Inaki Ochoa’s Death On Annapurna Sparks Letter From Ochoa’s Family
Posted by Jason A. Hendricks on May 26, 2008 |
The recent death of world-class climber Inaki Ochoa has sent fans around the world mourning for the fallen legend. After getting in to trouble once he summited Annapurna and began his descent, Inaki Ochoa’s situation would spark a huge high-altitude rescue effort that would include many of the top climbers currently in the Himalayas. Ueli Steck made it to Inaki. It was reported that Inaki Ochoa, after a couple of scary days at Camp 3 with no help, could not move or talk. He could eat and drink though, and this had many people who read the first reports optimistic. That feeling would soon fade as his tragic death was quickly spread around the internet and the world on May 23. There was nothing no one could do. Inaki Ochoa was gone.
I covered this incident as it began to unfold here at The Adventurist. Other sites done the same. The Adventure Blog and ExplorersWeb both tuned in to the events as well. UKClimbing, Alpinist, Summitclimb Forums–the list goes on and on. Most of us thought it was going to happen the way we picture it in our heads. Like a movie, almost always with a happy ending. That would not be the case this time.
Today, ExplorersWeb received a letter from Inaki Ochoa’s family. I am not going to print the whole thing here, but I will share a paragraph:
By noticing the help you all wanted to bring him right in front of death, you allow us to believe and feel that there are reasons not to forget his joy, and to hope that his style helps others to build their own love for freedom.
You can read the rest by clicking HERE.
I do have to say that for a family that has been through so much in recent days, this message is mostly a heartfelt thank-you from his family for the care and kind words that people sent to Inaki. That would be tough, but it does give you a glimpse of the kind of people that made Inaki who he was.
I never met the man, but many of us knew him through his personal thoughts and interviews when they would surface. We would hear the name and recognize it–think “cool he topped out on another huge peak. That’s great.” Then move on. Here is just a suggestion. Go back and read some of his interviews. Experience part of his personality. In order to understand why thousands of people are currently mourning the loss of a great climber, you have to understand a bit of who the man was. ExplorersWeb has followed along with him on numerous climbs. They have done a great job at getting some very good interviews with him–go read a bit, then tell me what’s not to like about the way he wanted to live his life. It was always an adventure to him. It was never a matter of ‘IF’ he could do something, but when. I think there is a lesson there for all of us. He will be missed.
my friend and I met Inaki last november and recorded an interview with him for our film that was never made. we’d like to let his family have the footage. does any one know how to contact them?
October 6th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Miko-
Have you tried contacting Tina, over at ExplorersWeb? Send them an email with “Tina” in the subject area. I know her and her husband were close with Inaki–if that doesn’t work, I have a couple of other options..contact me through my ‘Contact’ page and we will see what we can do to get this to Inaki’s family.
http://www.explorersweb.com
Jason A. Hendricks
The Adventurist
October 6th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
cheers for that Jason, I have emailed them. I’ll let you know how it goes.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Miko, I really hope it works out for you and that you can get that interview to his family. I know it would mean a lot to them and, perhaps, give them some comfort. Definitely let me know how it goes.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm