Legendary Climber Inaki Ochoa Dies on Annapurna, Ueli Steck By His Side–May 23, 2008
May 23, 2008
Heroic efforts to rescue climber Inaki Ochoa, unfortunately were not enough. Inaki Ochoa passed away at 12:30 pm local time. Ueli Steck, who was in the process of helping to carry out a high-altitude rescue on Ochoa, was with him and continued to try to revive him until the very end.
Sorry guys. I am a bit choked up. I think many of us believed that the rescue efforts would be a success, but unfortunately, today, that was not the case. Over the past couple of days, as this rescue effort played out, many people had been watching, hoping, and praying for Ochoa, one of the leading mountaineers in the world. His struggle on Annapurna began with no warning, and ends quite the same. I think many of us are shocked. My heart goes out to Inaki Ochoa’s family, friends, and associates. Let’s not forget Ueli Steck, who made an amazing effort to rescue the struggling climber. Even if the rescue did not come out as we all hoped, Ueli Steck and the other individuals who were struggling to get up Annapurna to rescue Ochoa–quite frankly, they should be treated as heroes for their personal ethics in helping a fallen comrade.
I will have a bit more information and make another post later on today. In the meantime, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments–prayers for Inaki Ochoa, all involved in these efforts, and for Inaki’s family.
To catch up on news and information, you can read my previous posts on this rescue effort HERE, HERE, and HERE. For the latest Update, head over to ExplorersWeb.
Once again, Inaki Ochoa has died on Annapurna–May 23, 2008
From The Adventurist Vault:
Written by Jason A. Hendricks · Filed Under Annapurna, Inaki Ochoa, Ueli Steck, Uncategorized |
Well said Jason, the efforts of Ueli (and Simon) were quite remarkable. I feel desperately sorry they were unable to save Inaki. Here’s praying for the news that Ueli and Simon are back safely in base camp.
i have been following this story for days and was so saddened to hear that the heroic efforts of the other climbers were not able to help inaki….my heart goes out to his family and his family of climbers. kudos to the people who risked their lives to try and save a man so important to the climbing community. rest in peace inaki…and know that you will never be forgotten.
[...] most people in the United States do not even realize that one of the best climbers in the world, Inãki Ochoa, died on Annapurna. When Inãki first got into trouble, there was nobody around that could help the struggling climber [...]