The Himalaya by the Numbers: A Statistical Analysis - Himalayan ...

As I mentioned I passed Roger at about 7200m and again I stopped at C1 and spent about
2 hours there making tea and packing. Again I could see Roger moving so slowly. In all
that time, 2-1/2 hours in total, I never saw him take more than 5 steps. Besides this there
were at least 8-9 other people (many Sherpas) who passed Roger and told him to turn
back. We all talked about how crazy he must be not to see that he was never going to get
anywhere at the speed he was moving. George, one of his team members, spent more than
half an hour trying to tell him to return.
We all went down to ABC that evening. Next morning I was concerned about Roger and
looked for him through my telescope and sure enough I could see his body lying on the
snow slope still attached to the fixed rope. I was very busy with my own expedition, and as
Roger did not move all day long, we assumed that he was dead and that there was nothing
that anyone could do to help. Later that day I met with the two Austrians who confirmed
that they had passed his body during the day.
The following morning 28th I left ABC early and went up to C1 in 2 hours and then went
on up to Roger’s body at 7400m in another 1 hour. On the way up I noticed that one of his
overboots was on the rock to my right. This was strange as the prevailing wind is from
right to left, so anything that he may have dropped would have gone the other way. There
was quite a strong wind blowing that day, so much that I needed to wear my down suit
with the hood up.
Roger was slumped over his pack, with no gloves on, wearing a lightweight ski suit and
Dynafit ski touring boots. None of this clothing was adequate for the conditions one would
expect on Everest. He had secured himself onto the fixed ropes by a complicated array of
ascender and carabiners (not really required); his thermos was secured to him, but broken,
as was his headlamp. I took photos of his body and the surrounding area for insurance
purposes. Because of his position I could not roll him over, so had to cut the tape sling that
held him to the rope. His body slid down for about 100m onto the rocks. I went down and
moved him again so as he ended up on a long snow slope where he slid for several hundred
meters.
I went back up and collected his pack, and went down to his overboot to collect that. It was
at this stage that I found one of his gloves about another 50m lower, also on the rock, but
with a rock sitting on top of it. About another 50m lower there is another dead body that
has been there since 1986. This had become exposed over the last few years, so I thought
that I would cover him over again since I was in the business of removing bodies this day.
To my surprise I found new crampons marks in the snow, so I suspect that Roger had
visited him on his way up. I was especially surprised to find Roger’s other overboot lying in
the rocks not far away.
This may all be circumstantial, but it sure does not make sense to me.
I still had a camp about 100m (vertical) above where Roger was, but this was of no use to
him at the rate that he was traveling. However it took me less than an hour to return to
C1, and that was with a broken crampon as I had broken one whilst pushing him over the
rocks.
Again none of us can understand why he did not turn back, especially when so many
people had told him not to continue. He also knew that another man had already died that
day.
Since returning and looking through his equipment, I see that he was so totally under
prepared for an ascent of Everest. He had several items, which are good for skiing, but
are of no use on Everest. He had practically no substantial food, and only one canister
of cooking gas with him. I suspect that he was planning on using everyone else’s camps,
except we had taken them all out the day that he was going up. He may have reached my
Death Analysis 133