Mick Burke (climber)
Mick Burke ( 1941 in England as Michael Burke - September 26, 1975 on Mount Everest , Tibet ) was an English mountaineer and cameraman . He participated in several British-led mountaineering expeditions during the 1960s and 1970s. These expeditions included those led by Chris Bonington on Annapurna and an unsuccessful attempt on the southwest flank of Mount Everest in 1972.
Burke was then again part of the 1975 expedition again carried out on the southwest flank. Burke's role was primarily that of a mountaineer, but he also made high-altitude filming for the BBC crew accompanying the expedition. He followed the successful first group of Dougal Haston and Doug Scott and the second group with the Sherpa Pertemba and Peter Boardman .
Burke was part of the third team, which split up after climbing the gully leading to the south summit because his partner no longer felt fit enough for the rest of the summit ascent. On the ascent of the Hillary Step , less than a hundred meters in altitude and less than 300 meters horizontally from the summit, Mick Burke, now climbing alone, met the second team, Pertemba and Peter Boardman, who had just returned from the summit. In order to complete the photographic tasks (he traded under the name of "Director Photography" on this expedition), Burke suggested that, because of the short distance, go back to the summit with him and be photographed there. However, the second team refused and instead suggested that they wait for Mick Burke at the south summit for the joint descent.
His partners saw him climb Hillary Step. "He was last seen alive heading upwards, a few hundred meters from the summit". ("He was last seen alive when he went up to the summit, a few hundred meters from the summit"),
It can therefore be assumed that Mick Burke reached the summit - however, evidence of this is still missing today. He never returned alive from the summit. After Burke was out of sight, the weather deteriorated rapidly. A violent storm set in that lasted two days and prevented any further attempts at climb or rescue. At nightfall the Sherpa Pertemba and Peter Boardman gave up after an hour and a half and went down to the highest camp.
Burke's body was never found. Because the dead are usually spotted and identified in two of the three summit flanks, one must assume that Burke fell into the inaccessible third, the eastern flank of the Kangshung Glacier .
In memory of Burke, the BBC created the “Mick Burke Award”, which was jointly presented by the BBC and the Royal Geographical Society .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chris Bonington, Everest The Hard Way , London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1976
- ↑ Chris Bonington and Charles Clarke, Everest - The Unclimbed Ridge , London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1983, p. 25th
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Burke, Mick |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English climber and cameraman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1941 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | England |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 26, 1975 |
| Place of death | Tibet |