Mark Inglis

Last updated

Mark Inglis
WasteMinz Conference 2009 - Mark Inglis.jpg
Inglis in 2009
Personal information
Birth nameMark Joseph Inglis
Born (1959-09-27) 27 September 1959 (age 64)
Geraldine, New Zealand
Occupation(s) Mountaineer
Motivational speaker
Website MarkInglisUnlimited.co.nz

Mark Joseph Inglis ONZM (born 27 September 1959) is a New Zealand mountaineer, researcher, winemaker and motivational speaker. He holds a degree in Human Biochemistry from Lincoln University, New Zealand, and has conducted research on leukaemia [ citation needed ]. He is also an accomplished cyclist and, as a double leg amputee, won a silver medal in the 1 km time trial event at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. He is the first double amputee to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world above sea level.

Contents

In addition to being a goodwill ambassador for the Everest Rescue Trust, Inglis has created a New Zealand-based charitable trust Limbs4All. He has also created a range of sports drinks and energy gels named PeakFuel.

Mountaineering

Born in Geraldine, [1] Inglis began work as a professional mountaineer in 1979 as a search and rescue mountaineer for Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park. In 1982 Inglis and climbing partner Philip Doole were stuck in a snow cave on Aoraki / Mount Cook for 13 days due to an intense blizzard. The rescue of the two climbers was a major media event in New Zealand. Both men's legs became badly frostbitten while awaiting rescue. Following Inglis's rescue, both his legs were amputated 14 cm below the knee. He returned to Mt. Cook in 2002 and reached the summit successfully on 7 January of that year, after a previous attempt was thwarted by problems with his legs. The summit assault in January 2002 was documented by the film No Mean Feat: The Mark Inglis Story.

In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Inglis was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to persons with disabilities. [2] On 27 September 2004, he successfully climbed Cho Oyu with three others, becoming only the second double amputee to summit a mountain greater than 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) in height.

On 15 May 2006, after 40 days of climbing, Inglis became the first ever double amputee to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. While acclimatizing at 6,400 metres (21,000 ft), a fixed-line anchor failed, resulting in Inglis falling and breaking one of his carbon fiber prosthetic legs in half. It was temporarily repaired with duct tape, while a spare was brought up from base camp. Inglis's Everest expedition was filmed for the Discovery Channel series Everest: Beyond the Limit .

David Sharp controversy

While ascending Everest, Inglis and a party of 18 other climbers came upon distressed British climber David Sharp, but continued pushing towards the summit, effectively condemning Sharp to death. Sharp subsequently died. Inglis has been criticised for this decision by many people including Sir Edmund Hillary, who said he should have abandoned any attempt at the summit to help a fellow climber. Inglis dismissed the criticism by falsely claiming that the decision was actually made by expedition leader Russell Brice, who was at the base camp. He also stated that the "trouble is at 8,500 metres it's extremely difficult to keep yourself alive, let alone anyone else alive." Some other climbers have agreed with this assessment, claiming there is little that can be done for a seriously ill person that close to the summit. However, Phil Ainslie, a mountaineer and scientist at the University of Otago, has said that it might have been possible to revive Sharp with bottled oxygen and get him to safety.

In an e-mailed statement to the Associated Press on 10 June, the expedition leader Russell Brice contradicted comments by Inglis by saying that he only knew David Sharp was in distress when his team contacted him by radio during their descent. [3] [4]

Brice received many radio messages (many of which were heard by others) that night and a full log was kept. There is no record of any call from Mark Inglis. This was also supported by complete video of the time period which was recorded by a Discovery Channel crew. Inglis' group continued to the summit, passing David Sharp who they knew to be alive, without offering any assistance. Sharp was in a grave condition. On their descent, passing back through the cave several hours later, the group found Sharp near death. Inglis' fellow climber, Maxime Chaya (or Max) and Chaya's Sherpa mountaineering partner attempted to help David Sharp, but to no avail. Inglis did not render aid during the descent.

Personal life

Inglis currently resides in Hanmer Springs, New Zealand, with his wife Anne and their three children. In 2007, he was honoured by TVNZ's This Is Your Life . In 2024, he appeared on New Zealand panel show 7 Days .

