Everest

Bradford Washburn, who founded the Boston Museum of Science and directed a 1999 effort that revised the official elevation of Mt. Everest, has died. He was 96. The renowned mountain photographer, explorer and cartographer died Wednesday of heart failure with his family at his bedside, said his wife, Barbara. Washburn climbed some of the world's most challenging mountains and is particularly known for his photography of Alaska's Mt. McKinley and for exploring the mountain with his wife.

Mark Inglis' journey to the top of Mt. Everest appeared to be one for the ages, courageous and inspirational, proof that with enough desire a person can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But the first double-amputee to scale the world's tallest mountain may be remembered more for what he didn't do.

Mt. Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary said he was shocked to hear that climbers left a man to die while pressing on toward the peak of the world's tallest mountain, published reports said today. "Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain," Hillary was quoted as saying in an interview with the New Zealand Press Assn. David Sharp, 34, from Guisborough, England, died last week, apparently of oxygen deficiency, while descending after reaching Everest's summit.

A New Zealand climber who had lost part of both legs to frostbite became the first double amputee to conquer Mt. Everest, despite breaking one of his artificial limbs during the ascent. Mark Inglis, 47, called his wife, Anne, in New Zealand to tell her he was on the 29,035-foot summit of the world's highest mountain. Inglis repaired the broken artificial leg about 21,000 feet up.

Isaac Castillo watched uneasily as a pack of 15 boys streamed out of a Van Nuys McDonald's. They paraded across Balboa Boulevard, ignoring four lanes of traffic. Isaac and four of his friends headed toward their car in the Del Taco parking lot. The other boys closed in. One faced Isaac. You wanna fight? All year, Isaac, 17, had dodged confrontations with this group of teenagers. A rivalry over a girl had escalated into a bitter grudge.

Michael Ward, who unearthed maps and aerial photographs that were crucial to the first successful ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953 and who accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary as the expedition's doctor, has died. He was 80. Ward, who was controversial among some mountaineers for giving science as much credit for the feat as the men who reached the top of the world, died Oct. 7 in Lurgashall, England.

The 1933 event created worldwide news. Royal Air Force pilot David McIntyre and the Scottish marquess of Clydesdale, flying two open-cockpit Westland aircraft, became the first to fly over the summit of 29,035-foot Mt. Everest, the highest point in the world. Climbers did not reach that point until 1953. There were headlines again in 1991, with the first hot air balloon flight over Everest. But there was barely a ripple in mid-May when a French helicopter actually landed on the summit of Mt.

Regarding "The Real Payoff After Everest" [May 3]: I was at that conference and was fortunate to hear Jamie Clarke speak. It was a great presentation. Whether or not it was enough "business-related" -- we got plenty of upsell from another presentation. Cindy Harris Novato You have given Jamie Clarke a nicely written front page advertisement but breeze over his account of the distressed climber calling his family. Was the climber fictional or real? If real, what was his name?

A U.S. climber was killed on Mt. Everest after he slipped and fell into a crevasse, Nepalese mountaineering officials said. Seattle climber Michael O'Brien, 39, fell Sunday as he and his brother Chris, 32, were crossing the Khumbu Icefall.

The bright sun is streaming into Green Valley Ranch Resort as conventioneers file into an auditorium, some slightly hung over, a few munching the bacon and eggs served at the buffet next door. Two hundred and fifty chairs are occupied when the heavy doors close, sealing the room from the ringing of slot machines outside. Like explorers in a snow-covered valley moments before an avalanche, the audience has no idea what is about to hit them.