Everest | 2006 N Col-NE Ridge

A UK expedition to Everest in 2006 via N Col-NE Ridge, led by David Sharp. Summit reached on 15th May 2006. 1 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 5237
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER06135
Peak ID EVER
Year 2006
Season 1
Host Country 2
Route 1 N Col-NE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders David Sharp
Sponsor Sharp 2006 Everest Expedition
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Zangmu->Nyalam->Tingri->BC
Basecamp Date 2006-04-05
Summit Date 2006-05-15
Summit Time -
Summit Days 40
Total Days 40
Termination Date 2006-05-15
Termination Reason 6
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8500m due to death of climber
High Point (m) 8500
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 1
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical True
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(05/04,5200m),ABC(13/04,6400m),C1(19/04,7100m),C2(12?/05,7700m),C3(13?/05,8300m),xxx(15/05,8500m)
Route Notes Notes about David Sharp, by E. Hawley - 13 Sept 2006 According to Nawang Tenzing Sherpa, the climbing Sherpa of Malaysian climber Ravi Tharumalingam, David Sharp left C1 for higher camps on May 12 which is confirmed by Tharumalingam in his email. Apparently, Sharp started his summit attempt alone from C3 on May 14 and he ran out of oxygen and was found sitting helpless at 8400m later that night. The Turkish expedition leader Pocan wrote in his email reply to my inquiry about Sharp that the first group of his expedition which left C3 at 10:30 pm NST on May 14, met Sharp around midnight. The group saw him sitting in front of the cave (8400m) next to the dead Indian climber. One of the Sherpas (Nima?) of the group told Sharp not to sit but to go, but he refused the suggestion with body language. The group was not aware whether Sharp was going up or down. They assumed that he was resting on the way as many others do. Two members of the expedition Girgin and Mavis stated later that they did not observe anything strange about Sharp. The second group of the Turkish expedition saw Sharp about 20 minutes later and at that time he was laying down motionless just next to the Indian body. The third group also saw Sharp motionless and they thought he was another dead body. Just before the sunrise one of the Turkish members got sick at 8600m and had to rescued down by the third group while the other members continued their climb. While descending Pocan noticed Sharp's arm moving. Pocan and Mavis made Sharp sit upright and tried to give him some hot drink but he could not drink it. Sharp's nose was completely frozen deep inside and his hand too was frozen. He was able to open his eyes but could not say anything. His oxygen gauge was on "0". Pocan's oxygen too was running out and decided to go down thinking to bring another oxygen cylinder from their Sherpas but at the same time the two members had to help Sherpas rescuing down the sick member. Then, Pocan radioed the members returning from summit about Sharp. Mrs. Mavis descending from summit with her Sherpa (Nima), also tried to help Sharp by giving him oxygen but it did not help him. Sharp's oxygen mask was completely covered with ice. They cleaned it up and tried to give oxygen but it did not work. Then, due to their limited oxygen they too left Sharp. Pocan said that when rest of his team left cave, Sharp was still alive. Buyukatalay, Lhakpa and one Sherpa from Russell Brice's expedition (most probably one of Mark Inglis' Sherpas) tried to make Sharp move. Russell Brice's Sherpa had extra oxygen that they used it to make him awake. But, those also did not help to make him walk. They took him out of the cave to the sun to try to make him walk. Lhakpa massaged his body to provide circulation. Buyukatalay radioed Pocan then he asked them to descend. After that Pocan asked for help over the radio many times but he did not get any response. Pocan said that the four Tibetan guides of the Chinese expedition who came to help rescue of his sick member were sent to help Sharp but they could not reach the cave because of tiredness. Pocan wrote in his email that at that point he realized the truth that they had lost another climber on Everest. He further added that Sharp was hardly breathing; he was unconscious, had serious frostbites and had gone through hypothermic phase. The Malaysian climber Tharumalingam in his email of Aug 3, 2006 wrote that he was the last person to leave Sharp and he was alive. Tharumalingam added that he (Sharp) was a very detailed person so he believes that he (Sharp) was a very detailed person, so he believes that he (Sharp) reached the summit on 14th. Phil Crampton - 31 Aug 2006 Sharp told Crampton at Nyalam on the way to base camp and again at C1 at North Col on 21 April that he was sure he would reach the summit because he had two bottles of oxygen this time (he had none when he attempted Everest the previous time). Sharp left a tent at the Col that day but did not sleep there that night. Sharp, a teacher, looked frail. He used the ropes fixed by others. Serhan Pocan - 4 August 2006 About David Sharp: At our first attempt of 15th of May our team was 7 climbers and nine Sherpas, rest 3 team members turned back to ABC as they had some coughing problems. We left 8300m (C3) at 10:30 pm (NST). Bora and I were trying to summit without oxygen at the beginning. Rest five were using oxygen. So Bora and I were slow and left apart from the team. Our front group was not moving together also. Some climbed faster than the others. The first group met David Sharp around midnight. They saw him sitting in front of the cave in front of the dead Indian climber. Eylem Elif Mavis, Serkan Girgin and two Sherpas were the first group. One of the Sherpas spoke to him and told him not to sit but to go. But he refused the suggestion with body language. They were not aware that he was going up or down and they assumed that he was resting on the way as many others do. Elif and Serkan stated later that they did not observe anything strange about him. The next group, 3 climbers and 4 Sherpas of our team, met David about 20 minutes later. That time David was lying down just next to the Indian body. He was not moving. They all thought he was a dead body