So, who do you believe?

Another piece of the Everest jigsaw has emerged with the release of a detailed statement by Russell Brice on his Himex website. The most startling revelation comes when Brice explains:

"It was not until 09.30 that I first became aware of the existence of David Sharp (although I did not know his name at this stage) when one of the climbers called me to say that there was a big man about to die."

Hmmm. Remember Inglis' initial interview? "I was one of the first, radioed and Russ said look Mark, you can’t do anything. He’s been there X number of hours, been there without oxygen, y’know he’s effectively dead. So we carried on." (TVNZ Close Up, 22 May) In the follow-up interview on 24 May Inglis makes it clear that it was during the ascent: "it was sometime after midnight as we were climbing past, some of our Sherpas – as I’ve said very experienced people – checked him out and y’know, I guess their opinion. We climbed on."

However, Brice categorically states: "There were never any radio conversations concerning the sighting of David Sharp between my team members and myself during the ascent"

This is so at odds with the information that has come out previously that it almost defies belief. As much as I try not to, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that someone is telling porkies.

Further on, Brice says:

"I established David was still alive but unconscious..."

Oh really? From Everestnews on 1 June: EverestNews.com has been informed from a member on the Russell Brice (Himex) expedition that David Sharp was seen talking and was alive and lucid enough to state to least one of those climbers, "My name is David Sharp and I am with Asian Trekking".

And of course, later on in the same article: To add more astonishing news to the story, the Brice (Himex) expedition member also divulged that film crew members of the Brice (Himex) team had taped footage of Sharp alive and speaking to them on May 15th. Helmet cams reportedly worn by Sherpas supporting the Brice (Himex) team and their Discovery filming project were sending a live signal to advance base camp where the producers watched the grim drama unfold in real time.

Yep, plenty of evidence Sharp was unconscious.

Later on, Brice makes the valid point that he was not high up on the mountain and can only report on what he saw and heard. He tries to rationalise the events by assuming that either:

a) people did not see David on the way to the summit
b) people saw David but thought he was "green boots" (an Indian climber who died in the same place several years ago)
c) people saw David and assumed he was already dead

Brice surmises that it would be very easy to not see Sharp because of his location. But as he has said, he was not there. And Everestnews made the point: "EverestNews.com has been told that several climbers had to unclip from the rope to get around David. It was very hard to miss David..."

So strike a) off the list. It is possible b) and c) have some validity, but again there is enough previous information to show that a significant proportion of climbers knew that it was not Green Boots and knew that Sharp was not dead.

Towards the end Brice makes the telling observation:

"If I had known there was a problem on the way up I am sure the structure of the day would have been very different ..."

Which is exactly what has been bugging me about this whole thing. There were enough people, sherpas, and resources at that time (i.e. on the ascent) for the structure of the day to have been very different. So why wasn't it? While Brice is to be commended for giving a detailed account from his perspective on the events surrounding David Sharp, all it has done is thrown up a new set of conflicting statements and cast further doubts on the actions of those who were there.