Avalanche and Deaths on Manaslu was it ethical to continue climbing my take.

I still remember the immediate aftermath of the earthquake from April 2015 that induced an avalanche so big that it blew away pretty much the entire middle section of Everest base camp killing 20 people and injuring over 100. Every moment that I have lived since then has been a bonus. If I were 50 feet to my left - I would not be here writing this post. However, that's not what I want to talk about. After the avalanche as my entire team gathered around and we started doing a headcount, I distinctly remember not being able to feel my hands as they were super cold and numb. Everyone did what they could to help me but nothing worked. Mingma - my guide and brother saw all this and I still remember he grabbed me and took me outside and put me inside a tent that he had just resurrected and gave me a sleeping bag that he had managed to find. He asked me to get warm. At that moment - Mingma and I exchanged a couple of glances, and in that very moment we canceled the expedition (no one in my team knew/knows this). Yes, mountaineering is a risky endeavor and I understand and accept the risk. But in 2015, after the earthquake and the avalanche the risk was simply too high. And given the ground reality of big mountain climbing, it would be Sherpa guides bearing the brunt of the extra risk - and to me ethically it didn't make sense to climb. Mountain was still there, and Mingma and I both reckoned we would be back in 2016. This attitude has always been my guiding principle while on big mountains. And while my video is about the Manaslu 2022 season, this attitude of climbing to the top at any cost is not something new. It has been there since the start of commercial climbing, and probably with advent of social media pressures and record and clout chasing it's only going to get worse. All we can hope for is better sense to prevail, and above all I hope people respect the mountains, their own abilities, and it's very much OK to go home without a summit - as Ed Viesturs said - getting to the top is optional, coming back down alive is mandatory. #Manaslu2022 #Himalaya #Mountaineering #earthquake #avalanche

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