HeavenHole

Hey Rob, your shows were some of the last I could stand to watch on MTV. I used to skate as a youngin and still have the skating bone in my body, even though I don't anymore.

My question is, where did you get your sense for business? Did somebody teach you, or did it just come naturally? I know you've always been an entrepreneur, every venture you've pursued, you made sure that you had your own personal irons in the fire. Mad respect to being a mover & shaker, dude. Take it easy.

That shit just screams conflict of interest though. If your good friend/buddy was being criticized, would you not take his side? I'd like to point out that Beck Weathers pulled off some absolutely true and proven feats of insane survival, whereas Boukreev's accounting of events conflicts with MANY others on the mountain. Not just Krakauer. I think Boukreev's pride prevents him from truly admitting to his mistakes.

edit: Also would like to point out that a journalist would probably take more stock in preserving the accuracy of events than a prideful mountaineering expert whose credibility is being questioned.

Except Boukreev's account is self-serving bullshit he cooked up to save his own ass from being criticized for the horrible decisions he made on the mountain that cost lives.

In the postscript for Into Thin Air, David Breashears himself is actually quoted as saying:

"'I'm sorry,' Brashears insists, 'but it was incredibly irresponsible for Anatoli to climb without gas. No matter how strong you are, you are right at your limit when you climb Everest without oxygen. You aren't in a position to help your clients. Anatoli is dissembling when he says the reason he went down (ahead of his clients) is that Scott sent him down to make tea. There were Sherpas waiting at the South Col to make tea. The only place an Everest guide should be is either with his clients or right behind them, breathing bottled oxygen, ready to provide assistance.'"

The postscript also references how G. Weston DeWalt, the co-author of The Climb, had his assistant contact Dr. Peter Hackett, a respected expert on the effects of altitude on the body. Dr. Hackett, who reached the top of Everest in '81, replied "unequivocally that in his view it was dangerous and ill-advised to guide Everest without using oxygen, even for someone as strong as Boukreev."

However, this was conveniently left out of the book.

The final nail in his story is when Boukreev/DeWalt claimed the endorsement of THE bad motherfucker when it comes to mountaineering, especially bottled oxygen-less climbing, Reinhold Messner. Completely false.

"In 1998, during a meeting with me in New York, Messner stated into a tape recorder, without equivocation, that he thought Anatoli was wrong to descend ahead of his clients. Messner speculated on the record that had Anatoli remained with his clients the outcome of the tragedy might have been quite different. Messner declared that 'No one should guide Everest without using bottled oxygen,' and that Anatoli was mistaken if he thought Messner endorsed Anatoli's actions on Everest."

edit: I'd also like to add that Krakauer mentions the fact that Anatoli did perform heroically when shit went down, and he no question saved the lives of Sandy Hill Pittman and Charlotte Fox.

Because that is literally how you treat children. You warn them before watching scary/violent movies, tv, or video games. You hear "This contains material which may be unsuitable for children." I don't need to be treated that way because I'm old enough to understand that not everything is about me and I have to deal with my situation because I'm not a special snowflake. If you're offended because you think your consideration is going unrecognized, then that is more for you than the other person. Everyone has shit they have to hear and put up with and process without having a panic attack.

I'd like to add that people who have severe trauma like PTSD are in a different boat and I can see why trigger warnings would be useful for them.