SADIE WHITELOCKS: I've witnessed the mad "summit fever" of wealthy and arrogant Western tourists who will stop at NOTHING to reach the top...which is why the death of the K2 wearer is as surprising as sickening.
The snow was no longer cold. In fact, it was warm and fluffy. I closed my eyes and started to fall asleep.
I was completely exhausted. Frozen numb and oxygen-poor about 22,600 feet on the Tibetan ascent of Everest.
Surrounded by crevasses and treacherous drops, I climbed stopped on a bed of ice to rest, failing to realize how easily these mountains can claim lives.
"Come on, Sadie," asked the one of the Sherpas in my group, Nima. 'We are not far. Another hour and we're there.
He was kind, but firm. Because he knew only too well: if I had fallen asleep, I might never have woken up.
It was March 2018 - and memories of that thrilling climb came flooding back this week as drone footage of 27-year-old Pakistani Muhammad Hassan's final moments on the slopes of K2 mountain went viral.
We all watched in horror as a mortally wounded Muhammad, a Sherpa (known as "porters" in Pakistan), lay motionless at 27,000 feet, stuck in the K2's snowy rock face - second highest to Everest but deadlier.
The snow was no longer cold. In fact, it was warm and fluffy. I closed my eyes and started to fall asleep.
I was completely exhausted. Frozen numb and oxygen-poor about 22,600 feet on the Tibetan ascent of Everest.
Surrounded by crevasses and treacherous drops, I climbed stopped on a bed of ice to rest, failing to realize how easily these mountains can claim lives.
"Come on, Sadie," asked the one of the Sherpas in my group, Nima. 'We are not far. Another hour and we're there.
He was kind, but firm. Because he knew only too well: if I had fallen asleep, I might never have woken up.
It was March 2018 - and memories of that thrilling climb came flooding back this week as drone footage of 27-year-old Pakistani Muhammad Hassan's final moments on the slopes of K2 mountain went viral.
We all watched in horror as a mortally wounded Muhammad, a Sherpa (known as "porters" in Pakistan), lay motionless at 27,000 feet, stuck in the K2's snowy rock face - second highest to Everest but deadlier.
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