Climber accused of stepping over dying sherpa in order to set K2 record

A Norwegian woman and her guide reportedly set a world record late last month for having summited the world's 14 highest peaks in three months and one day, beating the previous 2019 record of three months and five days held by Nirmal Purja.

While former professional skier Kristin Harila and Tenjin "Lama" Sherpa took home the bragging rights, they are accused of stepping over a dying 27-year-old to get it.

The Guardian reported that prior to deserting the body of Mohammed Hassan, a father of three young boys, on K2, Harila's shot at the record had already been plagued by scandal.

The prominent sherpa Mingma G criticized Harila over her team's heavy reliance on helicopters to shuttle in supplies and sherpas to higher camps — thereby opening the routes from above — particularly ahead of her ascent of Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain.

Mingma G posted footage of the helicopter assistance to social media.

Her team suggested that Harila had only been flown to base camp and that her sherpa's advanced drop-offs were for their own safety.

Notwithstanding this apparent technological advantage, Harila proceeded to summit Pakistan's roughly 26,000 foot K2 on July 27.

Along the way, she came across Mohammed Hassan, a poorly dressed sherpa who had fallen off an edge in a troublesome spot called the "bottleneck," but was still very much alive, reported the Telegraph.

Harila's team was hardly the only one on the mountain that day. Among the many climbers crowding the slopes were Wilhelm Steindl and Philip Flämig, a climbing duo from Austria.

They suggested to Austria's Standard newspaper that Harila was far more interested in setting records than in saving lives.

The Austrian climbing duo referenced drone footage that shows climbers walking over Hassan's body rather than bothering to help him.

The Daily Mail has obtained the drone footage, which appears to show "people physically climbing over Hassan as he lies helpless in the deep snow."

Harila was reportedly among those who passed on by.

"He is being treated by one person while everyone else is pushing towards the summit. The fact is that there was no organised rescue operation although there were sherpas and mountain guides on site who could have taken action," said Flämig.

"Such a thing would be unthinkable in the Alps," said Steindl. "He was treated like a second-class human being. ... If he had been a Westerner, he would have been rescued immediately. No one felt responsible for him."

Steindl, who started a GoFundMe for Hassan's family, added, "What happened there is a disgrace. A living human was left lying so that records could be set."

According to Steindl, it would have only taken three or four people to save Hassan.

Lakpa Sherpa, an alpinist who took the video, told the Daily Mail, "The climbers have all spent a lot of money to do this climb and there is the value of time too for the climb. Hundreds of climbers tried to save him but they cannot give up their mission."

Harila offered a contrary account of what had happened in a statement on Instagram.

Despite noting that she wanted to first ask Hassan's family for permission, she went ahead anyway "because of all of the misinformation and hatred that is now being spread."

Harila claimed she and her team "did everything we could for him at the time. This happened at the most dangerous part of the deadliest mountain in the world, and you should remember that at 8000+ meters, your survival instincts impact the decisions you make."

The Norwegian climber said that she, her cameraman, Gabriel, and two others started their summit push around 8 p.m. on July 26.

"Around 2:15 [a.m.] the accident happened. I did not see exactly what took place, but suddenly Hassan had fallen and was hanging on the rope between 2 ice anchors. He was attached to the same rope as all of us, it was pitch black and we could hear him to the left side of us, away from the path. We could also see that he was hanging about 5m down but we did not know if he slipped and fell, or if a bit of snow collapsed below him."

Harila claimed that Hassan had been hanging upside down and was unable to climb up by himself. In addition to dangling without an oxygen mask, parts of his body were exposed to the elements.

The Norwegian detailed a few alleged attempts to get to the sherpa before her cameraman finally managed to give the fallen man some oxygen and "calming."

Having fastened a rope to Hassan, they allegedly attempted to move him "up closer to the path," at which point Harila claimed "an avalanche went off around the corner. ... At this stage, we decided to split up. Gabriel stayed with Hassan and his friend in the bottleneck."

Harila claimed she spent 1.5 hours in the area trying to help Hassan before pressing onward under the alleged presumption the 27-year-old might be getting more help.

Not until she made her way back down the mountain did Harila acknowledge Hassan had died, writing, "We saw that Hassan had passed and we were ourselves, in no shape to carry his body down."

Maintaining she had done her best, Harila told the Telegraph, "Given the conditions, it is hard to see how he could have been saved."

She said of Hassan's passing, "My heart and thoughts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of Hassan and I feel very sad about this whole situation."

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