Dr. Meyer and Chhiring with K2 in the background
You never know where or when you’ll make a friend for life. Talus sponsored athlete and technical adviser Dr. Eric Meyer and Sherpa Chhiring Dorje met on the slopes of Everest in 2004. Since then, they’ve been on many adventures together – both exhilarating and dangerous. Last summer, they were together on K2 for a Talus-sponsored expedition during the deadly avalanche that killed 11 climbers from other groups– one of the worst events in mountaineering history. Dr. Meyer helped treat survivors, while Chhiring risked his life to help a stranded Sherpa who had lost his ice axe climb down to safety.
In a recent article by John Meyer for The Denver Post, Chhiring and Meyer talk about their nightmarish experiences during the K2 disaster, and outline their dream project — a return to the world’s tallest mountain to attempt a mission that could rewrite history. They want to search for the body of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine on Everest’s North Face.
AP File Photo of George Leigh Mallory, left, and Andrew Irvine preparing at camp in June 1924 for their climb to the summit of Mount Everest. They died during the attempt.
Irvine was an Englishman who died on the mountain in 1924 while trying to reach the summit of Everest with his good friend, George Leigh Mallory. Conrad Anker discovered Mallory’s body in 1999, but the body of Irvine has never been found. Chhiring believes that he saw it while climbing the North face of Everest back in 1995, but had no idea who it could have been at the time. Some believe Irvine and Mallory may have actually reached the top and died on the descent. If Chhiring and Meyer find Irvine’s body, and his camera is intact, there may be evidence that could prove that Irvine and Mallory were the first to summit Everest, a full 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, changing mountaineering history.
K2 2008
Re-writing history together – sounds like a fitting adventure for two good friends with a shared passion for the mountains.
Stay Out Longer,
John B. Sullivan III aka: ColdAvenger Pro
