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Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

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Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#81
post #23

I can’t imagine having a hobby that involves passing by, and in some cases climbing over, the exposed remains of others who died doing that same activity.

The stepping over the dead bothers me little, frankly. As a mountaineer, it's hard to imagine a nicer end than dying at the top of a beautiful mountain. Beats the care home for sure. What horrifies me is the idea of stepping past people who are alive and dying, because... Meh? Because I paid to go the top, not rescue stragglers? People often say they can barely walk forwards, never mind rescue someone, and it's true.…

Do you think if you're in that kind of situation, where you are dying on a beautiful mountain, you would have it in you to appreciate the beauty around you? I was imagining it to be more like a cold, painful death rather than a nice end where you appreciate the mountain air.

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#83
post #23

I can’t imagine having a hobby that involves passing by, and in some cases climbing over, the exposed remains of others who died doing that same activity.

Is climbing over something that happens? For passing by, that says some about the danger of the hobby and much more about the effort of getting the body back. There's lots of common activities where you might pass by a spot someone died while doing it. Notably, driving a car nearly guarantees it.

[deleted]

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#84
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is climbing over something that happens? For passing by, that says some about the danger of the hobby and much more about the effort of getting the body back. There's lots of common activities where you might pass by a spot someone died while doing it. Notably, driving a car nearly guarantees it.

Or taking a walk. There’s an intersection two blocks from me where a pedestrian was killed in a hit and run accident shortly after I moved to town. The roadside memorial remained in place for nearly two years (I remember thinking that the people who lived in the house at the corner where the memorial was would probably like to remove it, but didn’t want to appear callous). The worst part is that even though the inter…

I feel so frustrated about such stuff. Especially when we have the technology to make this not happen.

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#85
post #21

If you are averse to the Daily Mail, you can try this article instead: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/22/mt-everest-gre...

> If you are averse to the Daily Mail, you can try this article instead.. The irony of this though is that you just become bucketed in another consumer group. Resist the packaging of yourself by media firms and marketing. Try and consume news through the sources like AFP or Reuters (unfortunately not free anymore)

The problem is that AFP, AP and Reuters supply the news to these big outlets and have done for decades. Sometimes this comes out in different papers using the same phrasing.

It means that our news is filtered through a handful of outlets, and is dependent on their own policies.

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are averse to the Daily Mail, you can try this article instead.. The irony of this though is that you just become bucketed in another consumer group. Resist the packaging of yourself by media firms and marketing. Try and consume news through the sources like AFP or Reuters (unfortunately not free anymore)

> ... bucketed in another consumer group ... Resist the packaging of yourself by media firms and marketing. > Suggests some different buckets.

I subscribe to Reuters. I've been using it as my primary source of non-tech news for the past 5 years.

Compared to the Guardian or CNN, the reporting is much less subjective and less editorialized, and, outside of Breaking Views, I've yet to find an article with an obvious ideological bent.

It's not ideal, but it is better. Sure, it's probably still a bucket, but at least the lid isn't tightly shut, and there's no fire beneath it that's going to slowly cook you over time. I switched to Reuters when the war in Ukraine started: it was the only source of news that wasn't very obviously, in-your-face biased. It's not the best source for longer-form reporting, but for news, I'm much happier in this bucket than in the alternatives I tried.

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#87
post #23

I can’t imagine having a hobby that involves passing by, and in some cases climbing over, the exposed remains of others who died doing that same activity.

I mean Everest is so gauche also, only rich morons do it.

Other mountains are available. Most of the mountains in Antarctica are unclimbed.

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#88
post #78
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 6800m on Pobeda Peak in Russia I thought, “There’s no way a peak in Russia can be that high”, and indeed, you got the unit wrong, this is 3,003 m. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Pobeda_(Sakha)

you've got the wrong peak. 7439m: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jengish_Chokusu 3000m is nothing. Mount Shasta is 4200m and we, just regular guys, walked up to its summit without any experience, etc. in 2 days. People easy do it in 1 day.

Be that as it may, the highest peak in Russia (and in all of Europe) is Mt. Elbrus, which is 5,642 m. Guess it sucks to be a peak in the 7000-8000 m range in Asia, which would be the highest peak on any other continent, but in Asia, it's just one of many...

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've only read Into Thin Air, but that book makes Boukreev (author of The Climb) seem like an unreliable narrator. I have zero interest in high altitude mountaineering (I prefer lower altitude rock climbing) but I should probably check out The Climb to get both sides.

The Climb was a great response to it and according to my partner who then read more books about that year’s expeditions it is much closer to what happened than Into Thin Air.

I can’t believe you guys have not read BOTH. The real pleasure is in reading both contradictory accounts!

And there have been articles written in magazines including perspectives of other people who were there, as well.

Re: Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stepping over the dead bothers me little, frankly. As a mountaineer, it's hard to imagine a nicer end than dying at the top of a beautiful mountain. Beats the care home for sure. What horrifies me is the idea of stepping past people who are alive and dying, because... Meh? Because I paid to go the top, not rescue stragglers? People often say they can barely walk forwards, never mind rescue someone, and it's true.…

Do you think if you're in that kind of situation, where you are dying on a beautiful mountain, you would have it in you to appreciate the beauty around you? I was imagining it to be more like a cold, painful death rather than a nice end where you appreciate the mountain air.

I don't have definitive first-hand experience.

I would speculate that it is one of the less awful ways to go. Mountaineers who had a close brush talk about the struggle to stay awake while awaiting rescue (or before resuming their descent at first light) - because they felt that if they fell asleep, they wouldn't wake up again.

If it's like uncomfortable and cold but unshakeable sleepiness, I can think of worse ways to go.

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