I watched 2 shows recently on Everest (Insomnia - they were back to back and finished at 4am). Anyway, the first one went into some amazing ethical questions faced by climbers on their way up running into dying climbers. I was continually amazed at the situational ethics and, in particular, the ability to rationalize the fact that if someone was 'near death' that it was just as ethical to move forward and leave them behind as if they were dead. Simply incredible.

The second one then went into how on a historical expedition to find out if Hillary wasn't truly the first to the top saved 2 sets of climbers from death (1 did die on the mountain, but he was too far gone I guess).

I can't believe the incredible hubris that is involved in climbing Everest. In the Death Zone, there are a lot of people who have no business being up there. Money alone is why they even get the chance at bragging rights.

It takes a hardened soul to do what these people did, and from the sound of it, it's business as usual on the rock. I wouldn't ever want to put myself into a position where I might have to make the choice between completing a very expensive personal goal and saving another person's life. I know which I'd choose. Even though these people have to live with their choices, I find it to be an impressive show of will. And I suppose that in reality, those who died had nobody to blame but themselves. They know what they are getting into when going up. I find it all rather fascinating.