New Zealand climber Mark Inglis, a double-amputee, is given a welcome home card by a schoolboy when he arrived at Christchurch airport, from Kathmandu on Friday, May 25, 2006.
Inglis, 47, became the first double-amputee to conquer Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, last week on specially created legs.
Inglis once worked as search and rescue mountaineer at Mount Cook National Park located in southern New Zealand and famous for its glaciers. He was stranded for 14 days in an cave during a snowstorm in 1982. His legs were severely affected by frost bite and had to be amputated. In the intervening years Inglis trained himself to be a legless mountaineer and ski guide and earned a degree in biochemistry to do research and became a winemaker.
On the way to the 8,848-metre summit, Inglis' team found British climber David Sharp, 34, near death in a cave 300 metres below the summit, in a place known as the 'Death Zone.' They tried to help but Inglis said they could do little for Sharp and they carried on to the summit. Sharp later died and Inglis' personal triumph was marred by accusations from many, including Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary that he and 40 other climbers on the peak that day did not do enough to help Sharp.
This season itself eight climbers have died on Mount Everest.
Photograph: Simon Fergusson/Getty Images
