A video uploaded to YouTube showing a desperate rescue operation of Italian/Argentinian guide Federico Campanini near the summit of Aconcagua at 6,500 meters altitude has shocked Argentina. The father of the guide has lodged a complaint, accusing rescuers of having abandoned his son.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTMXtdNEK0I

In the video one of the rescuers is heard to say “he’s not moving, I’ve asked the authorization of the judge to leave him here”, at the same time we see the guide attempt to sit up in the snow.

Another rescuer shouts, “Get up, imbecile, go, shit, move, imbecile”. The cameraman whispers “please god make him see and give him strength”. The guide can hardly move as the rescuers short rope him.

The guide’s father Carlos Campanini got an anonymous copy of the film which he had put online. He told the press “the rescuers thought they were looking for a body but found him alive”. The rescuers had put a cord around the guide, a common technique known as “short roping” which was controversially used by guides on two disastrous Everest expeditions in 1996. The crew had not brought Oxygen, drugs for hypoxia, a stretcher or a sleeping bag.

The operation was complicated by the fact that they planned to climb back to the summit to descend by the easiest route.

Later in the video the cameraman says “we’ve covered 10 meters, we can’t go on… we are fighting for our own lives.” A rescuer talks on the radio “tell them he is dying, he can’t go on, in 40 minutes he will be dead”.

The incident occurred on the 8th January. The guide was part of a group of Italian climbers. He suffered a pulmonary odema. Another member of his group, Elena Senin, had already died. The group of five climbers had been caught in a violent storm on the 6th after climbing to the summit.

The affair has echoes of that of Vincendon and Henry on Mont Blanc which caused a dramatic reorganisation of mountain rescue in France in the 1950s.

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Avalanches/Vincendon-And-Henry

Terrible stuff. Doesn’t sound good at all - particularly as the treatment for HAPO is not exactly rocket science, if not always successful.  Don’t know much of the technicalities of the ropework but you can read the body language of the people involved - didn’t give a f***. RIP

There is a long analysis of the rescue attempt here in Spanish:

http://www.desnivel.com/object.php?o=18160

Much ink has been spilled since the tragic rescue attempt Guide Federico Campanini, who died in the Aconcagua. It’s easier to talk at home, but at almost 7000 meters, in full storm, decisions are always risky.

As nearly always happens, when climbing hits the headlines in the media what matters are the “clicks” on a video and not a reflection on cold facts. Unfortunately, but with many faces, the media continues to focus its efforts on doing a disservice.

On January 6, the guide Federico Campanini, a mountaineer, complete, capable and with a comprehensive knowledge of the mountain, reached the summit of Aconcagua with four Italian clients. Reaching the 6962 meter summit at 16:30, after an ascent by the normal route. They were late and began their descent in the teeth of a strong storm that prevented Federico from recognizing the path down. The were trapped about 300 meters from the summit on the Glacier. Elena Senin, one of Italian mountaineers, died there after suffering a fall. The rest managed to survive two nights with temperatures below 25 degrees. They were suffering from frostbite, hypothermia and dehydration and were close to their limits.

The biggest rescue operation in the history of the Aconcagua was launched in hurrican force winds and temperatures dropping to 40 below zero. Two full days of operation involving 80 rescuers. Five of the rescue team found Campanini after a difficult climb while the remaining Italians were helped to safety. The inability to save the guide, as reflected in a disturbing video now circulating all over the net, opened an investigation into the actions of the rescue team.

On February 3 the Campanini family lawyer received a copy of the video. The images show Federico dying in the snow, without energy to get up or even to crawl forward, while rescuers try to motivate the quest for survival with the means at their disposal at that time. The video has raised doubts about the professionalism of the rescuers and their methods.

The lawyer who defends the five climbers says they risked a fast climb in the face of a full storm, refusing to leave Federico while he was still alive. “They did a lot more than they should because they risked their lives in the operation” claimed lawyer Carlos Ferrer. These statements contradict those made by the parents of 31 year old Campanini, who after viewing the video claimed that rescuers treated his son “like a dog abandoned and still living in the mountains.”

Ferrer says “He was dead when before they left him. They did first aid, tried to motivate and encourage him”, adding that both the head of the mountain patrol, Jose Luis Altamirano, Diego and the police who participated in the rescue, “stayed with him (Campanini) until after his death.”

The Campanini lawyer responds that the “rescuers are not so tired, are upright and can communicate without difficulty. Someone should explain why it they didn’t continue with the operation”

Other questions arise after viewing the images. Did they have the right equipment and wasn’t it more sensible to try and descend by the Polish route to a less dangerous altitude. Carlos Ferrer explained that in such weather conditions and the requirement for a rapid climb they could not be loaded with heavy equipment. The rescue team suffered from cold and frostbite in the operations. One of the team has 40 days sick leave.

It should be remembered that the operation succeeded in rescuing the three other climbers. This has not stopped the Mendoza provincial government from sacking the head of the rescue patrol of Aconcagua. Armando Párraga told the press “The day of my retirement was coming, but did not go well, in a difficult case. I feel bad, but it seems that some heads had to roll and it started with my own”

During this season, five people died on the slopes of Aconcagua, 154 were evacuated and other official records indicate that this year about 900 mountaineers attempted to reach the summit with the support of some 200 professional guides.
The group of survivors said they managed to get out alive thanks to “the skill and help of Campanini.

suppose I should have said something along the lines of it LOOKED bad. difficult circumstances and a difficult decision.