GabeAug 3rd, 2008 - 21:12:20

Mountain climbing is a death-defying sport, so it should come as no surprise when these tragedies happen.

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Barbara CarawayAug 3rd, 2008 - 23:21:56

Gerard McDonnell knew of the dangers well, but that doesn't lessen the pain of how we (his friends and family) are feeling. We are sick with worry and now grief, if in fact this confirmation is true.

Much love to his mum and family.

Barb in Anchorage

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Dave HancockAug 4th, 2008 - 02:39:04

Barbara, I am so sorry for your loss, Ger travelled with us in 2006 to pakistan, he was such an incredibly friendly, positive, and inspiring person. This is an extra-ordinary tragedy, but I know that you know, he is where he loved to be, and he has left us doing what he loved. PLease try and stay strong.

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Ed GodshalkAug 4th, 2008 - 20:32:34

About 20 years ago a fellow alpinist told me that about 5-10% of serious mountaineers eventually meet their death while climbing. Sadly over the last two decades I have observed that this statistic is unfortunately probably not too far off the mark as witnessed by the death of various friends and acquaintances in the mountains over the years. As we all know K2 has much higher odds; for example my friend Scott Johnston was on the peak in 1995 and two in his party were killed on the descent (Alison Hargraves was one of them). Mountaineering is an intoxicating way of life with a great deal of fulfillment, but it also carries an undeniable amount of risk that goes up exponentially when scaling an 8000 meter peak.

Hopefully the poor soles that were lost in this most recent incident on K2 were aware of these odds. If so, then at least they died doing their passion. However, if they were not aware of the risks then that is a real tragedy.

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