just like Indian, none of them knew the exact number of the bodies on the route. At the back side of our group we were: 3 Sherpas, Bora and I am. David was still laying. I showed his new boots to Sherpas. Their command was like "he was a new dead body." They thought: we were going to learn who he was when we were back in ABC. We completely had no doubt. He was a dead body for us while we were climbing up. Just before the sunrise we (Bora and I am) got a radio message about the problem Burcak faced. At that time we both turned to oxygen. I skip the details about the Burcak's (my wife) case. Details are available on the web site (www.everest2006.org). I first send a radio message to the rest of our team that we cancelled the climb and I call all my 4 friends back to 8600m. But soon after we realised that Bora, me and 2 Sherpas were enough to evacuate Burcak. Burcak was getting better. So we changed the decision. The first four and Sherpas proceed to the summit. Bora, me, Burcak and 2 Sherpas began descending to 8300m. When we came to the cave on the way back, it was about 7:00 am. Burcak was belayed from both back and front. I was coming from back. I was really shocked at that moment, because I immediately realised that David's arm moved. I really got afraid. Burcak was ok at that moment. And two Sherpas were enough to assist her to go down. So Bora and I left our group and stayed with David. We made him upright. Tried to give him some hot drink but he couldn't drink it. His nose was completely frosen deep inside. His hand was frosen as a rock also. He was able to open his eyes but couldn't say anything. We tried to find out who he is. I checked his oxygen. The gauge was '0'. At that moment I realised that Bora and I were using oxygen for a very long time. I checked Bora's gauge. It was above '0'. The only way was to catch the Sherpas with Burcak. Bora stayed with David trying to help him drink and move. I went down to change my tube and bring a new one to Bora. When I met the Sherpas they were busy with Burcak. Burcak was still dizzy, and this was causing big problems at that altitude and at that narrow path. Sherpas needed our help. So I first called Bora to assist Burcak's evacuation, then radioed the friends coming back from the summit and informed them about David. Bora and I proceed to go down with Burcak and the Sherpas. Our next group down on the way was Elif and her Sherpa Nima. They also tried to help David. Because of their limited oxygen they too also left David. When rest of our team arrived to cave, David was still laying down. Soner [Buyukatalay], Lhakpa and one Sherpa from Russell Brice expedition (most probably one of Mark Inglis' Sherpas) tried to make David move. Russell Brice's Sherpa had an extra oxygen they used to make him awake. But those also didn't help to make him walk. They took him out of the cave to the sun to make him walk. Lhakpa Sherpa massaged all his body to provide circulation. When Soner informed me over radio, I realised that they have nothing to do more. And I called him down. After that I asked for help over the radio (the general frequency 144.5) many many times. I did not get any response. When we were planning the evacuation of Burcak we had asked for help from the Chinese expedition. 4 Tibetan guides were on the way to us. We decided to canalise them to David. But unfortunately 2 of them could only reach about 7900m and the other 2 only 8300m. They were very tired as they summited previous day. At that point I realised the truth that we had lost another climber on Everest. David was hardly breathing, he was unconscious, had serious frostbites and had gone through a hypothermic phase. This was the case of the casualty, for the rescue part; there was no extra oxygen left, seemed no possibility to receive more Sherpas for help, my team was occupied with Burcak's case (although they all tried to help David as far as they could) and I couldn't reach the other teams over the radio. It was about 11:00 am when I announced my team that there weren't anything left do do for the casualty. Ravi Tharumalingam - 4 August 2006 It is difficult if David reached the summit or not. He went for the summit on 14th and I went up on 15th. When I saw him, he was still alive and could not communicate or not responding. I was the last person to go down on 15th and he was still alive. He was a very determined person and very confident. He shared many infor and tips and I really appreciate the help. He was a very detailed person, so I believe he reached the summit on 14th. Maybe something happen on the way down. Russell Brice - 1 June 2006 Sharp was seen sitting on top of the body of an Indian who died in shallow cave in 1996. The altitude was about 8500m, below the First Step. Some who passed him saw him with a rucksack between his legs and with no gloves on, and they thought he was changing oxygen bottles. Others never saw him in the dark, or saw him immobile and thought he was the well-known dead Indian's body. Brice's Sherpa, Phurba, on 15 May while coming down from the summit, saw Sharp and later reported to Brice that Sharp was still alive but arms frozen to the elbows and legs frozen to the knees, whihc meant he couldn't move; he was unconscious, had no gloves on, and his jacket was open. Phurba, some other Sherpas, and the Turkish team's leader moved him one meter out of the cave to get him into the sun, but he was not conscious of how they were trying to help him.
Accidents Sharp frozen to death in the rock cave at 8500m on May 15
Achievement -
Agency Asian Trekking
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460062
Year 2006
Summit Success False
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) n col-ne ridge

Members

1 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
David W. Sharp M 1972 UK Leader Guisborough, Cleveland, England Teacher Details Other expeditions

References

5 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER06135 CLIM - - - 29:74-75 (Jul 2007) -
EVER06135 AAJ Hawley, Elizabeth - - 81:435-436 (2007) -
EVER06135 - Kodas, Michael High Crimes Hyperion, New York - -
EVER06135 - Heil, Nick Dark Summit Henry Holt, New York - -
EVER06135 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200743400/Everest-Cross-Border-Traverses - - -