Trouble at the top of the world: Everest climbers complain of theft of oxygen bottles

Colbie Caillat

導讀:近日，珠穆朗瑪峰登山者的氧氣瓶被盜竊的情況有所增加，這讓登山者和向導頗為擔心，這有可能對他們登頂造成阻礙，甚至危及生命安全，是誰偷了他們的氧氣瓶？

There’s a troubling mystery developing near the top of Mount Everest that’s putting climbers’ lives in danger:People’s oxygen bottles are disappearing.

“It is becoming a serious issue up there,” mountain guide Nima Tenji Sherpa told the BBC on Friday.

“I kept on hearing from expedition groups that their oxygen bottles had disappeared and that could be life-threatening—particularly when they have used up what they are carrying on their way up and they are still not on the summit yet,or they plan to use the stocked bottles on their way back,”added Tenji Sherpa,who had just returned from Everest.

While it’s possible to summit Everest without oxygen,it’s not recommended for most climbers because of the mountain’s extreme elevation.Soaring some 5.5 miles above sea level,Everest’s air at its peak can’t sustain life for more than a few hours.Without extensive training,lack of oxygen can bring on serious frostbite,as well as a condition called hypoxia that affects the brain,causing headaches,hallucinations and eventually death.

With the 2017 summit season just underway on Everest(the first group of climbers summited the mountain on May 15),it didn’t take long for reports of the suspected thefts to come in.

“Another 7 bottles of O2have gone missing from our supply— this time from The South Col,”Everest Expedition leader Tim Mosedale wrote on Facebook last week,referring to the location of one of Everest’s final camps before the summit.

Mosedale referenced the high number of“failed summit bids,” as well as the five fatalities happening on the mountain so far this year,noting he wouldn’t be surprised if the oxygen was taken to help those out in immediate need,but that he wished “people would let us know.”

“No one in their right mind would withhold previous oxygen from any team/climber having difficulties.But if those difficulties are as a result of their own oversight or lack of sufficient supply,it’s a difficult situation to reconcile — espe-cially when it potentially affects the success or otherwise of our own team,” he continued. “Indeed,as I’ve mentioned before,lack of sufficient oxygen can easily develop into a life-threatening situation.”

In an earlier post after finding out four of his group’s oxygen bottles had gone missing from another camp,Mosedale wasn’t so understanding,though.

“I’d never normally wish ill on anyone but if these thieving bastards don’t summit,or get frostbite in the process,then that’s karma,” he wrote on Facebook.

珠穆朗瑪峰頂附近出現了一個令人不安的神秘現象，氧氣瓶離奇失蹤，這讓登山者的生命處于危險之中。

“這在成為一個嚴重的問題，”夏爾巴的登山向導Nima Tenji于星期五對BBC表示。

“遠征隊的氧氣瓶消失的事兒我一直有所耳聞，這可能會危及生命，特別是當人們在上山的路上就用完了，然而還沒有到達頂峰；或者是他們把庫存氧氣瓶留到下山時再用。”Tenji補充道。

盡管不用氧氣瓶也有可能登上峰珠穆朗瑪峰頂峰，但由于山勢極高，并不推薦絕大多數登山者這樣做。高海拔高度高達5.5英里的珠穆朗瑪峰峰頂的空氣只能維持幾小時的生命。沒有強度的訓練，缺氧可能會導致嚴重的凍傷，以及一種稱為缺氧的疾病，會影響大腦，導致頭痛，幻覺和最終死亡。

2017年登山季（5月15日，第一批攀登者登頂）一到，盜竊事件的報道就發生了。

“我們的另外七瓶氧氣也失蹤了，這次發生在南坡的South Col地區。”珠穆朗瑪峰遠征隊長Tim Mosedale上周在臉書上寫道，這是珠穆朗瑪峰頂峰之前的最后一個營地所在地。

Mosedale提到了大量的“登頂失敗”的案例，以及今年發生的五起死亡事件，并指出，他并不驚訝氧氣被用來幫助那些急需的人，但他希望“這些人（拿了氧氣瓶）告訴我們”。

“面對有困難的登山隊或登山者，沒有人會不提供氧氣相助。但是，如果這些困難是由于自己的大意或缺乏足夠的供應造成的，那么這個困難就很難調和了，特別是這可能影響到我們自己團隊的成功或其他方面的時候，”他繼續說。 “事實上，如前所述，缺乏足夠的氧氣很容易危及生命。”

之前，在他發現另一個營地的四個氧氣瓶失蹤后，他發了一條沒那么富有同情心的帖子。

他在臉書上寫道：“我一般來說不會對討厭的任何人詛咒，但是如果這些盜竊的混蛋不能登頂，或者在這個過程中凍傷，那就是報應。”