Scots climber, 28, is left to die on Everest

Published on Tuesday 1 June 2010 23:04

A SCOTS mountaineer has died just hours after achieving his lifelong ambition of reaching the summit of Mount Everest.

• On top of the world, but Peter Kinloch died after conquering Mount Everest. Picture: Complimentary

Peter Kinloch, 28, from Skye, lost his sight as he descended from the 29,029ft summit and his condition deteriorated despite efforts to save him.

Mr Kinloch was taking part in the Seven Summits Challenge where climbers tackle the highest mountain on each continent.

He was struck down just 14 hours after conquering the world's highest mountain last week. He had reached the peak on 25 May but died around 2am the next day.

A blog written by a team mate described how Mr Kinloch began losing co-ordination before losing his sight – a condition he told fellow climbers had struck him before.

Three Sherpas administered drugs and oxygen over a 12-hour period and attempted to coax him down from a point called Mushroom Rock but finally had to abandon him, blind and with frostbite on two of his fingers, at an altitude of 8,600 metres, as the weather deteriorated.

The blog continued: "With no choice, Mr Kinloch was left on the mountain while team leader David O'Brien and the Sherpas arrived back at Camp 3 with hypothermia, exhaustion and minor frostbite."

His fellow mountaineers on the Everest Tibet Expedition said Mr Kinloch was "elated" after reaching the summit last Tuesday.

Paying tribute to Mr Kinloch, his teammates described him as "a bright spark in our team, and he is very much missed".

Mr Kinloch, who climbed his first Scottish mountain at the age of two and began bagging Munros a year later, always wore a hat and scarf in the colours of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Speaking from his home at Glenhinnisdal, near Uig, on Skye, Mr Kinloch's father, also called Peter, said: "We can take comfort in that he achieved one of his lifetime ambitions. How many people can say they stood on top of the world?

"Peter packed so much into 28 years. He did in that time, what many people fail to achieve in a lifetime.

"He used to go climbing mountains when he was a little boy. Being in the hills has been with him all his life."

Before leaving for Tibet to tackle Everest he said: "I am now really looking forward to breaking out the axe and getting the crampons icy again. Let's hope I can add Mount Everest to the list as I work towards completing the holy grail of the Seven Summits Challenge."

The environment on Everest is so extreme… very challenging

HAVING climbed Everest in 1994, I know what high altitude can do to the body. Some of those with me suffered very serious health problems – one had symptoms of a stroke, we thought another had a blood clot on the lung while one of the Sherpas got severe frostbite in his fingers.

These conditions can occur because extreme high altitude mountain environments, where there is very little oxygen, have a very significant effect on the brain and body.

Even when acclimatised, the body reacts to shortage of air by moving and reacting more slowly.

Exerting yourself at altitude is a very difficult thing to do and something such as adverse weather can put further major stress on an already difficult situation.

At high altitudes, blood becomes more viscous which can lead to clotting, loss of vision, strokes, heart attacks and circulation problems.

Ultimately, the environment on Everest is so extreme it can be very challenging to look after someone else in difficulty without putting yourself at risk.

&#149 Dr Charlie Hornsby is a mountaineer and a GP in Elgin.