Books authored

Inglis has authored four books:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Everest</span> Earths highest mountain

Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Lambert</span> Swiss mountain climber

Raymond Lambert was a Swiss mountaineer who together with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached an altitude of 8611 metres of Mount Everest, as part of a Swiss Expedition in May 1952. At the time it was the highest point that a climber had ever reached. There was a second Swiss expedition in autumn 1952, but a party including Lambert and Tenzing was forced to turn back at a slightly lower point. The following year Tenzing returned with Edmund Hillary to reach the summit on 29 May 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cho Oyu</span> 6th-highest mountain on Earth, located in Nepal and China

Cho Oyu is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at 8,188 metres (26,864 ft) above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the Khumbu sub-section of the Mahalangur Himalaya 20 km west of Mount Everest. The mountain stands on the China Tibet–Nepal Koshi Pradesh border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Hinkes</span> British Himalayan mountaineer

Alan Hinkes OBE is an English Himalayan high-altitude mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. He is the first British mountaineer to claim all 14 Himalayan eight-thousanders, which he did on 30 May 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Hall</span> New Zealand mountaineer (1961–1996)

Robert Edwin Hall was a New Zealand mountaineer. He was the head guide of a 1996 Mount Everest expedition during which he, a fellow guide, and two clients died. A best-selling account of the expedition was given in Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air, and the expedition has been dramatised in the 2015 film Everest. At the time of his death, Hall had just completed his fifth ascent to the summit of Everest, more at that time than any other non-Sherpa mountaineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sharp (mountaineer)</span> British mountain climber (1972–2006)

David Sharp was an English mountaineer who died near the summit of Mount Everest. His death caused controversy and debate because he was passed by several other climbers heading to and returning from the summit as he was dying, although several others tried to help him.

Russell Reginald Brice is a New Zealand mountaineer. He was the owner/manager of Himex, a climbing expedition company. He has summited Cho Oyu seven times, Himal Chuli and Mount Everest twice, as well as Manaslu in October 2010, which was his 14th summit of an 8000 m peak.

<i>Everest: Beyond the Limit</i> American TV series or program

Everest: Beyond the Limit is a Discovery Channel reality television series about yearly attempts to summit Mount Everest organized and led by New Zealander Russell Brice.

Nawang Sherpa became the first person to climb Mount Everest with a prosthetic leg by reaching the summit on May 16, 2004. He is also the first amputee to reach the summit of Mount Everest on his first attempt, and the first disabled person from Asia to stand on the summit.

Andrew James Lock OAM is an Australian mountaineer. He became the first, and still remains the only, Australian to climb all 14 "eight-thousanders" on 2 October 2009, and is the 18th person to ever complete this feat. He climbed 13 of the 14 without bottled oxygen, only using it on Mount Everest, which he has summited three times. He retired from eight-thousander climbing in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phurba Tashi</span> Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer

Phurba Tashi Sherpa Mendewa is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer known for his numerous ascents of major Himalayan peaks. These include 21 ascents of Mount Everest, six on Cho Oyu, eight on Manaslu, and one each on Shishapangma and Lhotse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arjun Vajpai</span> Indian mountaineer

Arjun Vajpai (born 9 June 1993 is an Indian mountaineer, who became the world's youngest mountaineer to summit six peaks over 8,000 meters in the year 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zsolt Erőss</span> Hungarian mountaineer (1968–2013)

Zsolt Erőss was the most successful Hungarian high-altitude mountaineer, summiting 10 of the 14 eight-thousanders. He was also the first Hungarian citizen to have climbed Mount Everest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ang Dorje Sherpa</span> Nepalese sherpa (born 1970)

Ang Dorje (Chhuldim) Sherpa is a Nepalese sherpa mountaineering guide, climber, and porter from Pangboche, Nepal, who has reached the summit of Mount Everest 23 times. He was the climbing Sirdar for Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants expedition to Everest in spring 1996, when a freak storm led to the deaths of eight climbers from several expeditions, considered one of the worst disasters in the history of Everest mountaineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty Schmidt</span> New Zealand-American mountaineer, guide and adventurer (1960–2013)

Martin Walter Schmidt, known as Marty, was a New Zealand-American mountaineer, guide and adventurer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adventure Consultants</span> Adventure travel company

Adventure Consultants, formerly Hall and Ball Adventure Consultants, is a New Zealand-based adventure company that brings trekking and climbing groups to various locations. Founded by Rob Hall and Gary Ball in 1991, it is known for its pioneering role in the commercialisation of Mount Everest and the 1996 Mount Everest climb during which eight people died, including Hall, a guide, and two Adventure Consultant clients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian Trekking</span> Adventure travel company

Asian Trekking is a Nepal-based adventure company, specializing in mountaineering expeditions and trekking in the Himalayas. Started in 1982 by UIAA Honorary Member Ang Tshering Sherpa, it is Nepal's oldest mountaineering and trekking company still in operation. In 2008, Tshering's son Dawa Steven Sherpa, an environmentalist and mountaineer, took over the leadership of the company and continues to serve as the managing director to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olof Sundstrom</span> Swedish mountaineer

Olof Sundstrom is a Swedish adventurer, high altitude mountaineer, solo sailor and inspirational speaker.

References

  1. "The true story of Mark Inglis". speakingtree.in. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. "Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee honours list 2002". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 2002. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  3. Amputee Lauded, Criticized for Everest Climb : NPR
  4. Mount Everest Climbing Ethics | Outside Online Archived 18 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine