered an avalanche.
‘It gives us a sense of responsibility because we are there and have the resources and wherewithal to tell the story,’ she said. ‘We want to have the right tribute.’
Ogwyn said in an interview on Tuesday that while he agreed with the decision to end his project, he hopes to jump off Everest sometime in the future.
Sherpa teams were preparing the climb for several expeditions, including Ogwyn’s team and employees of Peacock Productions, the NBC-affiliated firm that was producing Discovery’s telecast. Discovery announced on Sunday, two days after the avalanche, that it was abandoning the attempted jump.
Discovery pulled the plug both out of sensitivity toward the Sherpa community and an inability to assess the stability of the mountain post-avalanche, O’Neill said.
Ogwyn said conditions on Everest were more dangerous this year than he had seen in the past. He heard and witnessed the avalanche and didn’t think it was that bad at first, because he had witnessed avalanches there that were louder and dislodged more ice and snow.
Read the full story via Discovery Channel to make documentary Sherpas killed on Mount Everest | Mail Online.
