Tragic Year in Himalaya
This year 44 climbers died attempting 8,000 m peaks, a higher than usual number of fatalities. A series of bad accidents and the deaths of well known climbers dominated the headlines. For more see Explores Web.
Self-confidence is the most valuable gift a man can possess, but it is a gift not easily granted… To possess true confidence, it is necessary to have learned to know oneself at moments when one was standing on the very frontier of things, time when one could even cast a glance over to ‘the other side.’ And then one had to examine oneself with unsparing clarity to establish what one felt, thought or did at such a moment.” -Heirick Harrer, The White Spider
Accomplished alpinists such as Athur Hajzer, Maciej Berbeka, Alexey Bolotov, Zsolt Eross, Seong-Ho Suh, Igor Svergun, Yang Chunfeng, Rao Jianfeng and Marty Schmidt, passed away in the hills in 2013. Below are a number of portraits of the famed mountaineers.