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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

#101

Post by lazide »

lukan wrote: post #98
vasco wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This subthread isn't about what is most valuable to the world. It is about what makes someone take risks. One guy's superficial need for adrenaline might still represent a much bigger internal feeling of "I have to do it" than another guys internal feeling of "I like to help others so I do this". Because the firefighter only understands taking risks to do something moral doesn't mean others operate the same way.

I believe firefighters partly also do it for the adrenaline rush. I also believe there are different views of what this subthread was about.

Best to not look into the firefighter/arsonist overlap either.

I kid, you guys are awesome.

(Also, no firefighter I’ve ever known wonders why the overlap exists, hahah)

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

#102

Post by lazyant »

Smoosh wrote: post #32
killingtime74 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah and also knowing if something happens your team will definitely leave you

The movie Touching the Void is highly recommended.

Documentary or docudrama but yes it's great. Important lessons like focusing only in the next rock.

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

#103

Post by RetroTechie »

Article mentions helicopters can't (or safely) fly there due to thin air at altitude.

Sounds logical for existing helicopters designed to operate at lower altitude.

But wouldn't it be possible to design or adapt a helicopter specifically for this purpose?

It's not that aerodynamics / lift etc suddenly stop working, it's 'just' the numbers changing. Eg. a helicopter with longer rotor blades, or dual-rotor design might work? Bonus points if it could fly unmanned to not risk pilots' lives unnecessarily.

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

#104

Post by dredmorbius »

TFNA wrote: post #79
trhway wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Jengish Chokusu is in Kyrgyzstan, not Russia. And during the Soviet era it was part of the Kyrgyz SFSR, not the Russian SFSR. You’d have to be talking about events happening before 1917 (when it was part of the general Russian Empire) for someone writing in 2026 to reasonably describe it as “in Russia”. > 3000m is nothing Not (to speak of the other Peak Pobeda) in Yakutia.

From the Meduza story linked earlier in this subthread:

Russian mountain climber Natalia Nagovitsina, who got stranded on Kyrgyzstan’s Pobeda Peak on August 12 after suffering an injury during her descent, has died...

https://meduza.io/en/news/2025/09/03/stranded-russian-climbe...>

The climber was Russian. The peak, Kyrgyzstani. The name "Pobeda" means "Victory" in Russian. Mountains (and other geographic features) often share names, and specifying which and where can occasionally be confusing.

Tolerance for someone mis-remembering elements of a story helps avoid tedious comment litigation.

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

#105

Post by TFNA »

dredmorbius wrote: post #104
TFNA wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jengish Chokusu is in Kyrgyzstan, not Russia. And during the Soviet era it was part of the Kyrgyz SFSR, not the Russian SFSR. You’d have to be talking about events happening before 1917 (when it was part of the general Russian Empire) for someone writing in 2026 to reasonably describe it as “in Russia”. > 3000m is nothing Not (to speak of the other Peak Pobeda) in Yakutia.

From the Meduza story linked earlier in this subthread: Russian mountain climber Natalia Nagovitsina, who got stranded on Kyrgyzstan’s Pobeda Peak on August 12 after suffering an injury during her descent, has died... https://meduza.io/en/news/2025/09/03/stranded-russian-climbe... > The climber was Russian. The peak, Kyrgyzstani. The name "Pobeda" means "Victory" in Russian. Mountains (and other geographic features)…

Confusing a country that won independence from its colonizer with said colonizer (regardless of whether it was a typical geographical misconception around "Russia" or a mere slipup) is pretty insensitive.

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

#107

Post by invalidptr »

drakonka wrote: post #81
rich_sasha wrote: post #40

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 have firsthand experience with this, and yes, that was my last thought. I was young and foolish, and alone in the wilderness during the winter. I drank some bad water and became very sick during a blizzard, and while searching for shelter, I finally became too weak to continue. I was hypothermic, and coherent thoughts were difficult, but my last thoughts were peaceful acceptance, and appreciation of the beauty and power around me. I cocooned up and drifted off, and I'm still here somehow.

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

#108

Post by ninth_ant »

rob74 wrote: post #69
ninth_ant wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A climber who was pivotally involved in the failed rescue efforts for the dead person in this article immediately left on a solo climb of a nearby mountain. He died just over a year later in another climbing incident. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Boukreev

From what I read, the 1996 Everest disaster involved two completely separate groups: Adventure Consultants/Mountain Madness, who ascended via the South Route (from Nepal), and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition, who came via the North Route (from Tibet), so if they ever met, it was only at the summit. "Green Boots" was part of the latter group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Mount_Everest_disaster#Li...

Appreciate the clarification.

While it was part of the same overall disaster, Boukreev‘s rescue efforts may not have been specifically towards Green Boots.

From what I understand the final location of Green Boots was along the same route that Boukreev took when attempting to rescue climbers? But now I’m less certain — it seems like the furthest Boukreev in reached in attempted rescue was Fischer’s body which was well below Green Boots.

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

#109

Post by m463 »

RijilV wrote: post #41
1over137 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't there only a dozen or so mountains above 8000 m? Can you really do that without supplementary oxygen? Amazing.

14 of them. The first person to climb them all did so without supplemental oxygen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Messner

He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplementary oxygen. He was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, doing so without supplementary oxygen. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds and also crossed the Gobi Desert alone. He is widely considered to be the greatest mountaineer of all time.

wow, even his hair is interesting

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

#110

Post by dredmorbius »

TFNA wrote: post #105
dredmorbius wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the Meduza story linked earlier in this subthread: Russian mountain climber Natalia Nagovitsina, who got stranded on Kyrgyzstan’s Pobeda Peak on August 12 after suffering an injury during her descent, has died... https://meduza.io/en/news/2025/09/03/stranded-russian-climbe... > The climber was Russian. The peak, Kyrgyzstani. The name "Pobeda" means "Victory" in Russian. Mountains (and other geographic features)…

Confusing a country that won independence from its colonizer with said colonizer (regardless of whether it was a typical geographical misconception around "Russia" or a mere slipup) is pretty insensitive.

Really, that theme is tired.

The mistake was in all likelihood innocent.

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