Question about solo summiting an 8,000+ meter peak

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rasdiggity

 
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Question about solo summiting an 8,000+ meter peak

by rasdiggity » Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:22 am

First and foremost, I am not a mountain climber, and I have the ultimate respect for those who attempt the world's highest summits.

I just finished reading a book documenting an amazing expedition in the Himalayas in the 1980s. Riveting from start to finish. But I had a strange feeling after I finished it. Mainly because I was left wondering whether the person who wrote the book --- an extraordinary mountaineer --- actually reached the summit.

The reason for my skepticism: The other members of the climber's team had to turn back short of the summit for various reasons, and the author says he reached the summit by himself. Which he well may have. But he also doesn't have a photo of himself on the summit, which he blamed on the effects of high altitude and a malfunctioning camera. Instead, the only photo he took as "proof" was a shot of an oxygen canister on the ground, against a blank background of snow. He said he found this oxygen canister at the summit, left there by an earlier expedition.

So maybe this is a stupid question from an obvious non-climber, but if someone says they solo summited a major peak with no real photo evidence, how is it determined whether the climber's claim is true or not?

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rgg
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Re: Question about solo summiting an 8,000+ meter peak

by rgg » Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:37 pm

I believe that the vast majority of those claiming to have been on any particular summit are telling the truth. However, mountaineers are people, and there are dishonest people from all walks of life so it would be irrational to assume that all mountaineers are honest. The thing is that having done something that's pretty difficult to do may bring rewards, be it by way of sponsorship deals, speaking engagements or simply gaining a (perceived) higher status among friends, and for some people that can be enough to claim a summit even if they didn't really reach it. Therefore, if you find it important that others believe your claim, you've got to have proof, and a picture of yourself on the summit, with a recognizable background, is arguably the best for that.

However, there can be plenty of good reasons for not having such a picture. Visibility may be poor, the battery of you camera is dead (or, in the old days, you had run out of film), or there might be a storm blowing so fierce that you don't dare to take of your mittens for fear of frost bite, to name just a few. And to compound matters, one of the effects of extreme altitude is that it affects decision making (the human brain doesn't fire on all cylinders with little oxygen), so if there is a problem getting a picture, you might not be able to sort it out, or you might not even remember why it was important to get that picture in the first place. If you're not alone, others can support your story. Also, you could leave something on the summit for others to find it. A weaker proof is to describe what you saw from the summit or draw something. It's weaker, because if you describe it fairly well, you might simply have read about it, or seen someone else's footage. It doesn't prove that you were there yourself. Basically, a description is only useful if it's the first time that a mountain is climbed, so that those making the next ascent can verify it. Otherwise a description can only be used if it's wrong, showing that the claim is doubtful. As it happens, there have been some high profile cases of just that.

Fortunately, for some of the highest peaks, there is the work of Elizabeth Hawley. For many decades, she recorded the details of every expedition, grilling all mountaineers when they returned. Eventually this culminated in the Himalayan Database, which will soon be available as a free download. You can then look up the expedition from your book, and check her conclusions about the summit claim.

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rasdiggity

 
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Re: Question about solo summiting an 8,000+ meter peak

by rasdiggity » Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:00 pm

An excellent and thoughtful response. Many thanks!

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Re: Question about solo summiting an 8,000+ meter peak

by Marmaduke » Wed Nov 22, 2017 1:19 am

Out of curiosity, what book are you referring to?

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rasdiggity

 
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Re: Question about solo summiting an 8,000+ meter peak

by rasdiggity » Wed Nov 22, 2017 3:40 pm

Sure thing Marmaduke, the book I just finished is "Everest: Alone at the Summit" by Stephen Venables, about the 1988 Chomolungma/Everest expedition up a previously unclimbed route on the Kangshung Face.


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