National Geographic Adventure has posted this article which is not only a solid review of the 2007 Spring climbing season on Everest, but also a closer look at what happened to Usha Bista as she made her attempt at the summit.
If the name Usha Bista rings a bell, but you can't quite put your finger on it, than allow me to jog your memory. She's the 22 year old climber who was part of the "Democratic Everest Expedition" who experienced difficulty while trying to summit and was abandoned by her team at 27,300 feet.
The story had echos of the David Sharp incident from 2006, but unlike Sharp, Usha had the good fortune of someone stopping to help her. Canadian climber Meagan McGrath came across Usha laying in the snow, and started the rescue process, and was later joined by American Dave Hahn, who joined the effort in making sure the Nepalese climber was able to make it down the mountain, where a group of British Doctors were able to help save Usha's life.
Some of the details in the article were new to me, and it's a good read. It provides an inside look at the climate amongst climbers on Everest, and I think it's pretty telling that very few people offered to lend any aid, even though the death of David Sharp the year before cast a shadow over everything that happened on Everest, and put it under the microscope of the media. It seems that things haven't improved all that much.
Thanks to the Everest Is Ours Blog for the heads up on this one.
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